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kimveach's review
- 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: Drug use, Dysphoria, Vomit, War, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
mindsplinters'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? It's complicated
5.0
I've owned the book for a while now and just never got around to reading it and I'll admit it. My bad. It was a really solid, well-written, messy book containing dragons and adventure and politics and fighting and plotting and family dysfunction and some spice. Plus a total "will they, won't they" sorta-romance that gives you an equally messy resolution. It was a total romp where young adults are put to the test of being dragon riders or being charcoal briquettes or lambs to the slaughter. For a cast of mostly iffy people, Yarros does a find job of making you care. I mean, some of the characters are real assholes! But you don't want to see (most of) them die horribly which takes talent.
Except for you, Barlowe. You're always welcome to die horribly.
It took a bit for Violet to grow on me because she seemed so... young, I guess, but then more of her family history comes out and you see her mom and the staff of the college and her upbringing and her actual physical disability that is rather a horrible liability in a lot of ways. Soon you realize that she's still not quite admirable and she has a lemming-like ability to run stubbornly into a gaping pit but it all works. She wants to prove herself. To her mother, to others, to Dain... Eventually she realizes that she actually wants to prove herself to herself. What she thought she knew was decidedly uneven and she had to process that. I look forward to more of that in the second book.
Plus, let's face it, Xander is smoking hot, dragons are delightfully bitchy and dangerous, and this whole thing is like dropping Hunger Games and McCaffrey's Pern in a blender with some arsenic and Spanish Fly and setting it to vaporize.
Oh, and Pern? Yeah, I haven't been able to find anything but there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that Rebecca Yarros wasn't a total Pern Fangirl back in the day. Many aspects of the dragons themselves and how they bond and bleeding of emotions, etc, definitely hint at a misspent Pern youth. Not copying, mind you, but definitely reminiscent.
On a final note, NOT LIAM and I KNEW IT (the very end) and SCREW YOU (you know who). Also my now-husband gave me a Leatherman Tool after we had been dating for about a month. That's kind of like the real world equivalent of giving me a dagger, right? Swoon.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse
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
thebigq's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Ableism
Moderate: Grief and War
cdoubet'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: Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
lizsurber'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: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
kakuloo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Bullying, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Vomit, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Blood
18+ sexy descriptions of people enjoying sex. Graphic, rather than implied.rachelmorag's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and War
meeklovestoread'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
I loved the characters and I surprisingly loved Xaiden (I'm really not too big on morally grey characters, but he was great). I can't wait to learn more about him and his past (as well as learn about his cousins). Can't wait for book 2!
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (just in case someone wants to know or isn't too fond of explicit scenes like that in books; it is more in the later chapters and it's only in a chapter or two, I think, however, stuff like that [hooking up and what not] is still talked about throughout the book; just a heads up)
Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Cursing, Grief, and War
Minor: Gaslighting, Ableism, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
epellicci'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, War, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content