The Beginning of an End

The Beginning of an End, by Miss C.L. Scarlett, is a Young-Adult Fantasy novel about a girl who transforms into a dragon. The beginning of the book introduces us to Muka Dwarkanoth, who is an immigrant to Australia. She and her family awaken one morning to find that they have all transformed into creatures during the night. While coming to terms with their transformations, they are rounded up by an organization called the IMA, or International Marvelous Achievements.

The book then begins to detail the struggle of Muka against this organization. It follows a cyclical plot as Muka escapes, is captured, and escapes again. These cycles are used to show the cruelty of the IMA and also slowly reveal the transformed world that Muka has awakened to.

I would say that the book's biggest strength is its descriptions. The descriptions are very subjective to the current protagonist’s viewpoint; very nearly every description is laced with feeling, as we get a sense of the viewer’s bias based on how they describe the matter. This is the part of the book that I enjoyed the most, as the author details very vividly the feelings of strength, wonder, and power that Muka often feels as a dragon.

The part of the book I liked the least, however, was how often the narrative seemed to depend on Muka’s capture. Despite being a dragon and having the power of flight, it seems as though Muka is constantly getting captured despite her numerous advantages of being a dragon. I found this frustrating as Miss Scarlett does such a great job of making the IMA hateable, that I kept waiting for their comeuppance. Thankfully, the book rewards the reader for their long wait by the end of the book.

Despite being, in my opinion, excellently written, there are a handful of errors sprinkled throughout the novel. One of the most interesting errors occurs on pages 411 and 419, where it seems as though Muka is referred to by a different name: Cara. Furthermore, while not an error, there is a portion of the book where Muka finds some documents on the IMA. I feel these documents, when revealed to the reader, do not hold up to the same written standard as the rest of the book.

The book is rather long, at nearly 600 pages. However, if one reads by chapters, the book can be completed rather quickly, as each chapter is around 20 pages. The book, while mainly following Muka, occasionally follows a secondary character named Damien. This is an infrequent occurrence, however, as Damien’s chapters can be counted on nearly one hand.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Young-Adult Fantasy and descriptions of young romance. While romantic relationships are not strictly entered into, character descriptions are often subject to the bias of the viewer, depending on their attractiveness. I would also note that one of the central themes of this book may be powerlessness, as Muka frequently struggles to overcome an oppressive, authoritative figure despite her many gifts.

Length: 582 pages

Perspective: Limited 3rd person

Tense: Past

Kindle Unlimited: Yes

 https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-End-MatchSpark-Retellings-I-ebook/dp/B0FCRG7ZWG