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kiwij96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
tense
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? Yes
4.25
A fun and easy read, with relatively short chapters. An interesting concept for sure, writing both first, second and third perspectives, following a dragon chasing a prophecy, a thief trying to protect their family name, and a young acolyte torn between right and wrong. Good discussions on gender identity too. Fun fantasy heist with friendships, trust, betrayal, and morality.
Definitely could have done with more worldbuilding and plot written into the text. The characters were very "woe is me" at times where it wasn't needed. I appreciated how Everen's POV included the humans teaching him how their society worked in terms of how gender identity and pronouns worked. Also, was not a fan of the romance subplot. It would have worked much better if the characters just learned each other's surnames as an act of trust.
Definitely could have done with more worldbuilding and plot written into the text. The characters were very "woe is me" at times where it wasn't needed. I appreciated how Everen's POV included the humans teaching him how their society worked in terms of how gender identity and pronouns worked. Also, was not a fan of the romance subplot. It would have worked much better if the characters just learned each other's surnames as an act of trust.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, Blood, and Self harm
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
hollowpointe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Holy shit
Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust.
All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both.
As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book.
The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling.
Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Classism, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Cursing, Abandonment, Homophobia, Ableism, and Medical content
*Holy shit* *slight spoilers* Okay I loved so much about this. One- the amount of world building alone was enough to keep me engaged. The dragon religion spawning off from vanishing them centuries ago? The discussions of caste and honorifics, the concept of becoming starving, the difference between countries views on gender- it all kept me very entertained and intrigued. Also, Everen and Arcady both having their own issues and having to work past them to even BEGIN trusting each other was a good thing to witness, mostly because a lot of what I've read recently is instant trust or one big feat creates trust. All in all, the heist and the assassin plotlines were well balanced to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. As for characters, Soren was an interesting arc as she very much is codependent on Magnes who is also like the worst and did actually make me angry. An antagonist that's truly despicable, he was perfect for the mood of the book. The title alone also was very pleasing for me especially when it occurred to me it was a reference to whale falls- something that usually creates and maintains an ecosystem for years where they fall and decay- much like how Arcady is now thriving due to Everen falling. Dear lord this one won't be leaving my brain for a while.abookwormspov'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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Violence, and Murder
cookiecat73's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed this, but I didn't love it. We have two main points of view, and one or two more which come up more rarely. The main two are Arcady and Everen. I liked Arcady a lot, their backstory was pretty dark but I enjoyed their personality and their motivations were cool and intresting, and it means a lot to me to have a main character who is canonically and openely genderqueer. Everen on the other hand was a superior brat. I know that's on purpose and he does improve and I did like him more by the end, but for the most part I didn't like him or enjoy his povs very much. The world building and plot were mostly just fine, I didn't have any major critisisms, gripes, or things I hated, but I didn't love it either. I guess it's just not completely my kinda book, and that's fine, I still liked it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Torture, and Self harm
Minor: Transphobia, Animal death, Drug use, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, and War
mossylibra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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
I received an e-ARC of this book through Netgalley.
In Dragonfall a dragon, stuck in a humanoid form after falling from his homeworld in another dimension, has to work together with human thief Arcady — to strengthen their bond, and then kill them. The story is told through multiple perspectives, with the framing device of being compiled by an unkown archivist. This is one of the things I loved, but that put off a lot of readers in the more negative reviews I’ve seen.
Another complaint I noticed is the amount of ‘infodumping’ at the start, which surprised me because I thought the worldbuilding was set up in a very organic way for a high fantasy… So I’m guessing those last words are key. If you’re used to reading books from writers like Robin Hobb, or worse (/teasing) Tolkien, this kind of worldbuilding set up is probably second nature to you. If you’re me it’s one of your favourite parts of the genre.
I could tell you about the painfully slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance (they can’t touch! because it hurts because of magic!), but I wanted to centre my review on the stuff I liked that some other people didn’t. Not to hate on those people, because tastes differ and that’s fine! Just to show that one person’s turn-off can be another person’s favourite thing.
I loved the setting, the characters, the magic system, everything and especially the ‘weird’ stuff. More please! Where is the fanart of dragons and dragon people! Send it to me! I will be over here, patiently waiting for the sequel.
Review originally posted on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu1a8Lmrh_9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Another complaint I noticed is the amount of ‘infodumping’ at the start, which surprised me because I thought the worldbuilding was set up in a very organic way for a high fantasy… So I’m guessing those last words are key. If you’re used to reading books from writers like Robin Hobb, or worse (/teasing) Tolkien, this kind of worldbuilding set up is probably second nature to you. If you’re me it’s one of your favourite parts of the genre.
I could tell you about the painfully slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance (they can’t touch! because it hurts because of magic!), but I wanted to centre my review on the stuff I liked that some other people didn’t. Not to hate on those people, because tastes differ and that’s fine! Just to show that one person’s turn-off can be another person’s favourite thing.
I loved the setting, the characters, the magic system, everything and especially the ‘weird’ stuff. More please! Where is the fanart of dragons and dragon people! Send it to me! I will be over here, patiently waiting for the sequel.
Review originally posted on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu1a8Lmrh_9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Gore
wondereads13's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
I'm really glad I got an ARC of this book because I really enjoyed it! I particularly liked Arcady, Everen, and their relationship, but the plot is solid and interesting, and the writing does something new. The only downside to this is that it's going to be at least a year before the next book comes out. While there's some intense cliffhangers at the end of this book, I don't really know how the next one is going to go, and I am very curious. In the meantime, I do recommend this book, especially for anyone looking for a slow burn fantasy romance with a bit more substance to it. And dragons, which is a good enough reason alone to read any book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
marleywrites's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!
The first 12% of this book, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But then, it picked up tremendously and I became obsessed. I read about 60% in one sitting.
The first 12% of this book, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But then, it picked up tremendously and I became obsessed. I read about 60% in one sitting.
This book has queer enemies to lovers to ??? and it’s the perfect slow burn. I also enjoyed the queer normative world where everyone is referred to with they/them pronouns until told otherwise. It worked well and I enjoyed that twist on reality.
I really love Everen as a character. He is so complex and I can’t wait to learn more about him throughout this trilogy. I actually really enjoyed the second person POV which makes sense at the end of the novel. Arcady was also fascinating, I loved how they are always dressed in cool outfits and how they have taken on the most challenging magical tasks.
The bond building between these two is dynamic and I loved the way it was described.
The last 15%— phew! You’re gonna wanna read that in one sitting. My kindle died at 92% and I was devastated!! I had to wait for it to wake back up to be able to read more.
Overall, I loved this story and these characters and I plan to read the rest of the trilogy. I’m mad I have to wait so long for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, War, Alcohol, and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death
kellysbookverse's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit