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4.44 AVERAGE
4.44 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
loved the dragons and inclusive character choices
hated the writing, the world building, the main characters, the storyline and tropes
hated the writing, the world building, the main characters, the storyline and tropes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
adventurous
emotional
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
This book was like the fast-food version of reading... i.e. cheap and cheerful but low quality. Shame as it had a lot of potential which the author seemed to dodge at every possible opportunity 💀
Some highlights (or lowlights):
- Plot/Writing: An interesting premise (bookish nerd forced into a brutal military school for dragon riders). Unfortunately the writing style was excruciating - the characters are constantly swearing and using modern slang (e.g. "the vibes", "super freaking hot") which made me feel like I was reading poorly written fanfiction as a 13yo on Tumblr
The exposition (and there was a lot of it, most of which I skipped) was incredibly forced into either unrealistic dialogue or the main character literally RECITING HISTORY TEXTBOOKS in her head whenever she gets stressed as a personality "quirk".
The storyline was extremely predictable until slightly redeeming itself in the final few chapters by briefly having some plot twists, well-written action sequences, and a meaningful death of a character that actually contributed to the plot.
This was the only well-written part of the book, as the rest of the action sequences were so garbled I had to google what had happened and refer to diagrams drawn by fans on Reddit, especially in that Ninja Warrior aka Gauntlet scene.
- Romance: I am not opposed to books that revolve around romance or to tropes like "enemies to lovers", but it doesn't count when the "enemies" are literally thirsting over each other from 10 pages into a 500 page book 💀 Where is the slow burn? Main character Violet was literally facing death 2 chapters in and all she could think about was how hot her enemy was and describing his chiseled face??? Feminism has left the chat
- Characters: Protagonist Violet is an extreme Mary-Sue. Her only weaknesses are how "tiny" and "pale" she is (and the book will remind you of this approximately every other paragraph) and the fact that she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which only manifests at times convenient to the plot, and doesn't bother her at all during the spicy scenes where they're smashing every piece of furniture in the room.
Despite us being constantly reminded of how small and weak she is, she is also obviously extremely brave and sassy, with a "mind sexy as hell" (actual quote... and no, she doesn't do anything spectacularly clever at any point in the book). She bonds with not one, but TWO dragons, the ONLY RIDER EVER to do this, including one which is the largest/most powerful dragon in the land, and another ultra-rare type which has OP time-stopping powers, also previously unheard of. She can also wield lightning, which - you guessed it - is also incredibly rare and hasn't been seen for centuries. She is given the pet name "Violence" by Xaden which is supposed to be cute and flirty, even though she's a pacifist throughout.
She is an absolute hypocrite in the relationship, telling Xaden she has fallen for him and will love him no matter what despite not knowing all of his secrets - then turning around and acting all betrayed and "I can't believe you kept this from me" when he reveals his secrets to her at the end even though he has done nothing wrong and saved her life - 🚩🚩🚩
Of course being a booktok romance she has to be in a love triangle with one childhood friend who is blond and strong, and one dark, brooding enigmatic dude she met 5 mins ago. But I forgot, Xaden appears to be multifaceted and enigmatic... until you find out during the last few chapters from his POV that he basically also fell in love with Violet at first sight for no reason and has been whipped ever since.
The side characters are comically one-dimensional and forgettable, e.g. Liam is just "good guy" and is super strong, nice and never complains or says anything negative, Dain is "rule follower/golden boy" that doesn't have any thoughts of his own and won't break rules even to save his best friend, Jack is a total asshole for no discernible reason with his only other character trait being a food allergy 💀.
Some highlights (or lowlights):
- Plot/Writing: An interesting premise (bookish nerd forced into a brutal military school for dragon riders). Unfortunately the writing style was excruciating - the characters are constantly swearing and using modern slang (e.g. "the vibes", "super freaking hot") which made me feel like I was reading poorly written fanfiction as a 13yo on Tumblr
The exposition (and there was a lot of it, most of which I skipped) was incredibly forced into either unrealistic dialogue or the main character literally RECITING HISTORY TEXTBOOKS in her head whenever she gets stressed as a personality "quirk".
The storyline was extremely predictable until slightly redeeming itself in the final few chapters by briefly having some plot twists, well-written action sequences, and a meaningful death of a character that actually contributed to the plot.
This was the only well-written part of the book, as the rest of the action sequences were so garbled I had to google what had happened and refer to diagrams drawn by fans on Reddit, especially in that Ninja Warrior aka Gauntlet scene.
- Romance: I am not opposed to books that revolve around romance or to tropes like "enemies to lovers", but it doesn't count when the "enemies" are literally thirsting over each other from 10 pages into a 500 page book 💀 Where is the slow burn? Main character Violet was literally facing death 2 chapters in and all she could think about was how hot her enemy was and describing his chiseled face??? Feminism has left the chat
- Characters: Protagonist Violet is an extreme Mary-Sue. Her only weaknesses are how "tiny" and "pale" she is (and the book will remind you of this approximately every other paragraph) and the fact that she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which only manifests at times convenient to the plot, and doesn't bother her at all during the spicy scenes where they're smashing every piece of furniture in the room.
Despite us being constantly reminded of how small and weak she is, she is also obviously extremely brave and sassy, with a "mind sexy as hell" (actual quote... and no, she doesn't do anything spectacularly clever at any point in the book). She bonds with not one, but TWO dragons, the ONLY RIDER EVER to do this, including one which is the largest/most powerful dragon in the land, and another ultra-rare type which has OP time-stopping powers, also previously unheard of. She can also wield lightning, which - you guessed it - is also incredibly rare and hasn't been seen for centuries. She is given the pet name "Violence" by Xaden which is supposed to be cute and flirty, even though she's a pacifist throughout.
She is an absolute hypocrite in the relationship, telling Xaden she has fallen for him and will love him no matter what despite not knowing all of his secrets - then turning around and acting all betrayed and "I can't believe you kept this from me" when he reveals his secrets to her at the end even though he has done nothing wrong and saved her life - 🚩🚩🚩
Of course being a booktok romance she has to be in a love triangle with one childhood friend who is blond and strong, and one dark, brooding enigmatic dude she met 5 mins ago. But I forgot, Xaden appears to be multifaceted and enigmatic... until you find out during the last few chapters from his POV that he basically also fell in love with Violet at first sight for no reason and has been whipped ever since.
The side characters are comically one-dimensional and forgettable, e.g. Liam is just "good guy" and is super strong, nice and never complains or says anything negative, Dain is "rule follower/golden boy" that doesn't have any thoughts of his own and won't break rules even to save his best friend, Jack is a total asshole for no discernible reason with his only other character trait being a food allergy 💀.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Super god bog (læst på 5-6 dage) spicy - nogle gange lidt langtrukket, men tror jeg også læser 2’eren
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
I was going to rate 3 but I've brought it up to 4.
It was my first time listening to a full audio book, which I will not be doing again. The person did a fantastic job but not my cuppa. So incase that affects how I feel about this I'm bumping it up a star.
Honestly. It fell flat. It didn't feel like a good fantasy and it didn't feel like a fantasy romance (which means I'll let them be more lack with the fantasy side of it).
Fantasy side:
The world was interesting but I never felt fully in it. The legends that became relevant etc felt unexplored. There was no distinct culture.
Hopefully where it's left off the next book will be able to fill that in more.
The bond and details with the dragons etc just happened. There was no building up of friendship, no development of the bond and was just skipped over.
The romance side:
Enemies to lovers? She explained why they would be enemies but I never felt any threat or dislike from him. He was just there.
And I guess slight spoiler?
And the ending when he tells her why certain things weren't disclosed. In my opinion completely justified as the thing he was worried about her friend doing WAS PROVEN TO HAVE HAPPENED.
It's a meh. Which is a shame I like dragons.
It was my first time listening to a full audio book, which I will not be doing again. The person did a fantastic job but not my cuppa. So incase that affects how I feel about this I'm bumping it up a star.
Honestly. It fell flat. It didn't feel like a good fantasy and it didn't feel like a fantasy romance (which means I'll let them be more lack with the fantasy side of it).
Fantasy side:
The world was interesting but I never felt fully in it. The legends that became relevant etc felt unexplored. There was no distinct culture.
Hopefully where it's left off the next book will be able to fill that in more.
The bond and details with the dragons etc just happened. There was no building up of friendship, no development of the bond and was just skipped over.
The romance side:
Enemies to lovers? She explained why they would be enemies but I never felt any threat or dislike from him. He was just there.
And I guess slight spoiler?
And the ending when he tells her why certain things weren't disclosed. In my opinion completely justified as the thing he was worried about her friend doing WAS PROVEN TO HAVE HAPPENED.
It's a meh. Which is a shame I like dragons.