The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

Information

Goodreads: The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart
Series: Untitled #1
Source: Library
Published: May 2017

Official Summary

Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she’s ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw.

But she’s still the fiercest creature in the mountains — and now she’s found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she’ll be conquering new territory in no time…won’t she?

Review

The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart combines two things a lot of readers are going to love: dragons and chocolate.  In this story, a young dragon turned into a human and separated from her family has to learn to make her way in the human world—which, first of all, means making money.  Aventurine has never been entirely sure what her great passion in life would be, but once she tastes this thing that humans call chocolate, there’s no turning back: she has to apprentice with a chocolatier.

The story is a charming one, filled with some amusing mishaps as Aventurine has to figure out how to think like humans, whom she always considered unintelligent, beneath her notice, but maybe a source of food.  This means practical things like what a town is and how to function in one, but also more abstract things like cultural and societal norms about what is appropriate to say or to wear.  Aventurine always maintains her sense of dragoness, however, and has a bold, fiery personality she never allows anyone to beat down.

The world building is occasionally a bit sparse, but it’s just enough for the story.  Readers get the sense there are other countries and other magical creatures, but none of that is really the point.  The focal point is Aventurine’s town and the nearby mountains where her dragon family lives.  Conveniently the royal family lives here, too, though one does not always get the sense it is a large enough city to be the seat of the government.

The main point is that I enjoyed the story.  It’s unfortunately one of those books where I can’t seem to think of much more to say about it than that; it doesn’t offer any deep themes beyond the general stuff you might encounter in middle grade fantasy—finding yourself, dealing with friends, etc.  I had fun reading it, and I would recommend it, but overall it does seem a bit light.