[Review] Dragons: The Essential Ties, Ricardo Chévere

Plot---Borys' parents were mysteriously killed when he was a little boy. He remembers a dragon from that night and, despite what others say, blames it for his parents' deaths. This hate for dragons leads him to seeking out dark magic...

Alanna almost drowns at her father's marina. She lives only because David jumps in the water after her, even though he doesn't know how to swim. Alanna can't understand how she survived, so now she's back in town looking for answers...
[Most of this copied from the back of the book.]

Why I picked it up---My grandmother gave me the book. Apparently it was written by her friend's second cousin's nephew. Or, you know, something like that. Anyway, she saw "dragons" and thought of me. I saw "dragons" and figured I'd like it. I <3 dragons.

What I liked about it---The concept of the plot interested me. And I felt bad for Borys because in the beginning you realize that the dragon is actually good and well yeah. I couldn't wait to get to Alanna's part of the story, for some reason she interested me more.

What I didn't like about it---The writing. I'm sorry, but it was painfully obvious that English was Chévere's second language. It wasn't so horrible that I couldn't understand it or anything. You'd just notice odd syntax and once in a while, and an odd verb tense or something. The story is good... I just can't get past the writing, unfortunately.

Recommendation---Well... Let's just say I couldn't finish reading this one. Which is probably a first. I'm a real stickler on finishing books. I've gotten to chapter 7. I might pick it up later, but I might not. Right now, though, I have other books I would rather move on to that I am fairly sure will be good. This one is going too slow for my taste.
Maybe I will pick it up again on a later date, when I'm in the mood for it.
It's kinda disappointing, I was looking forward to the story.

As always,
All praises to the King.