Book Review: Cracked Open By T.L. Christianson

Cracked Open

(Dragon Born Academy #1)
By T.L. Christianson

Dragons, bonded mates, and irreversible decisions...

After a car accident left my only parent – my father in the hospital, I was swept away to the Dragon Born Academy by my estranged grandmother.

If I had to be there, I’d be an observer of this place with its rituals and superstitions… After all, everyone’s made it clear I don’t belong.

But then it happened…and Ashe Carrick – my impossibly irresistible bond-mate happened.

Being Cracked Open changed everything… Who I thought I was, WHAT I thought I was…

DRAGON BORN.

The words alone bring to mind monsters and princesses in castles.

I am the princess and the monster they locked away. However, my story has no damsels in distress, waiting to be rescued.

It’s self-rescue time, and I’m done playing nice.

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(Linked to my review)

My Review:

Even though I enjoyed this book it was still beyond frustrating. The adults were complete nincompoops. The heroine was left the in dark until the end of the story (even at the end we still know barely anything for a fact). She was lied to and manipulated but expected to like where she was at and be meek and accepting about everything anyone did to her. They treat her like a child and get angry when she acts like one. Sheesh.

Now to the elephant in the room: The age gap. Normally I don't mind big age gaps, especially in paranormal romance novels. It's to be expected to a certain degree in the genre. This one bothered me though and it still continues to make me feel icky. It would have been so much better for the author to have aged up the main couple by 2 years each. Why not make it so that in the Dragonborn society she's considered a minor at 20 and can only bond at 25 or something. It would have been weird but understandable with a lot of world-building surrounding it. 

Ah! Something else that was severely lacking in this book: worldbuilding. I read a whole book and I barely know the ins and outs of how their society works. We were over halfway into the book before the dragon families were even explained in vague detail. Worldbuilding is key to making a novel believable. 

For the first time in my life, I actually wanted some info-dumps. I was that desperate. It lacked THAT much worldbuilding. I wanted to immerse myself in this world but there was only the barest sprinkle of information about it which made it impossible. 

One thing that really ground my nerves was all the slut-shaming directed at the heroine both from an adult and her peers. Let's get one thing straight: The heroine had NO choice where the mating was concerned. She was in the dark about everything including the possible consequences of the ritual they did on her. No one had any idea that a bonding could take place in those circumstances. The hero did his best to hold back but his dragon/magic/destiny was stronger. Neither of them CHOSE to be bonded. She isn't a homewrecker (as I've seen mentioned in other reviews). Being a homewrecker implies that she went out of her way to be in a relationship with a guy she knew was with someone else. That didn't happen. It was destiny, not a choice both parties took.

Another thing I disliked was how the hero liked to tell the heroine that she didn't seem/act like her age. It was actually disturbing and made me feel all kinds of wrong. Though I loved how sweet, caring, and understanding he was. I liked how he didn't push her into anything and put the brakes on when he felt it was getting to be too much. He was a stand-up guy working his way up the food chain in the Dragonborn society and his obligations weren't put aside just because the bond happened without their control.

I found myself agreeing with a lot of what the heroine was thinking and reasoning out for herself. I was very surprised by how much she used her brain and backbone for being only 16. The adults didn't want to deal with her asking questions and compromising on some key factors. Her runaway attempts were valid. Since no one around her was telling her even the basics of this world, she (within reason) was going to go back to the one constant in her life one way or another. I can't blame her for that. It felt like every adult in her life either wanted to bully her or wanted her complacent which is why they were so closed-lipped about everything. 

Even though there were a few plot holes that had me scratching my head I'm willing to give the next book a chance. I'm praying to the almighty book gods that there's more worldbuilding and less lying in the next book!

My Rating: