Zoȅ is fifteen and a half full of angst to start developing into a woman and to regain her dragon shifter and wyvern powers. When trying to protect her friend from a bully, she partially shifts getting her into a lot of trouble and sent off to Dragon Boot Camp. Zoȅ still can't fully shift and she doesn't know how to access her powers but things are about to change.

The author does a great job giving the reader all the information they may have missed or forgotten from the Dragonfire series. However it was a bit confusing when Zoȅ seems to get the hots for any good looking boy when she believes Nick is her destiny. There's lots of interesting twists and side stories in this first book of the Dragon Diaries, as well as teenage angst and self-doubt.

More of my reviews can be found at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

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First off, let it be known that I am dragon obsessed. Second only to zombies, dragons top my list as one of the most interesting and richly described mythological beings of all time. What does this have to do with anything? Well this means that every book I go into with dragons is a treat for me, but also that I'm rather picky about my dragon lore. I want to either be wowed with new developments, or at least have a story that sticks to what has been created in the past. So going into Flying Blind I was really excited! What would the pages hold for me? I opened the book, and dove in.

Let me be the first to say that Deborah Cooke has hit the nail on the head with her dragon lore! I know that this new YA series is a spin off of her original "Dragonfire" series, and so I should have known it would be amazing. Cooke not only paints the reader a gorgeous portrayal of dragon kind with the Pyr, but she also gives them a rich and detailed history about them as well. Add in a few bad guys and some fight scenes, and I was hooked. Learning with Zoë was seriously fantastic. I felt myself frustrated when she was, excited when she was, all the while uncovering history with her. As I read I found myself immersed in the world that revolved around Zoë. Just in terms of setting and back story, I was already in love with this book.

In terms of characters, Flying Blind has quite a few different personality types to offer. First up is Zoë, the main character. She's fiesty and a bit overzealous sometimes. At 15 years old she is supposed to be developing her Wyrven powers. Unfortunately... it's slow going. I loved the original voice that Zoë had, and swooned over the fact that she wasn't a lovesick puppy dog at any point in the book. Jealous yes, angsty and depressed no In fact, as the Wyrven to be, Zoë kicks some behind! Round out her character with a good old fashioned love interest, her best friend/crush, and a few other Pyr, and you have a great cast! Besides Zoë I'd have to say that my favorite character was definitely Liam. He's a sweetheart, and when you're a dragon that is a little tough to pull off sometimes.

The only reason that I am giving this book a slightly lower rating is that it is exhausting to read. I don't mean that the writing is poor, it's truly amazing, and you've seen how much I love the characters. So let me explain. At the beginning of the story I was allowed to meet Zoë and she was truly what dragged me in. Her wit, her inner pondering, it was all great! Things were moving along at a nice pace, and I was throughly enjoying being in her world. Then as the book neared the middle, it got a little slow. I thought it was understandable, since important information was being revealed. However then, towards the end, I felt bombarded with fight scene after fight scene and problem after problem that needed to be solved. It was all a bit overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I love action. However presented in this fashion, it kind of broke my connection with the book. By the time that I finally got to the end of the book, I was a bit torn as to what to write in my review. Overall I enjoyed the read, but I always strive to be honest with my readers. I've sat back though and I'm ready to give the bottom line.

Flying Blind is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise saturated market. The simple fact that Zoë is so strong and calculating makes her different than a lot of other MC's her age, and that makes her intriguing in my book. Add in some great dragon lore, and you have a series that I can fully get behind. I know that my issue with this book is my own opinion, and honestly I'm sure that it only happened because there was so much important information to fit in this first installment. Therefore I'm extremely excited for the next book! I can't wait to see what happens next.
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As YA dragon books go Flying Blind is better than [b:Firelight|6448470|Firelight (Firelight, #1)|Sophie Jordan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1269737893s/6448470.jpg|10823062].

First of all, I should say that Flying Blind is a spin-off of the [b:adult series|11261624|Kiss of Fire (Dragonfire, #1)|Deborah Cooke|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|2230245] which I haven't read. I believe this has been reflected negatively in my rating because I got the distinct feeling I was missing some vital information.

The protagonist is likeable, funny and loyal, and she does everything right. In desperate need of information about her destiny and her abilities as the Wyvern (female dragon shifter) for her generation, she goes to knowledgeable sources like her parents and their friends and the rest of her extended family but no matter what she asks or how much she pleads they give her very little and tell her to figure it out for herself at dragon Boot Camp, basically a summer school for young dragons. Now I'm all for children learning things on their own through trial and error to make the lesson they learn more meaningful but in this case it was downright criminal and mean to do this to poor Zoe. There are limits. It was bordering on neglectful and dangerous for both her and others. She almost killed her friends because she had no idea how to control her power. And this isn't the first time I've read a YA book where adults or people in the know withhold vital information from those that desperately need it, and I'm sick of it. And where were the adults when the kids needed them? Getting their asses handed to them by mages the kids knew nothing about despite them being enemies for I don't know how long. Ugh. But this isn't the only reason why this didn't get a higher rating.

Zoe's cousins and friends had no faith or trust in Zoe whatsoever. How could they even call themselves her friends? It didn't take long for them to turn on her, heaping everything on her shoulders, blaming her for things she couldn't control and not one of them asked her how she felt, what she was having trouble with or how they could help her. No, it was just "I want you to do this for me", "I want you to do that for me", so selfish. She had but one defender though it was implied he had a special ability that meant he could see the truth of things more easily.

The Pyr mythology is interesting and the humorous way the book is written meant this was a breeze to read. I was a little uncomfortable with the romance aspect of things because I wasn't quite clear on the age difference between Zoe and her beau. It may have been only three years (Zoe's 15) but I got the impression it was more. However, the romance isn't the main aspect of the book and there's very little angst.

Isabelle confused me a bit. Although she's set up as competition in the battle for Nick's affection so Zoe automatically dislikes her which comes through loud and clear, I hated Isabelle, too. She was overly earnest and way too helpful. I found her behaviour suspect. No one is that nice. I kept waiting for her dark side to show itself. I was also flummoxed by the prophecy that Nick and Zoe would one day be together when in fact dragon lore states that male and female dragons can never form relationships. Colour me confused.

I didn't particularly like the plot, mainly because it showed the majority of the characters in an extremely negative light, in effect discouraging you from liking them and made them appear weak and stupid. I think I would've been better off reading the adult series first so I could get a better grounding and understanding of the world-building and of the dragon history and mythology.

Flying Blind was an average read for me, nothing supremely outstanding about it except it's lack of angst, love triangles and all-consuming romance, which I suppose does mean it stands out from the crowd after all. ;) ( )

Umm... not really comfortable with a 20-something year old going for a 15 year old. I mean, I get that she could have a crush, but it's kind of creeping me out that he'd reciprocate. ( )

The plot was interesting although there are things that really aren't explained, and Zoe's ability to harness her dragon powers seems to come awfully easy after years of not being able to do anything. Fans of romance and dragons will probably enjoy this well enough. ( )