Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland

4 reviews

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Gore, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, War, and Kidnapping

Minor: Genocide, Trafficking, and Body shaming

wolfiegrrrl's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

The Wings of Fire series is off to a great start!

The book is prefaced with the in-depth NightWing Guide To The Dragons Of Pyrrhia, which does a good job of establishing the world-building and key players in the story, and as a big fan of maps I was happy to see the double-page spread that greeted me when I first opened the cover. The pacing of the story is also delightfully jarring at times. The prologue immediately dives into the action and lets you know that war does nothing but create a body count. No sooner than we are introduced to the prophecy does one of the leading players in the war throw a wrench in the resistance's plans by committing volatile (and graphic) murder. The blows just keep coming from there. No details spared.
 

I really like how Wings of Fire approaches its prophecy from the angle of "but what if we don't want to be part of the prophecy?" and prompts readers to question if it's ethical to essentially kidnap children and hold them hostage all in the name of "the greater good." It was a great choice to start the series from Clay's perspective to really cement in the readers' minds that striving for peaceful solutions to conflict doesn't make one weak or worthless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Torture

shoganai813's review

adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal death, Gore, and Torture

I picked up this book expecting Artimis Fowel, Percy Jackson level and while it did have a lot of those younger elements it also odd how dark this book got at some points. I feel as if they had been humans instead of dragons there is no way they would have been able to publish this as anything but YA or adult. Example:

Having to see one of their guardians getting killed to protect them, Acid eating away at eye ball and body until death, Multiple killings by snapping necks, Fighting to the death against their will, torturing one who refused until he went insane and then one of the main kid characters is forced to kill him, Slaughtering a group of prisoners of war that were chained up for no reason without them being able to fight back, seeing multiple humans getting eaten alive or just slaughtered for entertainment, brainwashing of a child to become her killing machine, Elderly dragon taken to a high point and then dropped and letting him die a slow death in front of the child because he was her friend and taught her to read.

I'm sure I'm even missing some!

e_lace's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This is high fantasy Warriors. Warriors for kids who prefer dragons. Warriors for people who would rather read the words "she slashed her talons through his wings" instead of "she dug her claws into his exposed underbelly." Honestly this series does deserve the hype. It's very good. This is losing a few points because the names were kind of all over the place but that isn't really that big of a deal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

I think the themes in this book seem really intense for children but I think they're pretty common for a book at this level and I think the book does an interesting job of dealing with and showcasing emotional abuse.