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4.44 AVERAGE
4.44 AVERAGE
Dragons, beautiful world, beautiful men, mid magic system but overall entertaining!
Yes, Violet was basically Mare Barrow and Xaden was basically Rhysand, but it was super vibey and I enjoyed every single second of it.
WOW! What an adventure. I never read fantasy books or anything like this. I’m so glad my book group decided to read this. I was hesitant at first but this was incredible!
I couldn’t put this book down. It was a long read and I raced through it as if it was only 100 pages. The story keeps you drawn in the entire time. There was so much going on all the time, I had to force myself to stop reading at points.
These characters are amazing, some I loved some I hated. Some I rooted for and others I wanted to throw in front of a dragon.
Yarros did an amazing job describing the setting. It was always descriptive and painted quite the picture. The map at the beginning helped with visualizing where the characters were at the college.
I loved the disability representation. Violet clearly has a chronic illness and was still able to overcome so many struggles and be successful.
There was some romance in this book but it wasn’t overwhelming. The story was primarily about survival and overcoming challenges.
That twist at the end was totally unexpected! Already have the next two books ready to go. Can’t believe I almost didn’t read this!
I couldn’t put this book down. It was a long read and I raced through it as if it was only 100 pages. The story keeps you drawn in the entire time. There was so much going on all the time, I had to force myself to stop reading at points.
These characters are amazing, some I loved some I hated. Some I rooted for and others I wanted to throw in front of a dragon.
Yarros did an amazing job describing the setting. It was always descriptive and painted quite the picture. The map at the beginning helped with visualizing where the characters were at the college.
I loved the disability representation. Violet clearly has a chronic illness and was still able to overcome so many struggles and be successful.
There was some romance in this book but it wasn’t overwhelming. The story was primarily about survival and overcoming challenges.
That twist at the end was totally unexpected! Already have the next two books ready to go. Can’t believe I almost didn’t read this!
DNF pg.200
1⭐ I had such high hopes for this book! However, the characters were extremely shallow. I couldn't really make a connection with any of them and didn't care what happened to them. The writing was horrible. It felt like a ninth-grader sharing their school drama... In the worst way possible.
**Edit: A friend asked me to continue, so I did and ended up finishing the book. The writing didn't get any better, and it's all pretty predictable, but I did end up enjoying the story. Here's to hoping this will be like ACOTAR where the next book is better. I'd give 1.5 if able, but I'll bump it up to 2⭐ for the story.
1⭐ I had such high hopes for this book! However, the characters were extremely shallow. I couldn't really make a connection with any of them and didn't care what happened to them. The writing was horrible. It felt like a ninth-grader sharing their school drama... In the worst way possible.
**Edit: A friend asked me to continue, so I did and ended up finishing the book. The writing didn't get any better, and it's all pretty predictable, but I did end up enjoying the story. Here's to hoping this will be like ACOTAR where the next book is better. I'd give 1.5 if able, but I'll bump it up to 2⭐ for the story.
I’m just in shock. Will have to start Iron flame like rn
gdyby cala książka byla taka jak pierwsza jej połowa to dałabym 5 gwiazdek, ale końcówka strasznie mi się dłużyła i trochę nie miala sensu???? ta rewolucja w sensie, nie rozumiem jej idei XD I CHCE WIECEJ SMOKOW
Before you threaten my family and start sharpening your pitchforks LET ME EXPLAIN. This is a solid book. A good book. Is it a great book? Does it deserve 5 stars... no. I will say, this is a great book for someone getting into fantasy. There were way too many similarities from other books I've read, and that's ultimately what cost it a star in my OPINION. Lack of Creativity. Okay, I'm tired of trying not to offend people here it goes this is why I didn't enjoy the book enough to rate it 4 stars.
STOP READING SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT
I found that the reason why I put it down initially is for lack of character development, or even just like plot development, and I was able to pin that after the entire scene with Dane and Violet. It felt so scripted that he was such a stickler for the rules. I can understand this being one of his qualities, but to make it his ENTIRE personality without explaining why is what got frustrating. I would love a scene where he starts yelling at Xaden saying how he doesn't have the luxury of breaking the rules. ANYTHING. Like how is the man you grew up with who supposedly is in love with you not willing to break the rules? Even if it were to save your life! The reason he gives. Because it's a rule! Like what! I wish he could be slightly more complex and reflect an actual person and not a placeholder or a stereotypical third point of a triangle. I felt the same way about Jack. It was never explained why he hated her only that he strongly wanted to kill her because of her lineage. We didn't get any background from him either. One sentence explaining why he hates her mom or "people of power" would've been enough motive for me not to mention this, but there is none. Like why is he so passionate about killing her? They don't even interact enough to have tension in person!
Around 60% into the book it stalled. There was no real tension driving the plot forward, the conflicts being discussed have been mentioned since the beginning and are not profound enough to last the entire book. If I were to command F any self-depreciating phrase Violet uses it would probably be equivalent to half of the word count of this book!
I enjoy the interactions she has with her mother because I feel that there's actual tension between them and something is occurring between the lines of their dialogue. That's what I crave to know more about in this book and less about the petty drama going on in training. Don't get me started on training! I understand it's important to document her evolution in the quadrant and be like, "wow look how much she's changed!" But we don't get the satisfaction of knowing! It's addressed matter-of-factly, like I train so hard blah blah blah. And then we maybe get two sentences like "I earned a dagger from this guy" and " I earned another dagger from this girl," but we don't see how it happened and are robbed of the satisfaction! I don't think it holds attention as a real conflict in the book long enough for us to care and want to read further. The real tension of the book isn't her relationship with Xaden, but the censoring happening with the classified documents and revealing the truth behind this kingdom. That is the true tension and I wish it was more split between that. I enjoy the times in the archives and I wish she spent more time there asking questions and investigating. Maybe she can't do that because she's so behind in training, her being the underdog is annoying but understandable. I'm not expecting her to be the underdog and then be the best person there is. I just need to SEE AND READ HER BEING BETTER.
If your attention is motivated by her and Xaden then I can understand why you fly through this book. I would love a separate POV like anything other than Violet's self-deprecating internal monologue would be a sweet relief, and maybe then we can get more character development.
Okay, I finished. I HATE REBECCA for making me want to read the second book hahaha. It's like she actually decided to write a book in the second half. I don't think the book needed to be 600 pages at all, 400 pages would suffice. She put her back into it. I don't regret reading this. It's pretty good toward the end, but I don't think by any means that it deserves 5 stars. I'm still going to rate this a 3. I'm still mad about the middle of the book. The book was really good toward the end, but that doesn't make up for the pain she put me through all the way toward the end.
LAST TAKE-AWAYS!
Goldie looks like my little pony in my head sorry you can't change it. ALSO, I'm getting whiplash from Rebecca switching from a middle school reading level to Shakespearean diction requiring me to look up the word. Thank God I read it on my Kindle.
STOP READING SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT
I found that the reason why I put it down initially is for lack of character development, or even just like plot development, and I was able to pin that after the entire scene with Dane and Violet. It felt so scripted that he was such a stickler for the rules. I can understand this being one of his qualities, but to make it his ENTIRE personality without explaining why is what got frustrating. I would love a scene where he starts yelling at Xaden saying how he doesn't have the luxury of breaking the rules. ANYTHING. Like how is the man you grew up with who supposedly is in love with you not willing to break the rules? Even if it were to save your life! The reason he gives. Because it's a rule! Like what! I wish he could be slightly more complex and reflect an actual person and not a placeholder or a stereotypical third point of a triangle. I felt the same way about Jack. It was never explained why he hated her only that he strongly wanted to kill her because of her lineage. We didn't get any background from him either. One sentence explaining why he hates her mom or "people of power" would've been enough motive for me not to mention this, but there is none. Like why is he so passionate about killing her? They don't even interact enough to have tension in person!
Around 60% into the book it stalled. There was no real tension driving the plot forward, the conflicts being discussed have been mentioned since the beginning and are not profound enough to last the entire book. If I were to command F any self-depreciating phrase Violet uses it would probably be equivalent to half of the word count of this book!
I enjoy the interactions she has with her mother because I feel that there's actual tension between them and something is occurring between the lines of their dialogue. That's what I crave to know more about in this book and less about the petty drama going on in training. Don't get me started on training! I understand it's important to document her evolution in the quadrant and be like, "wow look how much she's changed!" But we don't get the satisfaction of knowing! It's addressed matter-of-factly, like I train so hard blah blah blah. And then we maybe get two sentences like "I earned a dagger from this guy" and " I earned another dagger from this girl," but we don't see how it happened and are robbed of the satisfaction! I don't think it holds attention as a real conflict in the book long enough for us to care and want to read further. The real tension of the book isn't her relationship with Xaden, but the censoring happening with the classified documents and revealing the truth behind this kingdom. That is the true tension and I wish it was more split between that. I enjoy the times in the archives and I wish she spent more time there asking questions and investigating. Maybe she can't do that because she's so behind in training, her being the underdog is annoying but understandable. I'm not expecting her to be the underdog and then be the best person there is. I just need to SEE AND READ HER BEING BETTER.
If your attention is motivated by her and Xaden then I can understand why you fly through this book. I would love a separate POV like anything other than Violet's self-deprecating internal monologue would be a sweet relief, and maybe then we can get more character development.
Okay, I finished. I HATE REBECCA for making me want to read the second book hahaha. It's like she actually decided to write a book in the second half. I don't think the book needed to be 600 pages at all, 400 pages would suffice. She put her back into it. I don't regret reading this. It's pretty good toward the end, but I don't think by any means that it deserves 5 stars. I'm still going to rate this a 3. I'm still mad about the middle of the book. The book was really good toward the end, but that doesn't make up for the pain she put me through all the way toward the end.
LAST TAKE-AWAYS!
Goldie looks like my little pony in my head sorry you can't change it. ALSO, I'm getting whiplash from Rebecca switching from a middle school reading level to Shakespearean diction requiring me to look up the word. Thank God I read it on my Kindle.