Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Ice Dragon

This was absolutely lovely, though I'm not sure what fantasy world I was living in when I thought that a "children's book" by GRRM would be anything like other children's books! To be fair, this book is probably about as happy and hopeful of a story as ol' George is capable of writing. 😂

I was reading this to my 6-year-old and am very grateful that he wasn't interested enough in the plot to complain when we "forgot" to read the last couple of chapters together, because he's a very compassionate and empathetic sort who gets his little heart broken every time anything bad happens to a character, and I'm not sure he could have handled the ending of this one. ♥

Content Warnings

booking_along's review against another edition

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adventurous sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

this was a nice story and i loved the idea of ice dragons and how being able to touch them made someone special.
i didn’t like how fight went down or how it seems that the dragons where a relatively small part and almost easily forgotten by everyone in the book of the story for playing a big role in the story.

still overall a nice story and k would recommend it if you don’t mind fantasy animal deaths.

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darkefyres's review against another edition

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relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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ollie_again's review

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Most probably the only book I'll ever read by GRRM. And even though this is supposedly middle-grade, the amount of people and animals who die during the 100 pages is quite high and I didn't need to hear the descriptions of a man with his head split in half and people burning to death. I don't mind reading more grim stories but not when it's for younger readers.

Overall though, this story was pretty mediocre. The writing itself is good but the story is bland and at the end, I was asking myself what was the point?

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ros_lanta's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I rather loved this short fairy tale-esque story of a winter-born child and her connection to the ice dragon. The writing drew me in from the start. It's gorgeously illustrated by Luis Royo.

It's at times a dark and emotional story, which does not shield children from the traumas of war. Parents may wish to read it first before passing it on to their children as some kids will cope with it better than others.

I was vaguely unsatisfied by the ending, which I found a bit too abrupt and - spoiler warning - the bittersweet nature of the ending has me conflicted (I don't necessarily think it was a bad choice, I'm basically undecided on whether it was or not, and I definitely wish it was written differently). I think with a different ending I might have given the book a higher rating.

On the whole though I did enjoy it and I would recommend it to adults as well as (some) children.

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