bookswithlauren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Child death
courtreadssmutt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Ableism, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Vomit
prairieraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Ableism, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Violence, Police brutality, Genocide, Stalking, Sexual content, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny
eatingbrains's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
I could not read the word badass without cringing. The world building was positively wild. It's in a more historical fantasy setting where they write with quills, use weapons, crossbows were a big deal, people who wield magic have access to smaller abilities like locking/unlocking doors, making mage light, etc. There lots of wooden shit, but that also translated to having wooden exercise equipment to essential get swole in a modern fashion, rather than bodyweight exercises. There's a brief mention right at the beginning about shoe sizes which means they have standardized them? And the whole riders quadrant can get married before everyone else when the graduate.... At age 23? That's early for this society? And the focus of sexual relations was just pervasive. The talk of raging hormones... The convenience of fertility suppressants getting a brief mention before boning down. Oh and gods are worshipped, but not by dragons.
There was some disability rep that I think was decent considering that it was a fantastical setting with healers, and the character didn't want to "look weak" and would refuse treatment to speed the healing process. There was some LGBT+ rep as well, but mostly on a surface level for side characters.
Honestly, it was fine but the romance had me putting the book down regularly and made finishing this book difficult.
Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Stalking, Classism, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, Death, Grief, Torture, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Bullying, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War
mattiedancer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Beyond that, I believe the novel started at maybe the worst possible start. I either needed more of Violet’s life before joining the Riders or less. I had a sliver of it, and it served only to push back the action without doing any concrete service to the characters or the plot.
- Fans of ACOTAR & TOG
- Fans of dragon-centered books
- Readers not deterred by a few tropes and predictable plots
- Someone looking for a fast and fun fantasy read
- Death, sexual content, death of parent, grief, torture, murder, fire/fire injury, blood, ableism, violence, war, bullying
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, and Gaslighting
shuglen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Sexual content
diana_raquel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A rider without their dragon is dead.”
I started this book because I friend of mine wanted to start reading again and didn't know what to read. And because this was something that was recommended to her, we decided to do a buddy read. However, not gonna lie, I had a lot of doubts about this one. This book gets a lot of hype and I tend to have a very 50/50 reaction to hyped books: I either love them or hate them.
Well, take this review with a grain of salt (because I'm still riding the fumes - that's why I'm not going to give 5 stars to this book) but I f****** love this book! I loved every single second of it. The drama, the action, the romance, everything has its time and blends together to make a really good story! The characters are well written and structured!
I'm excited to start the second book, and really recommend this series!!!
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Violence, War, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Stalking, and Medical trauma
Minor: Physical abuse
vas_17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Xenophobia, Bullying, Animal death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Grief, Blood, Animal cruelty, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, War, Violence, Death, and Cursing
Minor: Vomit and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
littletiramisu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence