Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland

16 reviews

katelynprice's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

I am so invested in this series! I love the world-building and character development that has already been established in book one. The one warning I'd like to give is that this can be pretty violent/gory/traumatic at parts for middle-grade readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and War

shoganai813's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal death, Gore, and Torture

I picked up this book expecting Artimis Fowel, Percy Jackson level and while it did have a lot of those younger elements it also odd how dark this book got at some points. I feel as if they had been humans instead of dragons there is no way they would have been able to publish this as anything but YA or adult. Example:

Having to see one of their guardians getting killed to protect them, Acid eating away at eye ball and body until death, Multiple killings by snapping necks, Fighting to the death against their will, torturing one who refused until he went insane and then one of the main kid characters is forced to kill him, Slaughtering a group of prisoners of war that were chained up for no reason without them being able to fight back, seeing multiple humans getting eaten alive or just slaughtered for entertainment, brainwashing of a child to become her killing machine, Elderly dragon taken to a high point and then dropped and letting him die a slow death in front of the child because he was her friend and taught her to read.

I'm sure I'm even missing some!

e_lace's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted 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? No

3.75

This is high fantasy Warriors. Warriors for kids who prefer dragons. Warriors for people who would rather read the words "she slashed her talons through his wings" instead of "she dug her claws into his exposed underbelly." Honestly this series does deserve the hype. It's very good. This is losing a few points because the names were kind of all over the place but that isn't really that big of a deal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

I think the themes in this book seem really intense for children but I think they're pretty common for a book at this level and I think the book does an interesting job of dealing with and showcasing emotional abuse.

papernihilist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

I am absolutely in love with these characters. I read most of the book in one sitting (I’m a fast reader, but I haven’t been that enthusiastic about a book in a while) and a lot of that was because I’m already so attached to everybody. The dragonets are all so varied in the way they cope (and the way they act in general) and spend half the book arguing, but they all still care for each other. I can’t help but trust the author to use this world and these characters to tell a great story. 

I also loved seeing things through Clay’s eyes– His sense of wonder is just so endearing (not that he’s the only endearing dragonet in the series or anything). I feel like all of the characters are truly well thought out, and they feel very real to me. I cannot wait to read the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Child death

A lot of the death and violence is specifically in relation to war, and war seems to be a pretty central concept. There’s at least one detailed description of a battlefield that could be upsetting for a sensitive/young reader.

dewugging's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse

annbutnotanne's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I must say, considering this is a novel for children, I was surprised by how much death and violence was in here. Don't get me wrong, I liked every second of it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

So far I can't really say I'm all that attached to any of the characters so far, mostly because they all fit into certain molds perfectly. I felt like I'd read a version of all these characters at some point, which was irritating. Clay as a main character was so annoying for so long here, talking about something that genuinely did not matter in the slightest.

I did find the world-building to be interesting when we got it. Seeing how the Sky Wings differ from Mud Wings in terms of societal structure was really interesting, especially from a novel for children. I also liked how because one race of dragons is considered inferior compared to every other, it's clear not many races are aware of their full capabilities and talents since they couldn't be bothered to study them properly. Making it so not everyone has the same amount of knowledge and depth in regards to different societies is always a good sign of good world-building.

As far as writing goes, it was fine. I always felt like we were following dragons instead of humans when it came to action scenes and body movements, which was nice. The dialogue on the other hand was cringe-worthy. There were so many lines that were supposed to be jokes but fell so flat it made me uncomfortable.

I will say though I really enjoyed Peril as a character, particularly her dynamic with Clay. I liked the fact that her being possessive was explicitly portrayed as a bad thing and that she listened when Clay told her he wasn't okay with it. Possessiveness in relationships is far too often shown as a positive in media, and I'm glad kids can grow up knowing it's not normal and it's not healthy.

All in all, it wasn't amazing but it's much stronger than a lot of other fantasy middle grade series, maybe even some YA fantasy series. If you're choosing between this and say, Keeper of the Lost Cities, this blows it out of the water. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse