Scan barcode
robotnik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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 don't really know how I feel about this, lol.
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.
The ending was... I don't know. I don't know if I would call it shocking or suspenseful or what. I'm just really torn because Violet and Xaden's romance is such a big part of this book, that I somehow doubt anything extreme is going to happen to Xaden and he's going to make it out of the book series just fine. You know, because Xaden called them endgame and all. Which was cringy, let's be honest. I don't think Yarros has the guts to actually kill him or turn him evil permanently and make him a real villain. If she does, I'll be surprised, but also be unimpressed because it's annoying when I'm given all this time to get to like a love interest and I do, only for them to get axed, particularly in a romance like this. I digress.
I do like parts of this. I didn't really get super fatigued with it until halfway whenthey left Basgiath behind, even if this part of the book might be better than the first half . I love the supporting cast with the exception of Catriona. I do hope she becomes a better character later on because everything about her in this book was eyeroll-inducing and seemed entirely unnecessary and just to cause relationship drama, which I'm so over.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
nina_bookkura's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
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
lelodo13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was good. Something seemed off with the writing. I listened to this through Everand and had to go back to re-listen several times to certain passages to make sense of what happened. Overall, it was a good follow-up to the first book, but it was predictable, and I wasn't surprised at the "situation" at the end.
I look forward to the next book and hope it focuses a little more on the writing being less scattered.
I look forward to the next book and hope it focuses a little more on the writing being less scattered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
kiserm's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content
aukohler's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
cheritee's review against another edition
Too much graphic sex. Repetitive hatred. Repetitive injuries to main protagonist. 895 kindle pages is too long. Boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
shayna_hadassah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
If I have to continue to be subjected to Gen Z slang I'm going to actually lose it.
"You're more important to me than this revolution and everyone here."
"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 think the biggest offender of this was when Violet had the opportunity to actually ask Xaden the questions she had, and then didn't. You built up to so much being hidden and then just. didn't ask most of the questions that Violet had. She literally said, "I'm going to ask you all the questions." and then didn't!
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?He was a friend, then he was a love interest, then just a friend, then an antagonist, then an enemy, then an ally, then a friend again? It isn't even that he's moving between categories, it's that he isn't really being fleshed out in any of those roles. Of all of the characters, he's the one who feels most like a character, i.e., he's just being moved to where he's most convenient for the narrative without enough depth to make me really care about his motivations. He needs to be there, so he's there, and we'll build the reasoning later.
The dragon lore continues to be the coolest part of the story.The bit about the ward stone really bothered me with Violet's character though. She's supposed to be so intelligent, but not reading "the six and one" as "seven" really made me question why she gets to be the main character. Obviously no one else put it together either but to read "the six and the one" and not bother to question the "one" at all until another translation literally has the number seven in it was ridiculous. The interactions between the dragons and how they fight feel real in the world and have rules that they follow. I appreciate that the rules of the universe stay consistent and the struggles of the characters don't get hand-waved away because of magic.
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.
And if I have to listen to some kind of intense declaration followed by "same" again I'm going to blow a gasket.
"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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
onceuponamelia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
grundmanisk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War