Slayers by C.J. Hill

Genre: Dragons

Hardcover: 373 Pages

Published: September 27, 2011

Series: Slayers

            1. Slayers

            2. Friends and Traitors

            3. TBA

Rating:★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

            Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.
            The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

My Review:

            Wouldn't it be cool if dragons really existed? Or turned into men like in the book Smolder by Penelope Fletcher. That would be even more interesting! But no. Slayers takes a whole new perspective on dragons. Instead of wanting a dragon for a pet, the slayers are supposed to kill them. This book is about a young rich girl who discovers that she has been descended from dragon slayers and is now destined to kill newly awakening dragons in order to save the world. I wouldn't say that this book is fast paced but it takes a while to build up to the plot. The characters however, are strong and interesting.

            The main character (Tori) is perceived by everyone to be a spoiled brat and at times she is. But she over comes her issues of her destiny and mans up. Some of the other characters like Dirk and Jesse are head strong and probably my favorite. They show leadership and don't take crap from anyone. What I liked most about them was how they kept their teams together and didn't give up on each other. Even after Tori was being a baby and not taking her responsibilities seriously they kept encouraging her to not give up. Because they needed her to be a slayer. The character building was good and I truly felt like I connected with each of them.   

            As much as I enjoyed the book, there were a few issues that came up. First the story line was very predictable. Main character has to save the world and if she doesn't the world will be taken over by the bad guys. There was of course a love triangle and one of the guys has to be the bad one. And of course Tori would have to choose between one or the other. Also the basics of the story was very similar to others I have read. For example in Slayers the kids have to go to camp where they train to be dragon slayers. This was similar to Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter. So that's a definite NO on originality. But it was still fascinating to read about dragons and to jump into a world with compelling villains, a spunky heroine, and a mysterious character named Ryker who is mentioned, but rarely seen. I hope in the second book we will get to meet Ryker! *fingers crossed*