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bookishgirlieforlife'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: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Torture, and War
robotnik's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I didn't hate it, don't get me wrong. I did enjoy it. Most of it. Parts of it. You know. But it feels that special something that made me read Fourth Wing in a matter of days isn't in this one. In Fourth Wing, it felt like any flaws were easy for me to overlook but they stood out in glaring detail in this one.
This book could have benefited from being as much as 200 pages shorter. It was very long and I felt fatigued trying to read it that I would set it down and go do something else for a bit before going back to it. I feel like the beginning of this book happened so long ago, like it was another book or two ago. It just felt like there should have been some split somewhere or some of the bulk trimmed down.
I really loved Violet as a protagonist in Fourth Wing, but she came across acting much more immature in this one. Her entire focus was on Xaden and she related everything to him to the point that it felt like this was just a romance playing at fantasy and the actual plot didn't matter so much as her and Xaden getting to touch each other. It really made her less likable overall.
Speaking of less likable, I shipped the shit out of Violet and Xaden in Fourth Wing, but I guess getting the enemies to lovers bit out of the way in book one meant they needed some manufactured conflict between them because the plot wasn't enough drama, and the one they had in this one was absolute beyond stupid. It was exhausting having to read about them and their trust issues. In Fourth Wing, they had toxic traits but it was fun from a narrative standpoint and worked for the whole enemies to lovers thing they had going on. Now, they just feel toxic and not in a fun way.
I do like parts of this. I didn't really get super fatigued with it until halfway when
I'm going to keep reading this series to see where it goes and hope that this is just some second book syndrome because I had such high hopes of this series.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
nina_bookkura'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: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
cayde_starkiller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kiserm'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
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content
aukohler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
shayna_hadassah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"Same."
SAME????? Are you kidding????? S A M E. Fucking SAME???????????
Listen. I use this slang. If it were used in a joking context, or when the characters were goofing around, sure. I could let it slide. But you're going to just drop it on me out of nowhere? I'm immediately drop-kicked out of the narrative.
The characters and relationships were stronger in this book than in the previous one, which was nice. We had some depth and nice world-building. Certain parts felt like more of the focus was on being complex just for the sake of it than for adding anything meaningful.
I very much did enjoy the reveal about Xaden! That felt like Violet being the intelligent heroine we keep being told she is. She figured out his secret, and then figured out what the secret actually was, on her own. That had foreshadowing! We were given clues! But they were subtle enough that she figured it out without the narrative holding her hand about it. Excellent set up.
Seeing them have the same fight over and over again got old really quickly. That argument happened just about the same way three or four times. Violet even said they kept having the same argument. Finally they got through it but boy was that painful.
I really enjoyed how Violet's mother was fleshed out! She had a very small part but it really built her up and made her much more complex. I felt like throwing Xaden's ex in there as bait for Violet was incredibly cheap, but her power is cool, so half a point. Can we make a decision about Dain though?
The dragon lore continues to be the coolest part of the story.
The fact that the characters have to train and plan and take time to come to decisions is a huge selling point for me; magic just changes their world, it doesn't automatically make it easier. Different languages being something they have to learn is nice too, instead of having them magicked into a lesser problem.
Fight scenes are still punchy and fast-paced. Descriptions are vibrant without being overwhelming. The explicit scenes were a little cringy and exhibitionist, which I did not appreciate, but that could very well just be a me thing. I did find some of the phrasing to be pretty repetitive, which just sounded like lazy writing to my ears; there are plenty of ways to describe the fact that things are happening quickly without using the phrase "in the span of two heartbeats" three times in the same scene.
I do want to know more about this world. The conflict itself is interesting and I enjoy having this hidden information that needs to be sussed out.
The twist at the end was less enjoyable than in the last book and, I thought, felt too much like having a twist for the sake of having a twist. There wasn't any build up. There was one line that could clue you in that something might happen, but no indication that something like that would happen. Honestly I think it's Andarna that will make me read the next installment more than the twist with Xaden. I thought his decision was unnecessary. Maybe kinda stupid. I think she's cool as hell.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
dkamada's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
plethora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kmaffett's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and War