• No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished

  • Heartstrikers, Book 3
  • By: Rachel Aaron
  • Narrated by: Vikas Adam
  • Length: 18 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (5,706 ratings)

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No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished  By  cover art

No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished

By: Rachel Aaron
Narrated by: Vikas Adam
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Publisher's summary

When Julius overthrew his mother and took control of his clan, he thought he was doing right by everyone. But sharing power isn't part of any proper dragon's vocabulary, and with one seat still open on the new ruling council, all of Heartstriker is ready to do whatever it takes to get their claws on it, including killing the Nice Dragon who got them into this mess in the first place.

To keep his clan together and his skin intact, Julius is going to have to find a way to make his bloodthirsty siblings play fair. But there's more going on in Heartstriker Mountain than politics. Every family has its secrets, but the skeletons in Bethesda's closet are dragon sized, and with Algonquin's war looming over them all, breaking his clan wide open might just be the only hope Julius has of saving it.

©2016 Rachel Aaron (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,340
  • 4 Stars
    1,101
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    39
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Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
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    728
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    3,828
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    1,071
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hold on tight

because there are so many amazing twists in this book, you will be holding onto each word. Beautiful performance by Vikas Adam, as usual. Every character is distinctly different, which is great because Rachel introduces us to more of the Heartstriker clan.

If you thought that presidential elections were stressful, just try to get a bunch of dragons to elect their new clan representative. Poor Julius just wants everyone to stop trying to kill each other.

I loved this book and I am biting my nails until the next one releases! Please, Bob, tell me when that will be!

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Nice Dragon Not so Nice Anymore

Have I said before how much I absolutely love this story, especially as an audiobook? I have. And I still do despite how ridiculously long this book is in comparison to the previous. The length isn't the problem, although I do like to listen to stories I can start and finish during work, but it was extra hours of words. By words I mean:

Marci is the queen of exposition. She exists just so things can be explained to us readers/listeners through her. And that made me want to skip over some of her very long scenes. There was just too much talking, too much unnecessary explaining. Julius is just as bad. "No. We can't keep killing each other. We have love and sing campfire songs and be one big happy family..." or something along those lines. We've listened to him preach in book one. We listened even more in book 2. Now, I'm tired of hearing it. I'm so tired of hearing it. It was very annoying.

Now the good parts:

Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea. I've adored her since she first stepped out of the shadows in book 1, I adore her even more now. And her secret? Oh her secret! Mannnnnn!!! That is a secret I can't WAIT to be revealed. And Bob and Amelia T_T. And Chelsea. I knew the ending was going to happen from the very beginning. What I wanted was for Julius to connect those dots. But he didn't. He's too nice to pry. And too blinded in a rage that was all things glorious and draconic and wonderful that brought tears to my eyes and damn you Chelsea from stepping in.

Again, Vikas does a great job, especially with the new characters. 5 stars for him
3 stars for the story. Too much exposition and Julius repeating the same thing. And to be perfectly honest, everything was predictable. The secret. The ending. Marci. What the new characters would do. All predictable.
4 stars overall, because the next book is gonna be awesome!!!!!
And Chelsea.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Whiny Protagonist

Whereas Julius, the protagonist, was a likable ernest dragon in the earlier books, he came across like a dogmatic idiot who spent all his time pontificating in this book.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Poor plot/protagonist, but interesting world building.

Protagonist: (1/5) Be prepared to have everyone try to convince the protagonist that he is not a failure from start to end.

Plot: (1/5) This book tries really hard to make pacifism the solution for everything, but it feels forced/fake. By the end it would feel natural if the main character harnessed the power of friendship and love to defeat some evil incarceration of hatred and murder.

There is so much plot armor that If the main character died I could see god himself coming down saying “the world needs you” and then brings him back...repeatedly.

Lore: (4/5) the book performs enjoyable world building and includes it into the story fairly well. The perspective is unique even if the protagonist himself is not.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Whoa.

Please focus on the sequel and write away.

Listening to this had me so giddy.
I found myself relating to almost every character, which surprised me.

Felt so many things, in so many ways.

I took off work, put my headphones on and listened.
A day later.. I found myself listening to the epilogue verbally and physically cheering.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great addition to the series! :D

4.5-5 stars

This was a great addition to the series. I will note that it picks up right on the heels of book #2 so I wouldn't try reading this without reading books 1 & 2 first (but the whole series is worth the read so go for it!).

After the overthrow of Bethesda in the previous book, Julius (and the siblings on his side) are faced with trying to find a third member for the council and trying to keep their mother from conniving her way around the council so she can take back the power that comes with being head of the clan. There are things constantly going on which is great for keeping the story interesting but it did make the Julius/Marcy aspect of the story a little distant in this book. The attraction is still strong between them and they both have intentions on making their relationship into more than friendship but with everything going on in this book....well, let's just say they don't have time right now.

While the whole Heartstriker clan business is going on, Julius has some other issues that confront him as well but most of his issues revolve around the clan and the new council they're trying to implement. It doesn't go easily and he has to fend off a number attempts on his life while trying to keep the rest of the clan in line. Since dragons tend to solve their issues with violence and think of their own advantage above all else, it's not easy to convince them that working together would actually be beneficial. Julius has success in his attempts but not without heavy costs to himself.

Marcy has some trouble she has to handle as well. This mostly revolves around her spirit, Ghost, and the fact that because of her connection to Ghost, she could possibly become the next Merlin (Merlin is actually a title for a Mage that is immensely stronger than other mages). A pair from the United Nations shows up to talk to the Heartstrikers about the fact that Algonquin (the powerful spirit that controls the DFZ) declared war on the dragons but they already know about Marcy when they arrive and make no bones about wanting to get to her. They have their reasons for being interested in Marcy but I had reservations about them from the beginning and those reservations appear to have been right. By the end of the story, Marcy ends up in some trouble which is directly related to the UN pair and I wasn't thrilled about it at all!

This story was so very enjoyable. I loved reading about the exploits of Julius, Marcy and the rest and I can't wait to read more. Since the story left some things a bit unfinished (particularly Marcy's part of the story) I hope the author writes quickly! So much happened in this book so I can't really complain but I just don't want to end and make me have to wait for more! There were a few points in the story that had me actually wondering how it would work out (believably) but the author managed to pull them all through so the story went on smoothly and in a fitting way. Overall, I was very pleased with this story and I love the characters. I'd definitely recommend this series. :D

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Please kill off Julius, as his story is pointless.

The Good: The world; the supporting characters of Bob, Amelia, Chelsea, and even Ian. The spirits and the magic system.

The bad: Julius and his never ending EMO whine of unimaginative and pointless pining. This character is clearly an ill conceived, non-evolving, depthless romance novel set piece, hiding behind dragon veneer. I thought he would grow, but he's just as awful as book one. His behavior is simple minded, especially when compared to the other characters, who are so well thought out. I honestly feel that removing him from the series is the only way to save it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The perfect mix of action and character developmen

Sometimes when a story has a lot of action there is a dearth of character development. That's not the case with this story. Lots of suspense and surprises. The characters were great; intelligent, compassionate, conniving and wonderfully quirky. The narration was great. Each voice was separate and believable with great inflection and pacing. I can't wait for the next book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Book of the YEAR!!

Would you listen to No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished again? Why?

Yes, because Rachel is an amazing author and clearly pours her love into her books! The narrator does a great job as well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished?

All of it! But her endings are always the best

Which character – as performed by Vikas Adam – was your favorite?

Bob and Justin

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great series

Another wonderful story. I found this book to be as good as the 1st two and will continue to listen.

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