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raspberrynotes's Reviews (66)
Sephy came across as annoying and naive which us a frustrating trope of lead female characters in fantasy books but overall entertaining.
A dragon applying lipstick?
I was really hoping for more in this story as there were so many compelling story lines. The relationships with Alex’s parents and her sister and what it could look like for her aunt to return were all interesting premises for a dragon filled world where the public pretended these things didn’t exist.
But instead I found Alex to be so confusing. She was so committed to academia and learning but refused to learn or acknowledge the existence of dragons even after living completely independently with knowledge at her disposal. Completely misaligned with her character. She also had such a complex relationship with her mother that she never fully addressed and chalked it up to her mom getting it wrong sometimes. And she experienced extreme neglect from her father, yet she fell into line when he told her how to behave even though he wasn’t involved. This book’s focused a lot on empowerment somehow Alex never learned to feel empowered. I just kept waiting for her to wake up and finally see the whole picture of the story she’s literally telling.
And the dragons just didn’t seem believable. Why was the mass dragoning only in the US but occurred all over the world in small quantities throughout history? Why do they need purses? Or lipstick? They can knit and bake and go into buildings but are sometimes described as massive? And somehow the world just pretends dragons don’t exist, but millions of women in history have transformed??? I just couldn’t find some of this believable. And it had a lot of potential to be.
I was really hoping for more in this story as there were so many compelling story lines. The relationships with Alex’s parents and her sister and what it could look like for her aunt to return were all interesting premises for a dragon filled world where the public pretended these things didn’t exist.
But instead I found Alex to be so confusing. She was so committed to academia and learning but refused to learn or acknowledge the existence of dragons even after living completely independently with knowledge at her disposal. Completely misaligned with her character. She also had such a complex relationship with her mother that she never fully addressed and chalked it up to her mom getting it wrong sometimes. And she experienced extreme neglect from her father, yet she fell into line when he told her how to behave even though he wasn’t involved. This book’s focused a lot on empowerment somehow Alex never learned to feel empowered. I just kept waiting for her to wake up and finally see the whole picture of the story she’s literally telling.
And the dragons just didn’t seem believable. Why was the mass dragoning only in the US but occurred all over the world in small quantities throughout history? Why do they need purses? Or lipstick? They can knit and bake and go into buildings but are sometimes described as massive? And somehow the world just pretends dragons don’t exist, but millions of women in history have transformed??? I just couldn’t find some of this believable. And it had a lot of potential to be.
4.5 stars. My first book love since Peeta from the hunger games.
Fun, easy to follow story with a little plot and mostly a forbidden love story + smut. It’s like reading reality tv.
I wish I could unread the last 50 pages. It could be 2 stars if it didn’t get so egregious. I’ve never read a book that’s made me so queasy before. (Maybe it’s worth 2 stars for making me feel so passionately repulsed?)
(The movie brought me here ofc)
I loved the writing style of this book. Such a fun adventurous story and the film makes a lot of odes to it but it is also different in its own right. Will read again because it’s so detailed and the storyline is complex in a very compelling way.
I loved the writing style of this book. Such a fun adventurous story and the film makes a lot of odes to it but it is also different in its own right. Will read again because it’s so detailed and the storyline is complex in a very compelling way.
3.5 stars. Such an intricate story that honestly had no plot holes I could find. Very thoughtfully written and intriguing. I did want more backstory to the main character but the mystery of it was necessary to the plot.
So. Much. Potential. And it fell flat. Nesta was one of the more interesting characters and this book *almost* did her justice. Could have cut about 200 pages of the same routine she had every day and instead filled half the book with the illariyan comp. That was definitely the most entertaining part of the book and it was only 30 pages. And everything in the last part of the book was soooo rushed.
DNF at 16% through the book because all the characters had the same perspectives and it got repetitive.
I’m glad the main female character is actually strong and confident. SJM really likes to put in romantic plots in the middle of death and despair which makes it hard to take the story seriously. Story was entertaining but not profound.