Vivian is 17 yrs old, a 2nd class citizen growing up in 1920's London. Viv works hard and studies harder to make sure the she and her little sister, Ursa, don't drop to third class. But when her parents are abruptly arrested for supposedly assisting the dragon rebellion, Viv has to resort to committing a major crime to try and get them out. Instead of jail, Viv is offered a "job" - codebreak the dragon language for her government. If she succeeds, she and her parents can go home and resume life as normal. If she fails, they all die. As Viv learns more about the dragons and their language, she comes to realize that the working relationship between dragons and humans isn't actually working, and she must choose who to side with in the war. 

I really enjoyed this!! I think this is an amazing YA novel that touches upon the politics of a class system and morally corrupt government, and making it palatable (as someone who doesn't like history) with the fantastical elements of dragons. It is age appropriate while also written mature enough to keep older readers invested. Viv is a strong, relatable, morally gray FMC who is wiling to do just about anything to try and save her family. The side characters were well rounded (and also morally gray, which I loved) - they all had committed some type of crime and all had something on the line, forcing them to work for the government for their and their families' freedom. We also had a cute romance sub-plot between Viv and one of the other people indebted to this program, I enjoyed their build up a lot. 

I also really enjoyed the world building - we got a good sense of the government and their incessant need to control the population and dragons, and the perpetual class system keeping them in control with the threat of poverty. The one thing that I think lacked in the world building was in the setting of the time period - we're told this takes place in the 1920's but we don't get a lot of visual storytelling that cements that fact. There's some tidbits here and there - the news stories that are dated and placed at the end of each chapter, and the device they use to codebreak is compared to a gramophone. But beyond that, we don't get a lot of descriptors that would put us in this epoch. For all intents and purposes, it could've taken place in present day minus the technology like tv's and cell phones. The way they spoke was modern, the way they dressed was modern, and the only thing putting them in that time period was the fact that we were told it took place in that time period. 

Another minor complaint I have is the pacing - we start of strong with Viv getting caught in a public riot on her way home, then her parents getting caught, then her committing this crime in an attempt to free them. All within the first 3-4 chapters. Then once she's placed in the government program, we slow down for most of the middle part of the book as we focus on Vivian's attempts to codebreak, then we pick back up again for the final battle at the end. There were some intense moments in the middle that helped with pacing, but I think the initial jump from basically starting a war to what feels like Violet going back to school gave me a bit of whiplash. Don't get me wrong - I very much enjoyed following Viv and her linguistic and draconic explorations, but the start feels very intense for a story that doesn't keep up that pace. 

I believe this is a series (the ending very much left the story in somewhat of a cliffhanger), and I would definitely like to continue once the next is released!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins, & S. F. Williamson for the eARC! All opinions are my own.