Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Alas de sangre by Rebecca Yarros

47 reviews

juniebug82's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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candiegram's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25


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ghouligan's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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pbuzzard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • 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? Yes

5.0

This book was intense. I really loved that the characters were diverse. Read all the content warnings! I read this one and Iron Fist in 5 days total -- I was hooked!

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is complete cheese... YA Fiction styles with adult sexual content.
This is a huge mashup of a bunch of popular tropes; enemies to lovers, competitive survival/hunger games, magic school, magically branded, kid of the boss/warleader, with teen sensibilities but college age soldiers.

Spicy and silly with DRAGONS! .. and secrets, and libraries. telepathy, spirit bonds and a mildly unbelievable political premise.

This one gets bonus points for ethnic diversity and Disability rep.. the main character has joint hypermobility and chronic pain, and one of her friends is deaf-mute and uses sign language. This is a great illustration of people using various accommodations to allow people with different needs to meet their potential. The sexual content focuses on mindful and explicit consent.

The last part of the book annoyed me because BLAH battles.. I'm not really interested in battles. 

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mbomersheim's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Generally, books with dragons just don’t do it for me, and I think this is the most success I’ve had with this mythical creature. 

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the first book in The Empyrean series, taking place at a cut-throat school for those who hope to become a dragon rider. This book is something I’ve seen all over bookstagram and has gotten a good deal of hype, and I get why. It’s got your forbidden romance, love triangle, and hate-to-love tropes on top of the political maneuverings throughout the book. I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t really interested in picking it up; however, a couple of my friends suggested that I read it, so I thought I’d give it a go. 

Overall, I think this book was fine. The world-building was pretty solid, and the writing, while a bit cliche at times, was not bad. This being said, I had some issues. I thought the plot was pretty easy to predict. I thought there was an opportunity missed to do more with the students vying for a higher social/academic standing; I kind of wanted there to be more mind games played, but instead, the book was pretty clear about who the good guys and the bad guys were. There were abrupt cuts and time jumps throughout the book that made me feel like I was missing something, especially during the beginning of the training. Also, it felt like the main male “love interests” were just having a pissing contest with each other which got quite annoying after a bit. I guess it just felt like I’ve read similar stories before, granted without dragons, that I’ve enjoyed more, such as the Nevernight Chronicles. All this being said I have already started reading the sequel, so I guess I’m invested enough. 

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prairieraven's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • 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

Doesn't live up to the hype but it is a cute,  simple read for something that is military school for teens with dragons. The dragons are neat. 

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pandact's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • 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

4.75

You know a book is good when it's impossible to stop thinking about it all day!  I play a boardgame and think of Liam carving a dragon miniature, or riding a roller coaster feels like flying on a dragon. And this PLOT was a roller coaster with twists and fast paced writing comparable to a Sanderson avalanche. 
It also puts the adult in "young adult," if you know what I mean, and balances wish fulfillment with a gritty fantasy world. The magic is always dazzling and exciting, but so are the limitations and challenges for the characters. That's the best example (while avoiding spoilers) of how Yarros deftly avoided problematic tropes like a Supercrip, and you can tell it's OwnVoices. It felt like the book was reading my mind most of the time and you know the publishing team is going to go far because it's already signed for Amazon TV!
All I can hope is that the next book has an ending that's just as satisfying or waiting for the rest of the series is going to kill me!

For now I'll just listen to the soundtrack of How to Train Your Dragon and the bonus chapters 🐉

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seren's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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2blueshoes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book brought the “dangerous magical school” vibes of Harry Potter and mixed it with the “dystopia and constant death” of Hunger Games. I enjoyed it. I felt weird about it. I had a lot of questions. 

The heroine of this book (Violet) is twenty, but reads younger at first in her emotions and lack of experience. As a reader it is gratifying to see her grow and become stronger (both mentally and physically) throughout the book, but it means she’s a difficult character to get to know - she is developing and changing so quickly it’s hard to pin her down. She’s weak then feisty, strategically clever and then angsty and recklessly plunging into danger. It feels like you are reading about twenty years of someone’s life, instead of one. By the end, Violet is undeniably a badass, and speaks her mind (especially to the men in her life) in a way that had me texting cheer emojis and sharing screen shots. 

Although there are multiple heroes in this book, the only one that anyone cares about is Xaden.
(That’s a lie, I’m obsessed with Liam bring him back please).
It’s clear from the start he’s a love interest, and Violet is immediately and unwavering in her desire to… uh, ride his dragon. The sexual tension didn’t absolutely wow me in this book, but all the right elements for a dishy shadow zaddy romance are there. Xaden reminds me so much of Reven, the hero in Liar’s Crown, but he’s definitely a more morally questionable character. (I’m always low key wishing heroes could be badass and also not murder people, but that doesn’t really jive with the tone of the book. So, prepare yourself to not love everything he does.)

If you are someone who needs to know how complicated magical worlds work straight away, this book will test your patience. I had questions all the way through, and even after finishing the book many aren’t answered (what is up with the white hair thing?) That said, the world building is impressive, and differs from any magical school or dragon stories I’ve ever read. I enjoyed the scenes with the dragons SO much, and found their complicated personalities and lore the best part. 

This book is really long, but I didn’t find myself bored or skipping scenes. I loved how much we got to explore in just book one of the series - and can’t wait for the next. 

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