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A review by debthebookworm
When She Reigns by Jodi Meadows
5.0
1st, I'm not sure what version I have, but there are definitely more than 496 pages. That said come of this will be littered with spoilers.
Tldr (though, really??): The Great Abandonment was always supposed to happen. It's a human notion to think you can do anything to stop destiny. Prophecies are prophesies for a reason. They were never supposed to try to keep the Fallen Gods. They fell. And then they got up. What the people didn't realize, except for Paorah, and it's such a human thing to do to twist the will of God to their own agenda, was that a new world was coming. Of course, had Mira never found the first dragon, it wouldn't have, and that's all the prophecies were warning them about: your gods are getting up in 2,000 years, so find their child before that happens, because she is the new world.
And the amount of sacrifices made were deep: the gods having to rise and (basically accidentally) losing hundreds of thousands of their human children, Mira losing her dragon self to save the rest of her people, the first dragon never even getting to be with her parents again because they were always meant for the sky, and she was meant to replace them in the water, all the islanders losing their gifts and their gods' proximity.
Now, let me gush over this story. The writing was just spectacular. I could feel every moment, see every instance so well. Read-seeing the first dragon GET UP in Apolla's throne room?? Being able to imagine the gods standing there when the crew got back to the Fallen Isles, imagining what they looked like (Damyan reaching and waiting for Damina!!)! And then Anahera rising! And then Damina?? And then they're gone? Just the way Jodi painted these pictures is great writing. She's so good. The characters were all fleshed out and their arcs so perfect, especially Mira. We started in Before She Ignites with this panic-stricken girl who cried at the thought of a pimple and a little ashiness and ended with this strong, proud-of-her-scar warrior who fought through her anxieties, gets the boy, and saves the world! Not the way she wanted, but she still did it. I'm so proud of her, even though it was funny how broken up she was about losing her dragon soul over her first assumption that she had to give up her humanity.
And I'll just throw this in here: I'm on the Miru ship for life. I just made that up, but I've loved Aaru since Before She Ignites, loved when he and Mira finally kissed in As She Ascends, and the moments in this here book were still innocent but STEAMY. I loved it. I love the two of them. They are my heart.
This series is one of my top 5 favorites, and I'm so happy to have gotten to experience it. Not just read it. It was an experience.
Tldr (though, really??): The Great Abandonment was always supposed to happen. It's a human notion to think you can do anything to stop destiny. Prophecies are prophesies for a reason. They were never supposed to try to keep the Fallen Gods. They fell. And then they got up. What the people didn't realize, except for Paorah, and it's such a human thing to do to twist the will of God to their own agenda, was that a new world was coming. Of course, had Mira never found the first dragon, it wouldn't have, and that's all the prophecies were warning them about: your gods are getting up in 2,000 years, so find their child before that happens, because she is the new world.
And the amount of sacrifices made were deep: the gods having to rise and (basically accidentally) losing hundreds of thousands of their human children, Mira losing her dragon self to save the rest of her people, the first dragon never even getting to be with her parents again because they were always meant for the sky, and she was meant to replace them in the water, all the islanders losing their gifts and their gods' proximity.
Now, let me gush over this story. The writing was just spectacular. I could feel every moment, see every instance so well. Read-seeing the first dragon GET UP in Apolla's throne room?? Being able to imagine the gods standing there when the crew got back to the Fallen Isles, imagining what they looked like (Damyan reaching and waiting for Damina!!)! And then Anahera rising! And then Damina?? And then they're gone? Just the way Jodi painted these pictures is great writing. She's so good. The characters were all fleshed out and their arcs so perfect, especially Mira. We started in Before She Ignites with this panic-stricken girl who cried at the thought of a pimple and a little ashiness and ended with this strong, proud-of-her-scar warrior who fought through her anxieties, gets the boy, and saves the world! Not the way she wanted, but she still did it. I'm so proud of her, even though it was funny how broken up she was about losing her dragon soul over her first assumption that she had to give up her humanity.
And I'll just throw this in here: I'm on the Miru ship for life. I just made that up, but I've loved Aaru since Before She Ignites, loved when he and Mira finally kissed in As She Ascends, and the moments in this here book were still innocent but STEAMY. I loved it. I love the two of them. They are my heart.
This series is one of my top 5 favorites, and I'm so happy to have gotten to experience it. Not just read it. It was an experience.