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theirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
The Vystrani religious practices very closely mimic orthodox Judaism, so I've categorized Isabella's comment about her younger self writing the Vystrani religious practices in a exoticizing/fetishizing light as similar to antisemitism (although this is in no way obvious in the text itself).hebifry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
At first I was rooting for Lady Trent. She's tried to study dragons her whole life, it's clearly a passion that she can't ignore. But once she actually gets the opportunity, she is so insufferable that it's painful to read about. The majority of the book is not even about dragons, it's her issues with the villagers, an unfamiliar land, not being included as a woman, etc. And that would be all well and good if there was actually any growth there at all. But she doesn't grow even slightly! In fact, her arrogance continues to put people in danger until the very last page.
I went into this expecting something like Phyrne Fisher and got colonialist, priveleged, whiny British woman instead. The way she talks about the land she is a guest in and the villagers is guillotine worthy. She is constantly disrespecting them, insulting their culture, even ridiculing their religious leader in some instances. And this is where I felt that the realism was the most egregious. I understand the tone of the book, but it's for a modern audience. Do we as readers really want to root for someone as awful as Lady Isabella Camherst? If she had tried even slightly to show respect to them, it wouldn't have been such a dealbreaker, but from her first day, she just hates everything about it. She can't find a single thing or person that she likes in the entire village. Her older voice writing the story insists that she is simply naive but I can't imagine it improves much and even if it does, it should improve IN the first book. Long series are not an excuse for having zero character growth in your first book.
And if her aristocratic arrogance wasn't enough she also has so much internal misogyny, it was hard to read. A serious case of Not Like Other Girls syndrome. There is not a single female character (besides herself of course) that is shown to have a brain. Her mother is strict and catty, her maid is unfeeling and rude, her friend is frivolous and stupid, etc. She just hates every woman she meets for truly no reason.
If there's one positive, I would say that naturalist lens in viewing dragons was very inventive and well-written. Those were my favorite aspects of the book. I would not recommend this book but would love to see this idea explored elswhere.
Minor: Xenophobia and Colonisation
euphemiajo's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Alcohol
mothmania's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
judassilver's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage and Injury/Injury detail
lunep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Rape, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
kalira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry
squinnittowinit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nation
Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Colonisation
luna_staci's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, and Colonisation
meganpbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism