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abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
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
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖
This was a cute book. It was a good like palette cleanser. I adore this characters and their relationships. I love reading about the relationship between the five dragonets. The pacing was good and the plot kept me interested, though it was a little predictable.
📖
This was a cute book. It was a good like palette cleanser. I adore this characters and their relationships. I love reading about the relationship between the five dragonets. The pacing was good and the plot kept me interested, though it was a little predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, and Abandonment
presco's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism and Torture
okamihylia's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
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? N/A
4.5
The good news for those starting off who liked the world-building from the previous book, it carries over to The Hidden Kingdom as well with a much better pacing this time. I really only had one issue with the pacing during a specific part that felt a little rushed, but other than that the rest of the plot was given enough focus on everything. This is easily the best book in the first arc, and also one of the best of the series as a whole. It is extremely satisfying with Glory as the main character focused for this arc. Having proven in this book she doesn't have to be what the Talons of Peace and the other dragon tribes expect her to be. She is able to strike down the stereotypes that have been thrown her way since the first book and even before that, and you are just rooting for her the entire time because of it. We get to see the first example of what animus magic can do in this book, and how unpredictable and serious it can be depending on the spell used.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Kidnapping
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: Kidnapping, Torture, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Animal death, Abandonment, Confinement, and Death
wolfiegrrrl's review
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: Classism, Blood, Grief, Violence, Confinement, Body horror, Xenophobia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Child abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Colonisation
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: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Xenophobia, Classism, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Vomit, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
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: Vomit, Gore, War, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Child death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment
mxlewife's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
THE CONTEST???? THE WORLDBUILDING???? THE GRANDEUR ROYALTY PLOT TWIST???? SHAKING AND CRYING LITERALLY CAN THIS SERIES GET ANY BETTER
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement
papernihilist's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
- 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
This book was good enough that I completely forgot to write a review until I was halfway through the next one, if that tells you anything. Because it took me so long to actually write this, I don’t have a ton of specifics, but I’m still absolutely obsessed with the characters in this series. I think I can say pretty confidently that they’re consistently some of the strongest characters I’ve seen in any of the middle-grade fiction I’ve read since, you know, middle school, although I’m not really known for reading a huge variety lately.
Anyways, I absolutely love Glory. I love her so much. I would commit so many felonies on her behalf. I didn’t need to see through her eyes to know that, of course, but it definitely didn’t hurt. Seeing her actual thought processes all laid out just made me appreciate her more.
Anyways, I absolutely love Glory. I love her so much. I would commit so many felonies on her behalf. I didn’t need to see through her eyes to know that, of course, but it definitely didn’t hurt. Seeing her actual thought processes all laid out just made me appreciate her more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood
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