La Perla del Dragón

I really wanted to love this book. It contains every element necessary to make a great children's story come to life, a cool twist to a classic sci-fi setting, and a unique tie to Korean folklore. Sadly, I was disappointed.Adventures should unfold through encountering unexpected circumstances, and navigating the challenges that arise; which should lead to personal growth and/or a transformative experience. Here is the crux of the issue; Min ultimately lacks this growth, and her transformative experience feels forced.This book ends up being a blend of bad decisions, crazy luck, and unbelievable resolutions. The narrative rarely follows logic, a problem exacerbated by a thirteen-year-old protagonist who possesses decision-making skills far below what she should be capable of.Additionally, while the author excels at world-building and crafting unique characters, most of these characters fail to leave a lasting impact on Min. Those who do seem connected only by social convention rather than genuine bond.If you only read chapters 1–3, 10, 13, 20–21, and 28–38, you'd have all the plot information needed to follow future installments. The rest is purely world-building and characters who serve no purpose. WHICH IS VERY SAD. The excluded chapters have the best depictions of the universe, the most in depth characters, and the most potential. Unfortunately, they simply have ZERO lasting impact on Min or the story at large. It's fluff. The author arguably bit off more than he could chew. This narrative would have benefited greatly from being expanded and split into multiple installments to properly develop relationships and allow Min to find herself. We lost many great characters, who deserved better, along the way. Instead, the book functions primarily as a staging ground for a future series.My final verdict:While I probably sound harsh, I feel neutrally about this. The sci-fi concepts were cool! The Korean folklore was fresh! The powers were neat! And if you strap in, turn your brain off, and just go along for the ride you will probably enjoy yourself. But that requires you to ignore quite a few mis-steps along the way.I understand that the book is geared towards children. However, that is not a good excuse for forced plot points, underdeveloped/abandoned characters, and convenient conflict resolutions. I was hoping for meat and potatoes. The author gave me bread.

I liked most of the storyline enough to want to keep reading, but not enough to want to read the next two. The world it was written in was really interesting, and I want to learn more about it, but not through there books.