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stelepami's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy!
On the surface it's a coming-of-age, sibling-rivalry, dragon-focused magical realism story; various combinations of those tropes are not uncommon and often fun.
What makes this book extraordinary for me is the way one of the sister's anxiety is portrayed. It manifests as perfectionism and people-pleasing and panic attacks. She goes to a therapist. She uses coping skills I've learned from real-life therapy (e.g., the diving response, counting different sensations). It's beautiful to me thatshe comes to understand that her anxiety disorder is not something that makes her flawed and unworthy as a person; she learns to love herself with her anxiety and explore different coping mechanisms to find what helps her .
The main characters aren't white. There isn't automatic romance between best friends of different sexes. A character who is described as beautiful is also described as fat in a purely factual and non-derisive way. Biphobic misconceptions are mentioned briefly and dispelled.
I love that this is a stand-alone book in a genre full of trilogies and series. I'd like to spend more time with these characters but it's refreshing to have resolution at the end of a single volume.
Unfortunately, the narrator cannot perform the Scottish accent of the father (it mostly sounds like a strange Irish lilt). The Spanish-speaking Latinx characters sounded better to my untrained ear.
On the surface it's a coming-of-age, sibling-rivalry, dragon-focused magical realism story; various combinations of those tropes are not uncommon and often fun.
What makes this book extraordinary for me is the way one of the sister's anxiety is portrayed. It manifests as perfectionism and people-pleasing and panic attacks. She goes to a therapist. She uses coping skills I've learned from real-life therapy (e.g., the diving response, counting different sensations). It's beautiful to me that
The main characters aren't white. There isn't automatic romance between best friends of different sexes. A character who is described as beautiful is also described as fat in a purely factual and non-derisive way. Biphobic misconceptions are mentioned briefly and dispelled.
I love that this is a stand-alone book in a genre full of trilogies and series. I'd like to spend more time with these characters but it's refreshing to have resolution at the end of a single volume.
Unfortunately, the narrator cannot perform the Scottish accent of the father (it mostly sounds like a strange Irish lilt). The Spanish-speaking Latinx characters sounded better to my untrained ear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Biphobia
dlrosebyh's review
adventurous
emotional
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
3.0
i picked this book up because i enjoyed sorcery of thorns. as said in the premise, fire with fire is perfect for people who loved sorcery of thorns.
though i did enjoy the sisters’ adventure, i found eden’s character quite intolerable. the bad guys were stereotypical, and it felt like everything was rushed. i also felt like that the pov’s switch too frequently which makes it for me to understand the story better. i did love the world building, though— with the dragons and fantasy elements.
overall, it was an alright read. i wouldn’t probably continue to the next book in the series.
though i did enjoy the sisters’ adventure, i found eden’s character quite intolerable. the bad guys were stereotypical, and it felt like everything was rushed. i also felt like that the pov’s switch too frequently which makes it for me to understand the story better. i did love the world building, though— with the dragons and fantasy elements.
overall, it was an alright read. i wouldn’t probably continue to the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, and Animal death
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Ableism
Minor: Biphobia, Sexism, and Bullying
lennie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC.
"I made a mistake, trusting you, but having anxiety doesn't make me a coward. It doesn't make me weak."
This book is a standalone urban fantasy featuring two sisters who have been secretly raised as Dragon Slayers their whole lives, whilst also trying to live as normal teenagers. The two often feel in competition with each other and have a bit of a strained relationship because of it.
One day Dani is attacked by a Dragon, who then becomes her bond mate, and everything the sisters thought they knew about dragons, slayers, sorcerers and family is put to the test.
The book explores identity in a lot of different forms. The sisters are mixed latinx but feel a bit separated from the latinx side of the family, they can't be fully open with their friends because of being slayers, Dani is bisexual & Eden suffers with severe anxiety.
Dani was arguably more likeable but I feel like Eden was probably more relatable (for me anyway!)
She was a flawed character, never felt good enough, didn't always make the right choices and had a lot of things to deal with.
I fell that this book deals with anxiety very well & shows the prejudice that can come with it. Eden's anxiety was a big part of her story but she comes to realise that it doesn't need to stop her from doing the things she wants doesn't make her weaker & it doesn't have to push people away.
There's some romance, lots of character development, interesting world building and lots of action.
The book was a good standalone but I do feel like there could've been a bit more to it and some parts felt a bit rushed.
CW: Biphobia, anxiety, panic attacks, death, violence, blood
"I made a mistake, trusting you, but having anxiety doesn't make me a coward. It doesn't make me weak."
This book is a standalone urban fantasy featuring two sisters who have been secretly raised as Dragon Slayers their whole lives, whilst also trying to live as normal teenagers. The two often feel in competition with each other and have a bit of a strained relationship because of it.
One day Dani is attacked by a Dragon, who then becomes her bond mate, and everything the sisters thought they knew about dragons, slayers, sorcerers and family is put to the test.
The book explores identity in a lot of different forms. The sisters are mixed latinx but feel a bit separated from the latinx side of the family, they can't be fully open with their friends because of being slayers, Dani is bisexual & Eden suffers with severe anxiety.
Dani was arguably more likeable but I feel like Eden was probably more relatable (for me anyway!)
She was a flawed character, never felt good enough, didn't always make the right choices and had a lot of things to deal with.
I fell that this book deals with anxiety very well & shows the prejudice that can come with it. Eden's anxiety was a big part of her story but she comes to realise that it doesn't need to stop her from doing the things she wants doesn't make her weaker & it doesn't have to push people away.
There's some romance, lots of character development, interesting world building and lots of action.
The book was a good standalone but I do feel like there could've been a bit more to it and some parts felt a bit rushed.
CW: Biphobia, anxiety, panic attacks, death, violence, blood
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Biphobia and Mental illness
corvicore's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Torture, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Minor: Biphobia
emily_mh's review
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
3.75
This book was by NO MEANS bad, but unfortunately I found myself a little disappointed by it. One thing I loved about it was the dragons and how they played such a central role in plot, but also how they were characters in and of themselves. The magic system that went along with this was interesting, especially the concept of soul bonds. Another thing this book had going for it was Dani and Eden. Their character development was really strong, they provided great POVs to follow, and I also loved the sister dynamic between them. Finally, the pop culture references in this book were actually UP TO DATE!! It leant realism to the teenage perspective and was generally really refreshing.
However, this is where my cons start to come in. The first one being the romance.The first half of the book is spent setting up a logical, chemistry-filled second-chance romance with Sadie, but then this is ditched for one with Kieran. Dani and Kieran had nooooo chemistry, and he isn't even in the book until halfway through. It was just so jarring, especially when you have the added factor of viewing Sadie and Tomás as just friends for the first half, and now have to wrap your head around them being into each other. ALSO, Kieran is 200+ years old. It's annoying to me that we still have adult/minor relationships in YA in 2021 masked by the defense that "they look like a teenager."
Another thing I didn't like was the execution of the plot. The pacing was really strange, and I feel likethe original issue of hatching the eggs fell to the wayside in favour of the sorcerer Eden plotline. But then THAT plotline was conveniently resolved because Eden ended up being sorcerer AND human. Therefore half the book felt kind of redundant.
Finally, I thought the side characters were underused. Frankie, Tomás and Sadie were all so interesting and could have added some real colour to Dani's activities. Overall, these significant cons meant that although it was a pretty enjoyable book, I couldn't give it more than 3.75 stars.
However, this is where my cons start to come in. The first one being the romance.
Another thing I didn't like was the execution of the plot. The pacing was really strange, and I feel like
Finally, I thought the side characters were underused. Frankie, Tomás and Sadie were all so interesting and could have added some real colour to Dani's activities. Overall, these significant cons meant that although it was a pretty enjoyable book, I couldn't give it more than 3.75 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and War
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