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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
amandaboyer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Ableism, Animal death, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, Body horror, Genocide, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Medical content, and Murder
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
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
I fell victim to the book Instagram/YouTube hype and the hype for this book is massive. I've never seen a book get this hyped up this much and when I see a book get hyped up to the degree that this book has it immediately turns me off from it cuz usually they let me down, but I'm sooooo happy to say that I really liked this book! I enjoyed everything about it. It was so entertaining and I was completely invested in Violet and her journey to becoming a rider. Honestly what kept this from being a 5-star was the fact that I found the world-building to be confusing at times (the gauntlet đ)and there was a bit of a lull part in the middle, but it picks up.
I loved the characters and I surprisingly loved Xaiden (I'm really not too big on morally grey characters, but he was great). I can't wait to learn more about him and his past (as well as learn about his cousins). Can't wait for book 2!
Spice Rating: đśď¸đśď¸đśď¸/5 (just in case someone wants to know or isn't too fond of explicit scenes like that in books; it is more in the later chapters and it's only in a chapter or two, I think, however, stuff like that [hooking up and what not] is still talked about throughout the book; just a heads up)
I love love LOVED Violet's relationship with her dragons. Oh my gosh, I got so excited when I read that she bonded with not one, but TWO dragons, like Go, Violet. But anyway, I love how protective Tairn is of Violet; and I love his personality; he is such a grump and I love it! And I love love loved Andarna! She's so cute and I love how protective Violet is toward her.
I'd like to put this out there, but I don't hate Dain. I'm not particularly fond of him, but I don't hate him and quite honestly I feel like he's a bit overhated. I'm just going based on this book, but Dain is not a bad person, he's just a rule-following idiot who fell victim to what he's been taught. And I am in no way defending his actions. Him looking through Violet's memories and indirectly getting her friends killed (Liam especially đ˘đ) was so uncalled for and I don't think I can forgive him for that. As well as him not believing her about the traitor. And I don't like how much he would put her down and not believe in her and kept pushing her to the scribe quadrant. But he's still Violet's best friend and although his methods were unorthodox I do believe they were coming from a good place. He's a 2nd year if I remember correctly so he's probably seen countless riders get killed every day and he knows Violet isn't necessarily physically gifted so it's understandable that he was adamant about getting her out of there. However, yes, he most definitely should've been more supportive of her when she decided that she wanted to stay. Overall, I do think he can be redeemed. I just hope he learns the error of his ways. And I hope the author does his character justice and doesn't perform some sort of character assassination on him like countless of authors have done before.đ; (also side note but I'm so glad Jack died, I couldn't stand if he was in the series for any longer than he was); oh and I guessed the twist, I knew her brother was aliveđ
I loved the characters and I surprisingly loved Xaiden (I'm really not too big on morally grey characters, but he was great). I can't wait to learn more about him and his past (as well as learn about his cousins). Can't wait for book 2!
Spice Rating: đśď¸đśď¸đśď¸/5 (just in case someone wants to know or isn't too fond of explicit scenes like that in books; it is more in the later chapters and it's only in a chapter or two, I think, however, stuff like that [hooking up and what not] is still talked about throughout the book; just a heads up)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Cursing, Grief, and War
Minor: Gaslighting, Ableism, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
athenian_frog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
*I listened to the audiobook for most of this story before reading the rest online*
+ Besides voicing the bigger male dragon, the audiobook was solid. The feminine narrator did a great job communicating emotion in action and during tense scenes.
+ The action scenes were fun to read, usually.
+ the actual concept with dragons, dragon bonding, was actually pretty interesting!
Other than that, I had a hard time finishing the book :(
- The characters just donât do that much growing, if ANY. The main characterâs motivation to change her study trajectory is purely out of being forced to go training by her mother. I saw very little organic self motivation to become a dragon rider until the latter half of the book. The side characters were also not fleshed out at ALL.
- we never find out why the mother wanted to send the main character, who suffers from chronic pain, to try and ride a dragon. I donât know why she spent so long letting her daughter train as a scribe before suddenly making another decision.
- we donât get to know the main character at all outside of the war college, which ends up setting no precedent to what she was like before entering a life changing, dangerous experience (a good set up for character development that was NOT taken)
- There were several opportunities to add depth to the story and characters and Yarros took none of them.
- LGBTQIA+ people and people of color are included but they have very little substance to them.
- In fact, the guy who wants Violet (protagonist) dead the most doesnât even seem to have a proper reason to want to kill her; he is just evil like that, I guess?
- Conceptualizing the world was very difficult, because we as the reader have 0 help except through awkward information dumping. It feels very tedious to read, and it still leaves a lot to be desired. I canât even tell you what kind of technological period theyâre in. Religion is also very underdeveloped.
- the other quadrants (healing, scribing, infantry) were very underutilized, and were not very detailed
- the protagonist seems stupendously lucky. Will not spoil here but expect major chosen one/main character privileges. She is constantly complimented for being the smartest, but we see very little evidence of this.
- while at a killing school, in a culture that is weirdly very permissive of killing, Violet is extremely sensitive about killing people! Not even innocents, people who are ACTIVELY trying to end her life.
- Violet is disabled but this disability is rarely mentioned, and its applications are barely referenced. There is a consensus of âpushing throughâ your disability to prevail instead of working with it, which feels a bit insensitive.
- there are enough clicheâs and contrivances in the book where it starts to hurt the âturn off your brain to have funâ experience, even. Many elements are foreshadowed in a poor/hamfisted way, and conflict often feels artificially incited/blown up.
- we know very little about supporting cast and how they each became close to Violet is not very well developed.
- the romance between Violet and her love interest is plainly just lust. I found very little emotional connection between them before the story was trying to pass it off as a deep, swoon worthy romance. On top of all of my issues with Violet, this made the sex scenes impossible to care for. This is part of a multi book series, so some time to stretch out the romance emotionally would have done wonders.
- romance and romantic scenes involve a lot of emphasis on skinny, pale, fragile main woman and the big, tan, intimidating male love interest. The reminders that he could hurt her were overused and not appealing. Personally I have grown tired of this dynamic. I would have liked to see them working together more/Violet making smart moves ahead of him/them actually BONDING in not a strictly sexual sense.
- calling this enemies to lovers is generous. The main pairing certainly had the potential to be enemies but itâs more like âbad first impression to loversâ
All in all, I desperately wanted to enjoy this book. It looks beautiful and I was very excited to read something involving dragons for the first time in a looooong time. The issues kept mounting and eventually it made flaws that were less noticeable glaringly evident.
If you loved this book Iâm overjoyed for you! Itâs a really cool concept, and Iâve heard others who are able to overlook most of this to just sit in the vibes.
I just think that this FANTASY ROMANCE really could have used more work in all aspects of FANTASY and ROMANCE. Both were so undeveloped here that it was almost disrespectful. On top of that, it is geared towards a âNew Adult,â older than YA audience, so I was expecting at least a LITTLE more nuance here.
Thank you for reading my two cents!
Please consider the warnings listed below!
+ Besides voicing the bigger male dragon, the audiobook was solid. The feminine narrator did a great job communicating emotion in action and during tense scenes.
+ The action scenes were fun to read, usually.
+ the actual concept with dragons, dragon bonding, was actually pretty interesting!
Other than that, I had a hard time finishing the book :(
- The characters just donât do that much growing, if ANY. The main characterâs motivation to change her study trajectory is purely out of being forced to go training by her mother. I saw very little organic self motivation to become a dragon rider until the latter half of the book. The side characters were also not fleshed out at ALL.
- we never find out why the mother wanted to send the main character, who suffers from chronic pain, to try and ride a dragon. I donât know why she spent so long letting her daughter train as a scribe before suddenly making another decision.
- we donât get to know the main character at all outside of the war college, which ends up setting no precedent to what she was like before entering a life changing, dangerous experience (a good set up for character development that was NOT taken)
- There were several opportunities to add depth to the story and characters and Yarros took none of them.
- LGBTQIA+ people and people of color are included but they have very little substance to them.
- In fact, the guy who wants Violet (protagonist) dead the most doesnât even seem to have a proper reason to want to kill her; he is just evil like that, I guess?
- Conceptualizing the world was very difficult, because we as the reader have 0 help except through awkward information dumping. It feels very tedious to read, and it still leaves a lot to be desired. I canât even tell you what kind of technological period theyâre in. Religion is also very underdeveloped.
- the other quadrants (healing, scribing, infantry) were very underutilized, and were not very detailed
- the protagonist seems stupendously lucky. Will not spoil here but expect major chosen one/main character privileges. She is constantly complimented for being the smartest, but we see very little evidence of this.
- while at a killing school, in a culture that is weirdly very permissive of killing, Violet is extremely sensitive about killing people! Not even innocents, people who are ACTIVELY trying to end her life.
- Violet is disabled but this disability is rarely mentioned, and its applications are barely referenced. There is a consensus of âpushing throughâ your disability to prevail instead of working with it, which feels a bit insensitive.
- there are enough clicheâs and contrivances in the book where it starts to hurt the âturn off your brain to have funâ experience, even. Many elements are foreshadowed in a poor/hamfisted way, and conflict often feels artificially incited/blown up.
- we know very little about supporting cast and how they each became close to Violet is not very well developed.
- the romance between Violet and her love interest is plainly just lust. I found very little emotional connection between them before the story was trying to pass it off as a deep, swoon worthy romance. On top of all of my issues with Violet, this made the sex scenes impossible to care for. This is part of a multi book series, so some time to stretch out the romance emotionally would have done wonders.
- romance and romantic scenes involve a lot of emphasis on skinny, pale, fragile main woman and the big, tan, intimidating male love interest. The reminders that he could hurt her were overused and not appealing. Personally I have grown tired of this dynamic. I would have liked to see them working together more/Violet making smart moves ahead of him/them actually BONDING in not a strictly sexual sense.
- calling this enemies to lovers is generous. The main pairing certainly had the potential to be enemies but itâs more like âbad first impression to loversâ
All in all, I desperately wanted to enjoy this book. It looks beautiful and I was very excited to read something involving dragons for the first time in a looooong time. The issues kept mounting and eventually it made flaws that were less noticeable glaringly evident.
If you loved this book Iâm overjoyed for you! Itâs a really cool concept, and Iâve heard others who are able to overlook most of this to just sit in the vibes.
I just think that this FANTASY ROMANCE really could have used more work in all aspects of FANTASY and ROMANCE. Both were so undeveloped here that it was almost disrespectful. On top of that, it is geared towards a âNew Adult,â older than YA audience, so I was expecting at least a LITTLE more nuance here.
Thank you for reading my two cents!
Please consider the warnings listed below!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War
Minor: Medical content, Drug use, and Vomit
-Death of several background characters, in varying ways (neck snapping, falling off bridge, incineration by dragon fire, close combat). -there is a kissing scene with dubious consent as both parties are under a kind of magical influence. - explicit sex happens twice in the latter half of the book between main characters. There are several mentions of how the male lead can physically hurt/overwhelm Violet, and this can be potentially distressing for someone to read. All other sex among the side characters is only implicit. - several background characters are poisoned, not to kill, resulting in sickness and vomiting. - Violet has a chronic connective tissue disease. This results in some tearing and bruising that is painful. -one character has to have their shoulder magically mended by a healer. It is descriptively painful. - there are bully type characters who try to hurt/kill Violet several times. One is particular is very aggressive. - Children of individuals who started a rebellion in the past are made orphans. This is an accepted part of the countryâs history. - brief use of a weed equivalent drugka_ke's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Oh my god, I want book 2 and I want it now!
First of all, an adult spicy how to train your dragon? Sold.
Fully developed, well-rounded characters? Absolutely.
Semi-predictable plot but still worth reading? Definitely.
First of all, an adult spicy how to train your dragon? Sold.
Fully developed, well-rounded characters? Absolutely.
Semi-predictable plot but still worth reading? Definitely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, and Bullying
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, and War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Medical content
leedolee's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
What a great book!
Dragons will always be my weakness when it comes to reading fantasy books.
Dragons will always be my weakness when it comes to reading fantasy books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Violence, Classism, Animal death, Death, Murder, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Cursing, and Chronic illness
solarel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.25
This one gripped me about 30% in. It was a lot of fun and very approachable. The world building was a little hollow but the plot was very well woven. Itâs diverse, but sometimes the diversity feels a little forced. One side character is deaf and the main character signs with her. However, the deaf character is part of a group that values keeping a stoic face and she isnât able to be very expressive. Most sign languages use facial cues very heavily so it felt a little like it was just thrown in there with little thought. It could have been an interesting thing to explore briefly, but was overlooked.
So world-related plot holes aside, itâs well worth the read. And itâs very much my jam. (The sexual scenes were probably the best written smut Iâve read in a long time. Well done.)
So world-related plot holes aside, itâs well worth the read. And itâs very much my jam. (The sexual scenes were probably the best written smut Iâve read in a long time. Well done.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Violence, War, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Blood
caskraft's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
The narrator did a bit too much 'acting for the back row' for my taste, but the book was great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Bullying, Death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Murder, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Vomit
karyan1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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: Blood, Body shaming, Sexual content, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Medical content, and Murder