The Dragon and the Stone
by Kathryn Butler · The Dream Keeper Saga #1 · 2022
Even though she’s only 12 years old, Lily McKinley already feels the weight of the world’s brokenness. She’s seen it in her mother’s exhaustion, her grandmother’s illness, and the cruelty of Adam, the bully at her school. But most tragically, she experienced it two months ago when her father died in a terrible accident. As an artistic daydreamer, Lily has a brilliant imagination to help her cope, but that imagination often gets her into trouble. One day, it transports her to a fantasy world called the Somnium Realm, where her father’s secret history embroils her in an epic quest. With the help of a dragon guide named Cedric, Lily battles evil shrouds, harpies, and other creatures to find her way through grief, rescue the world from evil, and discover the power of redemption.
Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 ratings · Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Reviews
Kaytlin Phillips — 5/5
Wow! I loved the whole concept of this book and I'm so regretting not getting the rest of the series when I was at the used bookstore! A realm of dreams? Say what? Like...amazing and I just adored this adventure so fantastical! Characters: Lily was such a endearing character. She was realistic and so selfless when it came to helping her friends! So brave when it came to facing danger for them, she moved past some major terror and didn't even know what she was doing half the time except that she had to save her friends! *hugs* I don't often like female MCs but Lily made it onto my I really like this gal list. Adam was fun! I can't wait to learn more of his story...he was a bit of turd, at first, but he came around and his realist responses to be transported to some other world was AMAZING! I'm right there with you, dude. Take me home. XD Cedric! What can I say about this lovable dragon! Eeek, he was soo much fun and I loved him! Like, seriously, he was amazing and I can't wait for my sister to read this book so we can talk about Cedric together! There were so many other humorous, awesome, cool, scary, amazing, and terrifying characters! And I enjoyed each one! Themes: There seems to be a theme that dreams matter, that stories and art matter, that we are never alone! I love how often this theme is popping up for me in fiction. XD Romance: N/A Language: N/A Magic: There are stones that if you think about needing help and believe it will come create help for you in the same of some creature or person. It's really cool...most can just call on already created dreams, such as book characters but some are artisans and able to make their own characters (so to speak) from scratch. Violence/Gore: There is some injuries, but everything is handled with a middle-grade audience in mind and was done very well. Overall: This was such a fun adventure and ends nicely! Still, I want the rest of the series! So I'm hopeful the bookstore will have them when I go in a couple weeks! This was such a fun and imaginative book! Recommended age 7+ Would also be a fun read aloud!