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adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, War
Minor: Murder
adventurous
tense
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
is this amazing, jaw-dropping literature? no.
a concept never seen before? absolutely not.
is it good? fuck yes.
so, as per usual, sunshine-ish, good-for-(almost)-nothing fmc meets brooding, black cat-coded, sexy af love interest. water found in the ocean, folks!
clichés aside, if you want to make a cash cow out of the booktok crowd and still write a solid, entertaining book—this is how you do it. honestly, most of it felt like a fever dream to me. i was sleep-deprived, in a reading slump, and in desperate need of a quick fix. this book said “say less” and delivered.
we get your typical millennial sarcasm, an fmc who cannot shut the fuck up even if her life depends on it (which, like, it literally does), and somehow it works. the action hits, the worldbuilding is actually cool, and every bit of flirting and banter is delightfully addictive. like… okay rebecca yarros, pop off i guess. i’m letting her cook this one time.
that said—the deaths? kinda felt like shock value. like “war is hell 🤪🤪 so now i’ll kill off one of your emotional support characters for ✨realism✨” and it gave more “manufactured pain” than “narrative impact,” but whatever. also the rebellion twist, the betrayal, all of that? painfully obvious. i saw it coming from chapter five and just waited for everyone else to catch up.
but here’s the thing: i’m hooked. i’m in too deep. don’t be surprised if i dive into the sequel with feral determination lol.
final rating: 4.5 bc i’m not sure it’s a 5 yet.
reading time: 7 hr 6 min
a concept never seen before? absolutely not.
is it good? fuck yes.
so, as per usual, sunshine-ish, good-for-(almost)-nothing fmc meets brooding, black cat-coded, sexy af love interest. water found in the ocean, folks!
clichés aside, if you want to make a cash cow out of the booktok crowd and still write a solid, entertaining book—this is how you do it. honestly, most of it felt like a fever dream to me. i was sleep-deprived, in a reading slump, and in desperate need of a quick fix. this book said “say less” and delivered.
we get your typical millennial sarcasm, an fmc who cannot shut the fuck up even if her life depends on it (which, like, it literally does), and somehow it works. the action hits, the worldbuilding is actually cool, and every bit of flirting and banter is delightfully addictive. like… okay rebecca yarros, pop off i guess. i’m letting her cook this one time.
that said—the deaths? kinda felt like shock value. like “war is hell 🤪🤪 so now i’ll kill off one of your emotional support characters for ✨realism✨” and it gave more “manufactured pain” than “narrative impact,” but whatever. also the rebellion twist, the betrayal, all of that? painfully obvious. i saw it coming from chapter five and just waited for everyone else to catch up.
but here’s the thing: i’m hooked. i’m in too deep. don’t be surprised if i dive into the sequel with feral determination lol.
final rating: 4.5 bc i’m not sure it’s a 5 yet.
reading time: 7 hr 6 min
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Kidnapping
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation, War
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Violet is "forced" to attend a dragon-riding college hungry games to become a super dragon-bonded soldier for the 'good of the people'. This obedient, bookish and fragile girl is not-surprisingly a fast learner and somehow uses her forbidden hot boy*-objectifying wits to quickly improve her combat skills to survive the first year with flying colours. Because she is pretty and for some reason is everything he wants, the gloomy, secretive, "it's not a phase", Adonis boy is also equally obsessed with getting into her pants - except when their bonded dragons are going at it making them both horny but not so much he can't tear himself away from her. For some reason I'm supposed to like her friends that she wasn't meant to befriend in the first place, but their characters are all so flat that I found myself reading their name in a sentence and thinking "Who did what now?".
The last few chapters have a small group of plot twists that aren't plot twist so much as they are where this book (if it were not focused on self-gratification) should focus the plot in the first ¼ of the book. The plot twists ain't twisting.
There is no:
• character development
• intrigue
• character motivation
• plot
Do not pick up this book if you are after a fantasy about dragon-riding soliders training to defeat the Big Bad.
Do read this if you want to read 500-and-something pages of male body objectification and 2½ poorly written explicit sex scenes complete with lightning striking and furniture breaking orgasms.
The last few chapters have a small group of plot twists that aren't plot twist so much as they are where this book (if it were not focused on self-gratification) should focus the plot in the first ¼ of the book. The plot twists ain't twisting.
There is no:
• character development
• intrigue
• character motivation
• plot
Do not pick up this book if you are after a fantasy about dragon-riding soliders training to defeat the Big Bad.
Do read this if you want to read 500-and-something pages of male body objectification and 2½ poorly written explicit sex scenes complete with lightning striking and furniture breaking orgasms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, War
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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
Sure! Here's a short and light review in English
A fun and addictive romantasy read! A bit cliché and predictable at times, but I still really enjoyed it—total guilty pleasure. The romance was steamy but tasteful, and not too cringey. Great for women (18+) who are new to fantasy, though seasoned fantasy readers might find the world-building and plot a bit shallow. Still, a solid, entertaining read!
Let me know if you want a more playful or formal tone!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: War
adventurous
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
I don’t like smut, I don’t like romance, I rarely like fantasy, and I really don’t like romantasy so take this all with a grain of salt
So many thoughts. Where do I start?
So many thoughts. Where do I start?
- I don’t know man. I don’t think this author is a particularly good writer
- This is like Divergent with dragons
- This is like The Poppy War but horny and worse
- They did WHAT to an armoire?
- If I ever hear the phrase “his jaw ticks” or “she threw over her shoulder” again I’m rioting
- guys her hair is special and this is an important feature!!
- They are SO HORNY for each other good lord
RIP Liam you were the best of us Why doesn’t she just get with Rhi? She’s the best - At least there are queer people
Is this book good? No. Do I have a million complaints? Yes. Will I be reading the rest of the series? Yes. The audiobook passes the time on my runs and it’s fun talking to people about this hot mess express of a book. It’s just nice to be involved
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail