Talon by Julie Kagawa Review!

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

Talon is filled with action and adventure that only Julie Kagawa can bring. You have an interesting start and things only get better from there! The fact that Talon is about dragons has me obsessed with it, and also the fact the Ember is a red head like me just makes it so much cooler. I was emotionally investing in Ember's story from the start. I felt her need for freedom and I started to hate Talon for taking that freedom away. I wanted her to be free of them. I was also terrified of how much Garret was going to hurt her. I hate Garret for playing her like he did.  I just wanted to hug her and take her away from all of the bad people UGH. And Dante. I HATE him. The way he acted in the end...I hate him for it.

I got SO angry when I read Talon if you couldn’t tell already. I hate that feeling you get when you read a book and the characters you love are being betrayed and you can't do a thing about it but read. I HATE reading as a character that I love is put in danger and all that she cares about is taken away. I HATE Talon for that. I hate them. But I loved the story. Only a story I love can make me feel so much! It's rare that I'm so emotionally invested in a book because most of the time I read books for fun and to get less stressed, but there are some books that I can't help become attached to and this book is one of them. I loved and hated everything about it. Ember's personality was so fun and free that you can't help but love her. Garret is in a situation that is almost impossible to deal with which makes it easy to fall for him because he is struggling with his feelings for Ember. Riley is a knight in shining armor and I fell in love with him from the start. He really adds something to the story. When we finally got his POV I jumped for joy. I was SO excited to see his point of view on things. When he calls Ember his “Firebrand", I just melt. I usually hate different POVs, but this time I needed it. The story is so intricately written that you can't just have half of the story this time. There are too many players on different sides and having the different POVs just makes the story that much more fascinating and adventure filled, especially with Garret’s POV thrown in there too.

 I was not disappointed with Talon AT ALL. The dragons, the action, the fighting, the sneaking around, and the emotions in this book had me turning the page for more. I stayed up until 4:30 AM reading this book because I couldn't put it down. I was hooked until the very end and when I put the book down I could only stare into space thinking, “what is life”. Literally, this book made me feel numb after reading it because it had me so invested. I know I'm going to have a serious book hangover after this and I am going to be begging for the second book. JULIE, WHY YOU GOTTA END IT WITH A TERRIBLE CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT, HUH?! I will try not to hold that against her. I can't express to you how amazing this book is, but just know that you need to read it. Talon deserves a billion stars, but seeing as there are only five to give, five will have to do.