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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
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
Wildly arrogant, insufferable know-it-all teen protagonist has world view repeatedly and violently challenged until they they are humbled into realising they know nothing about the real world, and no amount of intellect can save them from an inherently corrupt system if they don't learn to work WITH those they would otherwise deem "inferior."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, Alcohol
Wow , this was great. Loved it, I love how it mix realism with the dragons. I like the moral dilemma with the language. The start was really good and definitely the plot was very well explained and set up. I would said I struggled with the main character just because I would have raddled her long ago . The ending was fitting and overall I enjoyed a lot.
This book did everything its blurb promised. It was pacey, high stakes fantasy with dragons, mystery, and a dash of romance. While it got a bit religious in places for me, I didn't feel it was jarring or took me out of the book, and it was good, YA fun.
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this YA alternate history with dragons story! The class system, systematic oppression and propaganda, as well as budding rebellion, are nothing new per se, but I found that the stance of the protagonist to be rather fresh for me, and a super interesting choice.
Viv would do anything for her family - and if that means dooming the rest of the lower-class population, or Britain as a while, she is willing to do that. She does not lack empathy, but for a big chunk of the book she still believes the propaganda she grows up with, is in denial, or just plain isn't ready to give up the hopes of saving her family.
The whole translating/linguist stuff was not as big of deal/not explored as in-depth as I wished. The dragons also weren't as prominent in terms of individual characters.
I did enjoy a lot of the side characters, but it was also clear that there was a lot of untouched potential there that the author wants to explore in the sequels. While it feels a bit silly to say so, the cynical part of me was impressed to find a YA book with a white female protagonist that had a black male love interest. With how hard a lot of YA fantasy books go with the "tall dark and handsome" love interest and then go racially ambiguous at best... it was just nice to see!
As I said above, I did like that Viv was not on boar with the rebels from the start, and for a long time restists any attempt to sway her stance. Towards the end, however, there was a bit of a back-and-forth there that I found exhausting and even a bit confusing in terms of "wait who's side is she on again now?" way.
In terms of marketing, I did not really get a lot of dark academia vibes from this. And there was no enemies-to-lovers romance at all??? It's not insta-love, but the two are definitely NOT enemies in any shape or form! The romance generally is rather low-key, I would not say this is a romantasy at all.
The last big theme of the book is forgiveness, specifically forgiving yourself for past mistakes, and how to see past your own mistakes so you can move on and not get stuck in your own "badness". I found that to be quite an important lesson, and in was handled really in-depth.
The worldbuilding was pretty decent, though I was a bit confused by the overall state of the world?? There is such a heavy focus on Britain and also a bit on Bulgaria, but what about the rest?? There are one or two throw-away sentences about other countries, but overall I found that a bit annoying, though it makes sense that Viv wouldn't care about any other countries too.
The dragon and human politics were interesting, though here, too, I felt like it wasn't handled with the depth and history that I wanted it to. But, again, here too it makes sense that Viv wouldn't know much more either. Still I would have wanted to know more about the history about how dragons and humans live together.
Overall this was a fun read, and I am looking forward to the sequel!
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Viv would do anything for her family - and if that means dooming the rest of the lower-class population, or Britain as a while, she is willing to do that. She does not lack empathy, but for a big chunk of the book she still believes the propaganda she grows up with, is in denial, or just plain isn't ready to give up the hopes of saving her family.
The whole translating/linguist stuff was not as big of deal/not explored as in-depth as I wished. The dragons also weren't as prominent in terms of individual characters.
I did enjoy a lot of the side characters, but it was also clear that there was a lot of untouched potential there that the author wants to explore in the sequels. While it feels a bit silly to say so, the cynical part of me was impressed to find a YA book with a white female protagonist that had a black male love interest. With how hard a lot of YA fantasy books go with the "tall dark and handsome" love interest and then go racially ambiguous at best... it was just nice to see!
As I said above, I did like that Viv was not on boar with the rebels from the start, and for a long time restists any attempt to sway her stance. Towards the end, however, there was a bit of a back-and-forth there that I found exhausting and even a bit confusing in terms of "wait who's side is she on again now?" way.
In terms of marketing, I did not really get a lot of dark academia vibes from this. And there was no enemies-to-lovers romance at all??? It's not insta-love, but the two are definitely NOT enemies in any shape or form! The romance generally is rather low-key, I would not say this is a romantasy at all.
The last big theme of the book is forgiveness, specifically forgiving yourself for past mistakes, and how to see past your own mistakes so you can move on and not get stuck in your own "badness". I found that to be quite an important lesson, and in was handled really in-depth.
The worldbuilding was pretty decent, though I was a bit confused by the overall state of the world?? There is such a heavy focus on Britain and also a bit on Bulgaria, but what about the rest?? There are one or two throw-away sentences about other countries, but overall I found that a bit annoying, though it makes sense that Viv wouldn't care about any other countries too.
The dragon and human politics were interesting, though here, too, I felt like it wasn't handled with the depth and history that I wanted it to. But, again, here too it makes sense that Viv wouldn't know much more either. Still I would have wanted to know more about the history about how dragons and humans live together.
Overall this was a fun read, and I am looking forward to the sequel!
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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