Scan barcode
kattotes's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
Here's the thing. I went in worried about the hype for this book, and it was better than I thought it'd be. Even so, it failed in so many areas that I will very likely not read more in the series.
My gripes are as followed, but are not limited to:
1. The prose. Cringetopia. The first quarter of the book is "I'd fuck him, but fuck I'm having a shit ass day and I'm so fucked for the win shit's about to get real." The book sinks back into this style every 100 pages or so for awhile, making me think those bits all were written in the same sitting and the rest came later to make it a more "serious" fantasy. The other aspect about the writing that had me going PARAGRAPHS back every chapter was someone would say something, then there would be paragraphs of unnecessary deluge, then the person would respond with one word. Huh? What were they responding to again? Oh, yeah, that thing three paragraphs back. Every. Single. Interaction. Let your characters talk to each other!
1a. Please don't use Scottish Gaelic for the convenience of randomly generating your dragons' names. It's a whole language and culture and people and mythology you know nothing about.
2. The mix of time periods. Insert tropey fantasy land of ye olde, but have all sorts of modern items strewn throughout. It feels like the author was lazily relying on convenience and not trying to do any sort of cool fusion for the setting. I just don't know why the author insisted on having a war-monarchy-school-dragon-high-fantasy setting if she didn't want to stay in it.
3. Characters. No character had any depth, not even the mains. Any emotions they had were quickly flipped in the next paragraph for the plot progression. Anyone besides the main two are easily interchangeable (ex. Tell me the non-physical trait differences between Garrick and Bodhi. Oh, you can't because they don't have any personality). Characters were introduced for plot reasons or to die and makeMary Sue Violet sad. Tokenism all over the place (Can you name anything about the nonbinary character besides their name and that they dye their hair a lot?).
4. The ending. "Liam died but Brennan didn't, so don't be mad! XD Buy my next booooook."
5. "I'm so tiny and he's so big.
Here's the thing. I went in worried about the hype for this book, and it was better than I thought it'd be. Even so, it failed in so many areas that I will very likely not read more in the series.
My gripes are as followed, but are not limited to:
1. The prose. Cringetopia. The first quarter of the book is "I'd fuck him, but fuck I'm having a shit ass day and I'm so fucked for the win shit's about to get real." The book sinks back into this style every 100 pages or so for awhile, making me think those bits all were written in the same sitting and the rest came later to make it a more "serious" fantasy. The other aspect about the writing that had me going PARAGRAPHS back every chapter was someone would say something, then there would be paragraphs of unnecessary deluge, then the person would respond with one word. Huh? What were they responding to again? Oh, yeah, that thing three paragraphs back. Every. Single. Interaction. Let your characters talk to each other!
1a. Please don't use Scottish Gaelic for the convenience of randomly generating your dragons' names. It's a whole language and culture and people and mythology you know nothing about.
2. The mix of time periods. Insert tropey fantasy land of ye olde, but have all sorts of modern items strewn throughout. It feels like the author was lazily relying on convenience and not trying to do any sort of cool fusion for the setting. I just don't know why the author insisted on having a war-monarchy-school-dragon-high-fantasy setting if she didn't want to stay in it.
3. Characters. No character had any depth, not even the mains. Any emotions they had were quickly flipped in the next paragraph for the plot progression. Anyone besides the main two are easily interchangeable (ex. Tell me the non-physical trait differences between Garrick and Bodhi. Oh, you can't because they don't have any personality). Characters were introduced for plot reasons or to die and make
4. The ending. "Liam died but Brennan didn't, so don't be mad! XD Buy my next booooook."
5. "I'm so tiny and he's so big.
pwiant17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Damn it, I couldn’t put it down.
Interfered with my whole damn life in the day I spent reading it.
Interfered with my whole damn life in the day I spent reading it.
sarisming's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
lauriealvarado's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
toriyn14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
akirakay33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
elenalejandra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
avaweyrich's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- 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
alexandra_tink1988's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
I loved this book. It is my first venture into fantasy but I absolutely loved it. I loved the main character and the love story there but also all story was brilliant and I can't wait to read the next installment!