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kazzified29's review against another edition
DNF at pg. 110.
This was such a disappointment. I was looking forward to this when I heard about it. I hated the characters. I was bored and it was poorly written. I will never forget this sentence: ‘she was more righter than she knew.’ How did that pass by an editor?
This was such a disappointment. I was looking forward to this when I heard about it. I hated the characters. I was bored and it was poorly written. I will never forget this sentence: ‘she was more righter than she knew.’ How did that pass by an editor?
lexifram's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
chanonwithac's review against another edition
4.0
Good read, fairly predictable. Characters were as relatable as they could be for people that wield magic and ride dragons. I will say, hopefully without giving anything away, that one of my favorite characters, will sadly not be making to the next book (or maybe they will). I don't know if the next book will be high on my reading list, but I will get to it eventually.
dagmarb's review against another edition
3.25
I'd give it between 3 and 3.5 stars
~light spoilers ahead~
If you just ignore the second epilogue it can easily be seen as a standalone so I suppose that's the way to go
The world building was interesting, eith the different dragons coming from different places and having different strengths and all that. I wish we got to see a bit more of the different kingdoms, what kind of customs they have, their culture, etc. But I suppose that's quite difficult to do in a standalone
I also wasn't too impressed by the map (and location names) being so heavily inspired (ripped off from) by europe. Like it wouldve liked to see an original map, and not the European continent with just some borders redrawn and places with a more fantasy like name
~heavier spoilers~
Vespir was the best character in my opinion, her character arc from very shy servant to a confident empress was great to read
I did like hyperia, it's just a shame she went absolutely mad at the end
Ajax was just an annoying character tbh, he did have some growth but definitely not enough in my opinion and definitely not enough to justify crowning him
Emilia was okay, I didnt love her character, but I also didn't hate it
I didnt like how Lucian just did not want to fight at all even when it was clearly the right moment to do so, like I get that those are his morals and his choices but it was getting annoying at the end how self righteous he was
Oh well, it's a same that the sequel will probably never see the light of day but I mean at least with how the ending was I can put it to rest and just forget about the fact that it was supposed to be a duology
~light spoilers ahead~
If you just ignore the second epilogue it can easily be seen as a standalone so I suppose that's the way to go
The world building was interesting, eith the different dragons coming from different places and having different strengths and all that. I wish we got to see a bit more of the different kingdoms, what kind of customs they have, their culture, etc. But I suppose that's quite difficult to do in a standalone
I also wasn't too impressed by the map (and location names) being so heavily inspired (ripped off from) by europe. Like it wouldve liked to see an original map, and not the European continent with just some borders redrawn and places with a more fantasy like name
~heavier spoilers~
Vespir was the best character in my opinion, her character arc from very shy servant to a confident empress was great to read
I did like hyperia, it's just a shame she went absolutely mad at the end
Ajax was just an annoying character tbh, he did have some growth but definitely not enough in my opinion and definitely not enough to justify crowning him
Emilia was okay, I didnt love her character, but I also didn't hate it
I didnt like how Lucian just did not want to fight at all even when it was clearly the right moment to do so, like I get that those are his morals and his choices but it was getting annoying at the end how self righteous he was
Oh well, it's a same that the sequel will probably never see the light of day but I mean at least with how the ending was I can put it to rest and just forget about the fact that it was supposed to be a duology
kab1989's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
paragraphsandpages's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly had fairly high expectations going into this book, and it ended up generally surpassing them anyways!
I wasn't entirely expecting a hardcore political fantasy from this, more just a competition amongst outcasts, so I was surprised by how in depth this story went into the politics of the world and characters' opinions of how it should be run. In the end, this book was mainly about the politics (and the characters and how they're situated in them within their empire/ruling families). It dealt with corruption, ignorance, oppression, and war, and used the characters as a way for the readers to experience everything that was wrong with the empire. In the end, the characters and politics bounced really well off of each other, and it made all the characters and their POVs feel integral to the story itself.
I also just generally liked all the characters, if not because they were a likable character then because they were well-written and fleshed out. For example,. There were also just some really strong characters arcs in this story, and all the the characters really had their own individual journeys as the story progressed, and which I'm super excited to follow even further in the next book. My favorites had to be Emilia and Vespir, with Emilia being an easy favorite from her first chapter. My love for Vespir grew more softly, as she grew out of her meek/shy shell into the strong character she ended up being . I also liked that this book did not have a focus on romance at all. It meant the focus was more fully on the characters themselves and the politics/world, and I loved that!
The only thing that was originally a bit of a letdown was that I thought that all the characters would be full outcasts of society, not just the lowliest child of the royal families. Like, I expected to have a bunch of people who kinda knew what they were doing fighting it out for the crown, not a bunch of mildly incompetent kids who never trained for this. In the end, I did like what the book ended up being way more in the end, but I did have to alter my expectations first.
In the end, I genuinely liked this book a lot and I'm quite excited to see where the rest of the series goes!
I wasn't entirely expecting a hardcore political fantasy from this, more just a competition amongst outcasts, so I was surprised by how in depth this story went into the politics of the world and characters' opinions of how it should be run. In the end, this book was mainly about the politics (and the characters and how they're situated in them within their empire/ruling families). It dealt with corruption, ignorance, oppression, and war, and used the characters as a way for the readers to experience everything that was wrong with the empire. In the end, the characters and politics bounced really well off of each other, and it made all the characters and their POVs feel integral to the story itself.
I also just generally liked all the characters, if not because they were a likable character then because they were well-written and fleshed out. For example,
Spoiler
I can't necessarily say I liked Hyperia by the end, but I could see how she came to be the person she is and why she made the decisions that she did. She was an understandable character, even if I couldn't personally agree with herSpoiler
(I loved seeing her take that race for herself! and her speech at the bar!The only thing that was originally a bit of a letdown was that I thought that all the characters would be full outcasts of society, not just the lowliest child of the royal families. Like, I expected to have a bunch of people who kinda knew what they were doing fighting it out for the crown, not a bunch of mildly incompetent kids who never trained for this. In the end, I did like what the book ended up being way more in the end, but I did have to alter my expectations first.
In the end, I genuinely liked this book a lot and I'm quite excited to see where the rest of the series goes!
joyfullyjordi's review against another edition
3.0
Very Game of Thrones inspired, but has a diverse enough array of characters to save the story. Plot line starts strong, weakens in last couple of chapters
acookweeks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3.0
Too many POV when the story would have been told better in one or two POV