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adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed a lot of this book, but some parts felt lacking to me. The worldbuilding was great, and the characters likeable. But the ending was deeply unsatisfying, and one of the common povs felt entirely useless (Sorin). It felt like none of the book actually mattered. Unsure if I'd like to continue the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
First and foremost, I loved the characters. I also loved the way their society was about gender, referring to everyone as they until they were told how they identified and didn’t conform to binary gender roles. It made so much sense to me and it was lovely to read a world that was set up that way. I loved the nonbinary MC, and how the author was purposely neutral when referencing their body. It was the first time I’ve read a book like that and it felt incredible. Overall the book had a very heavy sadness to it. The author wrote the majority during lockdown and I feel like the vibe is really there. The loneliness made me so sad. Again tho, I have so much love for the characters and I am rooting so hard for them, I hope good things happen in the next book, I need them to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was an incredible read. The backstory and exposition is given at the right pace to match the plot and characters. The shifting of perspectives is well done and doesn't get confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Very quick "sex" scene. No body parts are specifically referenced, nor are any actions. It's more of a vibe than anything. A character does kill multiple minor characters with descriptions of their deaths.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Overall, I think I enjoyed this book. It felt quite slow at the beginning, and some of the world building did feel a little choppy to me. But once Arcady and Everen finally meet, the plot picks up and I was more engaged. Their relationship is what holds together the book for me, especially as they start to grow closer towards the end.
As a dragon book, this did feel unique, with all of the dragons essentially being trapped in another world. I would be interested in seeing more of this world in the next book, though!
As a dragon book, this did feel unique, with all of the dragons essentially being trapped in another world. I would be interested in seeing more of this world in the next book, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Grief
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, War
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
okay so despite a really boring 2/3, the last 1/3 of this book was quite interesting. somehow, sort of against my will, I am looking forward to the next book!
the world building is quite robust, to somewhat of a fault. there was soooo much exposition. so much.
everen & arcady managed to actually make me like enemies to lovers, go figure! the characters are where this book really shines. sorin was so :( free my good sis in the next book pls
I kinda just want to see everything come crashing down, and see the dragon man fuck. i am a simple woman with simple needs
the world building is quite robust, to somewhat of a fault. there was soooo much exposition. so much.
everen & arcady managed to actually make me like enemies to lovers, go figure! the characters are where this book really shines. sorin was so :( free my good sis in the next book pls
I kinda just want to see everything come crashing down, and see the dragon man fuck. i am a simple woman with simple needs
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Murder
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
overall rating: 2.5 stars
+plot: [.5] i'm not always a huge fantasy fan no matter how hard i try to like this genre but the plot for this one was surprisingly interesting and intriguing enough for me to engage in. the reveal at the end was planted really well early on and genuinely surprised me.
+prose: [.25] it was good but it wasn't great. something about the moodiness of it felt very ya in not a good way. the differences between povs didn't exist and the only way i could tell apart everen's and arcady's was because of the second person use in everen's part. speaking of, i was glad the second person use actually had a purpose and somewhat of a plot relevance so kudos for that.
+pace: [.25] if the book only had everen's and arcady's povs, the pacing would've been just right. however the addition of sorin's and cassia's povs added nothing interesting to the plot that couldn't have been done with the first two povs, and it pulled you out of the story and slowed down the pacing considerably. i had to skim those povs simply because they were uninteresting and added nothing.
+main characters: [.25] everen and arcady were interesting enough on the surface but maybe it's because of the melodramatics but i was not emotionally invested in them. although i did want to keep reading to find out what happened to them. the inevitable betrayal did not make me feel dread the way it would for characters i cared about. instead i was just looking forward to seeing how they would react with that same kind of glee you feel when you're watching reality tv and the contestants get what they had coming. it was more of unattached entertainment.
+side characters: [0] if i only felt detachedly entertained by the main characters, i felt next to nothing about the rest of the characters. nothing memorable or interesting was happening in this department and everyone just felt like props for the main plot. the only one that piqued my interest was mariel but she was used for the plot and discarded immediately.
+worldbuilding: [.25] decent and solid enough but left me with some questions, especially the way the society dealt with gender. we are constantly told that this society doesn't care about binary gender roles but that's not necessarily ever reflected in anything concrete. there's also a few parts when arcady says that people wouldn't know what to make of their gender fluidity, which just contradicts the setup of people not caring about gender. there are a lot of vague contradictions and the world, other than the magic system, feels more or less generic fantasy.
+tropes: [.25] i did enjoy the trope of close proximity but characters can't touch. it actually was able to create genuine chemistry between everen and arcady. however the enemies to lovers part was not done well at all and was at times unnecessary and even juvenile in a very ya way.
+ending: [.25] i do wish the book would've ended one chapter earlier than it did but i do understand why it didn't.
+entertainment value: [.25] i did enjoy reading most of it even if i wasn't necessarily invested emotionally. it just kind of felt like reading relationship gossip.
+continuing to sequel?: [.25] i personally will not be but the setup for the next book was well done and i can absolutely see why people would.
+plot: [.5] i'm not always a huge fantasy fan no matter how hard i try to like this genre but the plot for this one was surprisingly interesting and intriguing enough for me to engage in. the reveal at the end was planted really well early on and genuinely surprised me.
+prose: [.25] it was good but it wasn't great. something about the moodiness of it felt very ya in not a good way. the differences between povs didn't exist and the only way i could tell apart everen's and arcady's was because of the second person use in everen's part. speaking of, i was glad the second person use actually had a purpose and somewhat of a plot relevance so kudos for that.
+pace: [.25] if the book only had everen's and arcady's povs, the pacing would've been just right. however the addition of sorin's and cassia's povs added nothing interesting to the plot that couldn't have been done with the first two povs, and it pulled you out of the story and slowed down the pacing considerably. i had to skim those povs simply because they were uninteresting and added nothing.
+main characters: [.25] everen and arcady were interesting enough on the surface but maybe it's because of the melodramatics but i was not emotionally invested in them. although i did want to keep reading to find out what happened to them. the inevitable betrayal did not make me feel dread the way it would for characters i cared about. instead i was just looking forward to seeing how they would react with that same kind of glee you feel when you're watching reality tv and the contestants get what they had coming. it was more of unattached entertainment.
+side characters: [0] if i only felt detachedly entertained by the main characters, i felt next to nothing about the rest of the characters. nothing memorable or interesting was happening in this department and everyone just felt like props for the main plot. the only one that piqued my interest was mariel but she was used for the plot and discarded immediately.
+worldbuilding: [.25] decent and solid enough but left me with some questions, especially the way the society dealt with gender. we are constantly told that this society doesn't care about binary gender roles but that's not necessarily ever reflected in anything concrete. there's also a few parts when arcady says that people wouldn't know what to make of their gender fluidity, which just contradicts the setup of people not caring about gender. there are a lot of vague contradictions and the world, other than the magic system, feels more or less generic fantasy.
+tropes: [.25] i did enjoy the trope of close proximity but characters can't touch. it actually was able to create genuine chemistry between everen and arcady. however the enemies to lovers part was not done well at all and was at times unnecessary and even juvenile in a very ya way.
+ending: [.25] i do wish the book would've ended one chapter earlier than it did but i do understand why it didn't.
+entertainment value: [.25] i did enjoy reading most of it even if i wasn't necessarily invested emotionally. it just kind of felt like reading relationship gossip.
+continuing to sequel?: [.25] i personally will not be but the setup for the next book was well done and i can absolutely see why people would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcohol