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A review by clairebartholomew549
Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose Darling
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I wanted to like this book, but to me it fell prey to the curse that often befalls a second book in a romantasy series: it attempts to expand the world but just makes things extremely confusing, the "conflict" between the love interests feels both contrived and too easily resolved, and the stakes just don't feel as high as the first novel. It's still enjoyable, but it was relatively lackluster for me.
I struggled to entirely grasp the plot, but here's my best shot at a summary. Elowen and Cayden have just conquered the kingdom of Varaveth and Elowen has reunited with her five adult dragons. Now, they are in a war against Elowen's abusive father's kingdom, Imirath, and they must rally other kingdoms to their cause, all while maintaining the front that they have an adoring marriage. But Elowen is still smarting from Cayden forcing her to marry him.
A lot of this book felt predictable, but maybe more importantly, it just didn't feel like there was enough narrative tension. I found myself skimming often, wanting to get to the good stuff, and then feeling disappointed. Elowen wrestles with feeling like Cayden has betrayed her, but her feelings are not all that complicated, and there's not really a build to an emotional confrontation that provides any satisfaction. Cayden's feelings are also so intense and overwrought that I was rolling my eyes at some points. The worldbuilding also just completely went over my head, and I wasn't invested enough to figure it out. It's been a while since I read the first book, so I'm sure that didn't help, but I think this book would have benefited from a quick recap, as opposed to the kingdom names, dragon names, and pronunciations. A lot of people seem to love this book, so maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it?
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
I struggled to entirely grasp the plot, but here's my best shot at a summary. Elowen and Cayden have just conquered the kingdom of Varaveth and Elowen has reunited with her five adult dragons. Now, they are in a war against Elowen's abusive father's kingdom, Imirath, and they must rally other kingdoms to their cause, all while maintaining the front that they have an adoring marriage. But Elowen is still smarting from Cayden forcing her to marry him.
A lot of this book felt predictable, but maybe more importantly, it just didn't feel like there was enough narrative tension. I found myself skimming often, wanting to get to the good stuff, and then feeling disappointed. Elowen wrestles with feeling like Cayden has betrayed her, but her feelings are not all that complicated, and there's not really a build to an emotional confrontation that provides any satisfaction. Cayden's feelings are also so intense and overwrought that I was rolling my eyes at some points. The worldbuilding also just completely went over my head, and I wasn't invested enough to figure it out. It's been a while since I read the first book, so I'm sure that didn't help, but I think this book would have benefited from a quick recap, as opposed to the kingdom names, dragon names, and pronunciations. A lot of people seem to love this book, so maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it?
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault