Review: Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke

Book Description via Goodreads:

ARC, 320 pages

June 7, 2011, New American Library

The next generation of shape-shifting dragons from the popular author of the Dragonfire novels.

Zoë Sorensson is perfectly normal, except she's been told she's destined for great things. Zoë's the one female dragon shapeshifter of her kind. But Zoë is at the bottom of the class when it comes to being Pyr and her powers are AWOL, so she's sent to a Pyr boot camp. 

Zoë quickly realizes that she has to master her powers yesterday, because the Pyr are in danger and boot camp is a trap. The Mages want to eliminate all shifters and the Pyr are next in line-unless Zoë and her friends can work together and save their own kind.

Source: Kayleigh, NAL (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

Zoe was a really fun character. For the Pyr (dragon shapeshifters), puberty comes with dragon powers. Zoe was a late bloomer. No puberty equals no dragon powers, no Wyvern powers. It was deflating, discouraging and even sad to not be the powerful Wyvern that Zoe was meant to be.

I love dragons! I loved them more because of Cooke’s twist in the mythology. Instead of the usual affinity to fire, the Pyr were connected to the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. Each one of them possessed scales made up of two elements. These scales were their armor. They could be damaged and repaired. Quinn, the Pyr Smith, was in charge of this. Every year, there was a boot camp that would harness the skills of the young Pyrs. When Zoe’s dad gave her permission to go there and join her three best friends, she was ecstatic. But deep inside, she was scared and worried about shifting because the dragon inside her was wild and it was controlling her.

Zoe had a crush on Nick, her almost-brother best friend. But Nick did not have his eyes on her and he was treating her like a little sister. What was worse was that Isabelle, Rafferty’s daughter, would be going to boot camp too. And Nick’s attention was on her. Then Zoe met Jared, the mysterious hot guy who drove a vintage Ducati motorcycle. He was easy to be with. He was the kind of person who could alluring and mischievous. Then there was Adrian, the voice of reason in the group. He was charming – the kind of guy who could make a girl forget about the present. I liked Adrian with Zoe but I loved Jared with her. They seemed like a great, sweet pair.

The boot camp was a trap. Everyone was mostly annoyed and furious. And most of those negative emotions were focused on Zoe. What was supposed to be a fun time turned out to be dangerous. With no adult Pyr around to guide them, could Zoe figure out how to control her dragon and how to save everyone? I never imagined the Mages to be so fierce. Blinded by their greed for power and world domination, they have become savage, mercilessly hunting down and killing all the shapeshifters in the world.

Charged with magic, action, love, lies and doubt, Flying Blind is an exhilarating and gripping novel that readers of paranormal romance will devour. Flying Blind is also full of surprises and has an easy-to-read narrative by Zoe. I highly recommend this to everyone! I can’t wait for the sequel!

Rating: