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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
I could not read the word badass without cringing. The world building was positively wild. It's in a more historical fantasy setting where they write with quills, use weapons, crossbows were a big deal, people who wield magic have access to smaller abilities like locking/unlocking doors, making mage light, etc. There lots of wooden shit, but that also translated to having wooden exercise equipment to essential get swole in a modern fashion, rather than bodyweight exercises. There's a brief mention right at the beginning about shoe sizes which means they have standardized them? And the whole riders quadrant can get married before everyone else when the graduate.... At age 23? That's early for this society? And the focus of sexual relations was just pervasive. The talk of raging hormones... The convenience of fertility suppressants getting a brief mention before boning down. Oh and gods are worshipped, but not by dragons.
There was some disability rep that I think was decent considering that it was a fantastical setting with healers, and the character didn't want to "look weak" and would refuse treatment to speed the healing process. There was some LGBT+ rep as well, but mostly on a surface level for side characters.
Honestly, it was fine but the romance had me putting the book down regularly and made finishing this book difficult.
Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Stalking, Classism, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, Death, Grief, Torture, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse
cdoubet'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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
thebookaddict'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
🇬🇧: What an emotional rollercoaster. I felt all the emotions in this book! First of all, the land building is really great! I immediately got a picture of everything and then the characters... each one is a good addition to the book. All the personalities are so different and yet fit so well into the story. This makes everything fall into place immediately, you really get those "ohwww that's why he did this" moments. Real chef's kisses. I totally get the hype... I can't wait to read iron flame! I need to know where this story continues.
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
banscout'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
4.0
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Vomit and Panic attacks/disorders
abicaro17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Medical content, Gore, Murder, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
culzean's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Bullying, Death, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Violence, War, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Toxic friendship
sauvageloup'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? It's complicated
4.0
pros:
- it's pretty unputdownable, constantly keeping the tension high and the ball rolling. very good writing and pacing in that sense as there was never a dull bit.
- the different scenes were written well too, the fighting, dialogue, reflection and romance were all solid.
- I likes the setting, the dragons, the politics and worldbuilding, but the characters were the strong point. xaden and violet were both compelling and conflicted in their own ways.
- especially liked the flashing out of the side characters. I was definitely emotional when
- I hear from my friend witty Eds that Violet's was written well and it's great to see more disability representation, since its sadly lacking. great that she wasnt magically cured of it, and was supported by others throughout the story even as others tried to take her out.
- focus on sibling relationships was cool top, great to see mira and violets positive sisterhood and rhiannon and her sister.
- a fair number of twists were unpredictable, like
- I also liked that the characters were 20y/o plus, and the women were called that, not girls.
- inclusion of queer side characters was great to see too, including rhiannon and Heaton, neither of which faced any discrimination for it.
cons:
- it was all very classic YA tropes with an adult bent. Dane and xaden were immediately obviously love interests (twilight)
- though called clever, violet does have some dim moments for sure,
- also didny like the last chapter being xadens POV. it sounded the exact same to violets which was disappointing and was unneeded. he was better just through violets eyes.
- overall, I would have liked some more real failures for violet, and less cliches. plus some more real violence rather than the squeamish stuff. go big or go home for the morally grey characters is what I say.
but it still gets a four because it was very gripping, I did like xaden and violet and their chemistry, plus the side characters and the dragons.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Murder, War, Bullying, Gore, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Medical content
falchionm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Bullying, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, War, and Injury/Injury detail
moodreadererin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Death of parent, War, Bullying, Blood, Gaslighting, Death, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Body shaming
Moderate: Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Medical content
arbramirez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Violence, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Xenophobia, Ableism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders