If you’re a writer, you probably have that one story scribbled down in a journal from when you were fourteen that will never see the light of day. Getting lost in faraway worlds and imagining dynamic characters fostered a goal of maybe, one day, becoming a real author.
The manifestation of every young writer’s dream is embodied in Dragon Pearls, as author Deborah Rose’s transformed her story from notebook pages into a published debut novel. Released earlier this month by Gatsby House Publishing—where Rose herself works as an editor— she reintroduces her world of dragons, royalty, and magical jewelry while staying true to her original vision from ten years ago.
Dragon Pearls is a YA fantasy adventure about a fourteen-year-old girl named Esther who discovers an old pearl necklace and quickly goes from an ordinary teenager to a dragon queen. With her newfound dragon, Steady, and her gang of magical allies, she discovers a new world, and with this come new enemies who seek to threaten her reign.
Rose’s strong suit in the narrative is her character relationships. Like the coming-of-age fantasy books before Dragon Pearls, at the heart of the transition from everyday life to an otherworldly realm is navigating the daunting unknown and forging friendships. Esther’s connection to Liam was one of my favorites to read because they essentially experienced this shift in reality together. The exceptionally high stakes in the plot strengthen their friendship as well, providing well-rounded portrayals. I adore when fantasy books have dragon bonds, so of course Steady won over my heart. His and Esther’s dedication to each other was touching and made me relive my childhood dreams of being a dragonrider.
One of the weaker points of the story was the world-building. Rose accomplishes incorporating the genre elements into the plot and organizing the overarching systems. Yet, that is where she stops. There is no further construction or elaboration about why magic coexists alongside the ordinary world. Compared to other YA fantasy, Dragon Pearls is half-baked, which resulted in me not feeling immersed in its universe.
I would be lying if I said I couldn’t tell a fourteen-year-old wrote this book. A clear, distinct adolescent voice is consistent throughout the narrative, but, rather than some editorial mistake, this is Rose’s intention to cultivate authenticity and foster nostalgia for readers not in the YA demographic. The prose and dialogue reminded me of stories I wrote at that age, as well as all of the media I consumed all those years ago that I still hold dear to my heart. All of this to say, if you’re going into this book wanting an adult literary experience and nothing else, then it will not be for you.
Dragon Pearls’ fantasy genre, in my eyes, acts as a sort of double entendre. Yes, the story is steeped in whimsical imagination, but it also speaks to a different type of magic: the magic of dreams coming true. To a fourteen-year-old, it is truly a fantasy to think about having your treasured story published. In her debut novel, Rose unveils and makes true both the fantasy of Esther’s world and the fantasy of her own creative goals. This realization gave me a new, deeply inspired reading experience that spoke to the young writer I was and the slightly older one I have become, all thanks to those stories penned in my childhood notebooks.
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Image taken from Amazon
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