Flying Behind by Deborah Cooke

Genre: Dragons

Paperback: 308 Pages

Published: June 7, 2011

Series: The Dragon Diaries

            1. Flying Behind

            2. Winging It

            3. Blazing the Trail

Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Review:

            Flying Blind took me completely by surprise. The story follows Zoë Sorensson, the only female dragon in existence, who has duties to fulfill when she comes of age. Well the problem is that her problems haven't surfaced yet and the few times they do appear--in the form of flame in the pupils of her eyes and a singe talon--she can't control them. So now she is being shipped off to "boot camp" for dragons where she's huddled with a group of dragon boys she has known all her life, including Nick the guy she's been crushing on (who she may be destined to be with). 

            The dragon mythology is well thought out, with specific details to their behavior, shifting, and culture. My favorite part was how the author described the shifting of the dragons. They were vividly beautiful and descriptive. Also the coloring of the dragons were beautiful. The plot was surprising fast and kept me entertained enough that I finished the book with in hours of starting it.

            Zoë is a funny, bright young narrator who is very likable. She has some issues she needs to figure out but she is very mature about her problems. I really liked how the other characters had a strong voice and played a supportive role in the story (even if they had a small part). My favorite character so far would be Jared, a 20 year old guy with a Ducati, a sweet nature and of course a badass attitude. At first he seems like he might be a shady character but as the story progresses he turns out to be a sweet heart with a few secrets of his own. But the main issue is how does he know about dragons. He is human and the dragon law states no human shall know that dragons truly exist. So I am definitely excited to find out why he is an exception and what is he trying to hide. One thing I found hilarious was  that Zoë, a kickass dragon shifting girl, is a vegetarian. HAHAHAH