Big Dragons Don't Cry by CM Barrett (A Dragon�s Guide to Destiny #1)

9/10

Big Dragons Don’t Cry is a tale about a young kitten, Tara, who is conceived to become the Chosen, she who will start The Quest. No-one knows exactly what the Quest entails, but all cats are sure that it is of the upmost importance. The only thing that they know is that humanity has gone too far, and the only thing that can restore the world to balance is this Quest. Humanity has shed the bonds of the physical; they revere Mind and disdain anything emotional. Their purely reasoning minds are denied both love and hate. Because of their lack of compassion they have no qualms about destroying nature. While growing up, Tara is trained to become the Chosen. She’s told to trust her instincts and to remain open to the whispers of the Long-Whiskered One. Along her journey she will meet many species and learn many lessons. It’s now up to her to find a way to get through to the clouded minds of the humans...

I consider this a book for young teenagers who are starting their own journey as readers. It took me some time to figure out what the target audience was. The story itself is rather childlike in its chaos and naivety, which made me certain that I was reading a children’s book, yet frequent mentions of ‘mounting’ and its human equivalent, especially early in the story, forced me to estimate the age a little higher. However, the story is full of morals and emphasizes on the importance of balance between reasoning and emotion. I’m sure that there are a lot of life-lessons to be found for young minds. And of course, reading about our feline friends always makes for a nice change of pace!