Scan barcode
beforeviolets's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.5
This book was essentially How To Train Your Dragon but from the POV of Toothless.
But also if there was a romance between Toothless and Hiccup.
And also if Toothless ate people and... was a siren.
Through the perspective of a nonbinary siren, this book takes us through the mental and physical journey of gaining a disability and learning to live with it.
Our main character, Perle, travels the path of mourning a life once loved in order to adjust to a completely new way of living. They find themself relying on those they would once consider enemies and having to redefine their understanding of freedom, independence, and strength. Over the course of this book, they learn to not only accept, but thrive, in their new reality, and through this are able to pave the way to a future that is better than one they could’ve ever imagined before their disability.
The characters were enjoyable, I thought the pacing was fairly well done, and I think the length was just perfect for the story that needed to be told. I will say, the high intensity moments were quite a bit repetitive, and after the third time the LI got knocked unconscious, the "is he alive??" moment we were meant to have as an audience lost its power. It just needed a bit of variety. I also felt that the romance element could've been a bit more cathartic towards the end, as I felt there was quite a bit of build and then just a brief little discussion about it in the final moments. But I did love the clarification of the quality of their relationship.
It's a really sweet story of healing, second chances, and creating support systems one can call family.
CW/TW: gore, blood, violence, injury detail, death, murder, imprisonment, gun violence, drowning, medical content, PTSD, paraplegia, emesis, physical abuse, sexual abuse (mention, past)
But also if there was a romance between Toothless and Hiccup.
And also if Toothless ate people and... was a siren.
Through the perspective of a nonbinary siren, this book takes us through the mental and physical journey of gaining a disability and learning to live with it.
Our main character, Perle, travels the path of mourning a life once loved in order to adjust to a completely new way of living. They find themself relying on those they would once consider enemies and having to redefine their understanding of freedom, independence, and strength. Over the course of this book, they learn to not only accept, but thrive, in their new reality, and through this are able to pave the way to a future that is better than one they could’ve ever imagined before their disability.
The characters were enjoyable, I thought the pacing was fairly well done, and I think the length was just perfect for the story that needed to be told. I will say, the high intensity moments were quite a bit repetitive, and after the third time the LI got knocked unconscious, the "is he alive??" moment we were meant to have as an audience lost its power. It just needed a bit of variety. I also felt that the romance element could've been a bit more cathartic towards the end, as I felt there was quite a bit of build and then just a brief little discussion about it in the final moments. But I did love the clarification of the quality of their relationship.
It's a really sweet story of healing, second chances, and creating support systems one can call family.
CW/TW: gore, blood, violence, injury detail, death, murder, imprisonment, gun violence, drowning, medical content, PTSD, paraplegia, emesis, physical abuse, sexual abuse (mention, past)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit
More...