Review: Dragon Heart by Cecelia Holland

 I received a complimentary copy of this book from TOR in exchange for a review.

Cecelia is best known for her historical fiction, and this is her first foray into fantasy. I was really intrigued by the beginning of this story. Tirza is a fascinating protagonist because she is mute. She has been living away fro her family but is brought home by her very loving brother Jeon. 

The pair are traveling home by sea when the boat was upended and Tirza finds herself alone in the presence of a Dragon. A Dragon who she can somehow communicate with. 

To keep herself alive Tirza tells the Dragon stories, though she plots her escape.

once Tirza does escape however the tone and direction of the narrative change. The reader is then immersed in political intrigue with lots of different characters. It was here that the novel lost me. I couldnt really connect with the other characters and even Tirza's actions were very different then earlier in the book. 

It is difficult to follow narrative shifts when the reader has decided they know the direction of the story. I would have loved to have the book focus only on Tirza and the dragon, but that wasn't in alignment with the authors plans. So this book was a kind of mixed bag for me. I am interested in reading more books by this author.