The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli (2017)

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It’s been years since young Asha led the notorious dragon Kozu to her city. In the aftermath, almost everything was burned, including most of her body. As a way to regain her city’s trust, she has committed herself to be the most fierce dragon hunter, and her father has promised her hand in marriage to Jarek, who lost his entire family during the fire. Days before her wedding, Asha is met with a proposition by her father: hunt and kill Kozu and and her upcoming marriage will be dispersed. However, Asha brother, Dax, has his own plans for the city that Asha accidentally plays in by freeing a slave from Jarek’s hands. Now, she has to hide a slave and kill Kozu, all behind Jarek’s back. The days are counting down, and Asha is realizing more and more that there are power plays behind every move.
I originally had no idea The Last Namsara even existed until one of my friends who actually knows Kristen Ciccarelli (the author) recommended it to me. This book is one of many that came out of Pitch Wars, an event held every year for debut authors without publishers. After hearing the synopsis, I was totally sold. Heroic dragon lady? Yes, please. This book proved to be everything I’ve ever wanted in a dragon fantasy, and it’s already one of my favorite books of the year.
In the beginning I really struggled with the main character, Asha. On one hand, Asha is a princess that totally sees through all the ridiculous gender constructs she is forced into and realizes that she faces a system of oppression. On the other hand, she is horrible to anyone who is labeled a slave and completely takes advantage of her power. Yes, throughout the book, she goes through this journey of learning all people as equal, but it was hard for me to appreciate her as a character for the first half of the book.
Regardless of whether Asha was a good person, she was still an interesting character. However, Asha hardly takes the spotlight in this book. Two of my other favorite characters were Dax (her brother) and Torwin (the slave she rescues). It seemed like Dax paved the light throughout the story. He was the only one in a stance of power that was willing to stand up for what was right, and I could see his character arc in a lot of people who are standing up for injustices in our own society. Still, Torwin was the one that really provided the humanity in this book. He constantly kept Asha in check with her privilege and wasn’t afraid about being honest with her. Torwin was also very graceful in his strength and was able to role model for other characters how to act in stressful situations.
Just like my struggle with Asha in the beginning, I also struggled with the beginning of the book. For the first forty or fifty pages, I had a hard time sifting through all the levels of storytelling that are introduced in the book. The rest of the book, however, I was addicted to. I loved the unique elements that surrounded the dragons, turning this book into a particular special YA novel. There was also some plot twists that I actually didn’t see through and were a nice surprise.
I don’t know if the author meant to, but I think there is a commentary in this book relating to the treatment of animals in this book. Throughout the novel, Asha’s able to realize that the way she’s treating dragons is problematic and that all things that are living deserve to be treated equally. I think this could specifically relate to the hunting of larger animals in our society today.
Overall, I had an amazing time reading The Last Namsara. As far as I know, more books will be released in this series from the points of view of different characters, which I’m excited for!


5 Stars

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