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mikaylay's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The book's characters were all well-developed, but additional information and time spent with each of them would have allowed the reader to connect with the characters more effectively. I appreciated reading from Glory's perspective and getting to know her beyond the lazy rainwing cliché imposed by the Talons of Peace. Glory is a terrific character, and I thought this book did an excellent job of letting readers to discover more about her beyond the lazy stereotype and truly identify with her in her feelings about the dragonet prophecy, her kidnapping as a baby dragon, and her tribe. The landscape was descriptive, inventive, and realistic in that it had precise and distinct vegetation, fruits, and animals. The writing was immersive, thorough, and overall interesting and expressive, despite a few cringe-worthy word choices. The plot was exciting, with the added mystery of who was killing the mudwings and rainwings, and it gave more development for the dragonets of destiny and their new pals. It also allowed Glory to step outdoors and even break the image of a lazy dragon. The most important and engaging aspect of this book and plotline was Glory and her rainwing tribe from her first encounter with them, almost believing that the stereotype about them is true, discovering more about her tribe than she imagined, and finally learning about herself in her abilities, family, and love for both her fellow dragonets and her tribe as a whole. The narrative surprise twist was somewhat obvious, but it brought a good amount of mystery, tension, and excitement to the story. I was immediately intrigued from the beginning of this book, and I believe it has a lot to do with the connections I have with the characters, who are all approachable and realistic in their own ways. This book contains valuable lessons such as thinking before acting, caring for others, accepting your abilities and qualities, and acknowledging the differences but also the connections one can have with both blood and adopted families. Overall, the book was a good addition to the Wings of Fire series, allowing readers to connect with and learn alongside Glory in an immersive world replete with conflicts, dragons, secrets, and even a prophecy, despite a few cringe-worthy word choices and a semi-predictable plot twist. I enjoyed this one less than the first two, but I am looking forward to continuing with the series and experiencing the many points of view from each of the Dragonets of Destiny. The next book is told from Starflight's point of view, and I can't wait to read it, learn more about the nightwings, and discover where this small dragonet family goes next.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
hedyharper's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
star_charter152's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
stories's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed this one.
Unpacking Rainwing culture. Lots of questions around morality, social responsibility, what it means to be part of a community and another angle on the question of belonging from Glory: a dragon who has grown up believing she doesn’t belong with the Dragonets of Prophecy, either.
Some fun mysterious and magical antics, Nightwings begin to play a larger role, and I’m loving how differently each dragonet’s experience of “their tribe” is turning out to be.
Bonus: blind dragon! And pretty well handled imo. Minor character.
The question of who will win the war and how just got interesting!
Unpacking Rainwing culture. Lots of questions around morality, social responsibility, what it means to be part of a community and another angle on the question of belonging from Glory: a dragon who has grown up believing she doesn’t belong with the Dragonets of Prophecy, either.
Some fun mysterious and magical antics, Nightwings begin to play a larger role, and I’m loving how differently each dragonet’s experience of “their tribe” is turning out to be.
Bonus: blind dragon! And pretty well handled imo. Minor character.
The question of who will win the war and how just got interesting!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Blood, and Abandonment
kristyderp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Based on the setup of the first two books, it has been made very clear that RainWings are an allegory for racism in the Wings of Fire universe; so The Hidden Kingdom started out promising, considering how racism plays a punishing hand in the atrocities of war. Through the course of this book, Glory (and the readers through her) learn that the truth about RainWings and their society is a lot more complicated than the rest of Pyrrhia is willing to believe and, from there, the book laid down the groundwork for a tricky subject to navigate for a middle-grade audience. With the introduction to the concepts of genocide and colonialism brewing on the horizon, the handling of this allegory begins to get shaky and fall apart the deeper into the rainforest our dragonets of destiny go, but if you squint you can maybe pick out a lesson this book is attempting to teach about the complexities of racism.
I sure hope Tui T. Sutherland is trying to say that, even if a group of people look or act one way on the surface and the bigotry seems to be based in something observably present (like RainWing "laziness"), it doesn't mean that's all there is to them or that they should be treated as lesser beings just because they live different lives than you do. After all, it's counterproductive misrepresentation to boil down an entire community to a few shallow features. But the explanation given for how racism against RainWings became so widespread disappointingly lends itself to a much more insidious reading of this book that unfortunately feeds more into racism than attempts to discourage it, so I'm personally torn. It's obvious we don't yet have the full story and sympathy is definitely on the side of the RainWings (for the most part), so my fingers are crossed for some improvement on the treatment of this subject as the series continues.
Otherwise, Glory gets a nice character arc where she finally carves out a place for herself in her own destiny. Her personal journey runs parallel to and branches off Tsunami's, likely due to the fact that they were always butting heads on the topic of leadership, so it was nice to see her come to terms with the idea that depending on others for help is okay.
I sure hope Tui T. Sutherland is trying to say that, even if a group of people look or act one way on the surface and the bigotry seems to be based in something observably present (like RainWing "laziness"), it doesn't mean that's all there is to them or that they should be treated as lesser beings just because they live different lives than you do. After all, it's counterproductive misrepresentation to boil down an entire community to a few shallow features. But the explanation given for how racism against RainWings became so widespread disappointingly lends itself to a much more insidious reading of this book that unfortunately feeds more into racism than attempts to discourage it, so I'm personally torn. It's obvious we don't yet have the full story and sympathy is definitely on the side of the RainWings (for the most part), so my fingers are crossed for some improvement on the treatment of this subject as the series continues.
Otherwise, Glory gets a nice character arc where she finally carves out a place for herself in her own destiny. Her personal journey runs parallel to and branches off Tsunami's, likely due to the fact that they were always butting heads on the topic of leadership, so it was nice to see her come to terms with the idea that depending on others for help is okay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Abandonment
orchidlilly's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Colonisation
ayhuz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Abandonment
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