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stephmcoakley's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Child abuse, Abandonment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and War
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and War
spaghettii's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Gore, Kidnapping, Blood, Drug use, Genocide, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, War, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
josiee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, War, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Medical content, Animal death, Abandonment, Ableism, Body horror, Grief, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, and Medical trauma
e_emmaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Gore, Torture, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Violence, War, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Alcohol, Medical content, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Animal death, Violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Grief, Gore, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death, and Sexual content
draceni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence and Child death
ladypalutena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The book is also really, really long. I feel like the book could have ended after
At this point, also, I feel like the author is just killing people for shock value. I do like the Gryphon riders' reactions to the Dragon riders, though - one of them says something along the lines of "The way you kill your recruits/cadets is staggering." If a potential Gryphon rider fails their mounting challenge, they just pick themselves up and choose a different service branch. If a dragon rider fails ANY of their stuff, they die. Quick, but not always painless. Some of the deaths seem warranted, but a great many feel as if they are only to shock the reader.
And let's not even get started on the ending of this book.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Violence, War, and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
cait's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Classism, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Colonisation, Stalking, War, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, and Vomit
mermaidswithcoffee's review against another edition
It’s violent in a really colonized way, with unnecessary death and weird justifications. It reads like kids playing at war as if that’s a good and necessary thing. As if children need to be violent and awful to survive a mysterious eastern other. When the truth is THEY are the monster their parents created and the “other” are just trying to live, not kill them. It was present in the first book but I didn’t catch it, now it screams colonization and I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.
One example: She literally goes into detail about how these children soldiers make sure to dye their hair while hiding out at a traitor compound while they are supposed to be doing war games. Aren’t the teachers suspicious when they come back with freshly died hair when they were supposed to be barely surviving and on dragons? How did they find pink hair dye at the hidden revolutionary compound?!!! It just screams “girl boss”. “Isn’t it so cool that they have cool hair while murdering people?!!”
Another example which finally got me to DNF, which I hate doing, was when Violet justified the killing of her classmates. Said it was necessary to prepare her. With the ongoing genocide of Palestine it made me sick. Thinking of what lies and justifications the US and other white dominate countries have for why they have to bomb civilians.
There are way more problems, like her disability, the main reason I read this book in the first place. Just like everything else her disability is appropriated and rings so shallow. I have a literal connective tissue disease like Violet but I can tell you the representation is not real. I was so excited to see it and so disappointed to see that just like revolution in this book, it’s a stolen poor imitation of it.
I recommend the 5th season if you want world building and actual revolution not just the aesthetic of revolution.
Graphic: Islamophobia, War, Body horror, Genocide, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, Ableism, Animal death, Biphobia, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse
katvou's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Gore, Medical content, War, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Body horror, Drug use, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide attempt, Excrement, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Self harm