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I enjoyed the story and look forward to the next one, but don’t let the hype raise your expectations to the max as it’s not THAT amazing. Lots of potential to get there though, so my expectations for book 2 are higher. As for the ending, I don’t think it’s a true cliffhanger. It’s more of an abrupt cutoff but no one is hanging off a cliff.
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Do agree with this TikTok and some of their critique on the writing style of the author. Well, it wasn’t enough to completely take me out of the story and DNF the book. It was a little bit jarring.
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment
Minor: Toxic relationship
Now, if you're like me and you usually want your romance on the opposite side of the globe from your fantasy, yet you're curious because the hype for this book is SO overwhelming... there's still stuff to like in here. Yes there's two explicit sex scenes in this book you're going to have to flip past, and an annoying amount of "omg this guy is so HOT I can feel him looking at me, he's so SEXY" to eyeroll through, the main plot is a sharp yet fun second world fantasy.
This is a military fantasy, with a mandatory draft and a high level of honor bestowed upon members of the military. Our protagonist trained her whole life to be a scribe but her mother, a general, forces her to enlist as a dragon rider instead. The training process is grueling and lots of characters die on and off the page. I like that our protagonist has a disability - it sounds like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome to me - and I feel like a major through line of the book has to do with dealing with people who won't respect your capabilities or limits. I wasn't expecting the dragons to have such fun personalities and I really enjoyed them. And while I was able to pick up on most of the foreshadowing, there's a fun twist at the end that made me go preorder the next book in the series.
If the hype has you curious, I recommend giving this book a try!
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
The premise was really good.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Grief, Toxic friendship
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol