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elea's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Minor: Physical abuse, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
josephinenolan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Book 2 carries on the tradition from book one, so if you liked book one (I did, with reservations), it's the ongoing story, very similar tone, but slightly darker. It's no longer "coming of age" though... everyone grew up real fast!
There are some nice "surprises" although I guessed some of them. There's more sex to the point it's repetitive and tiring -- I kind of skipped those scenes. The sex scenes don't bother -- they just feel totally out of place, and it made it impossible to recommend to any YA audience who might otherwise have been interested in a good (although violent) adventure.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed, and I'll be reading the third book (in January, I think?) but I wouldn't necessarily recommend to too many friends, and definitely not to my children. That sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it. I guess that's how I felt at the end, conflicted. Oh wel.
The other thing that became very noticeable is the excessive love of military, to the point where it's almost the main theme. (The military theme was there in book one, but it's more noticeable in the second book, which is very much a war novel.)
I don't mind reading all three genres separately -- fantasy with dragons, romantasy with sex, and well drawn military drama -- but together, here, it doesn't mesh totally.
But still, I'll be in line to read the third book in 2025.
There are some nice "surprises" although I guessed some of them. There's more sex to the point it's repetitive and tiring -- I kind of skipped those scenes. The sex scenes don't bother -- they just feel totally out of place, and it made it impossible to recommend to any YA audience who might otherwise have been interested in a good (although violent) adventure.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed, and I'll be reading the third book (in January, I think?) but I wouldn't necessarily recommend to too many friends, and definitely not to my children. That sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it. I guess that's how I felt at the end, conflicted. Oh wel.
The other thing that became very noticeable is the excessive love of military, to the point where it's almost the main theme. (The military theme was there in book one, but it's more noticeable in the second book, which is very much a war novel.)
I don't mind reading all three genres separately -- fantasy with dragons, romantasy with sex, and well drawn military drama -- but together, here, it doesn't mesh totally.
But still, I'll be in line to read the third book in 2025.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
offbrandcat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely blew me away.
I personally could have done without the 100 pages of detailed sex scenes but, I acknowledge again I am not the target audience in that department. But otherwise, past those skipped pages was an absolutely gripping story that left me reeling by the end. I had previously been slacking a bit in my reading, but during my time with this and Iron Flame I was reading in about every spare moment I got, it was that good. I could not wait to see what comes next- and still can't!
Thankfully I only have to wait one more month before the next book, because I am now absolutely craving something I didn't even know about a month ago.
I personally could have done without the 100 pages of detailed sex scenes but, I acknowledge again I am not the target audience in that department. But otherwise, past those skipped pages was an absolutely gripping story that left me reeling by the end. I had previously been slacking a bit in my reading, but during my time with this and Iron Flame I was reading in about every spare moment I got, it was that good. I could not wait to see what comes next- and still can't!
Thankfully I only have to wait one more month before the next book, because I am now absolutely craving something I didn't even know about a month ago.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Torture, and War
lettricepercaso_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I started this book right after the first one and I was really hiped, but I think that some things could had been handled better. First of all some scenes could be shorter and still reassume everything perfectly, the FL is too dumb, which is really strange because in the first book she was the smartest ( now I understand the plot exigence but that is too much), Xaden is the most coherent character ( he makes a choice and just goes with it), the side characters are too marginal and poorly developed. The author, in my opinion, dedicated too much space to Xaden and Violet's arguement.
Last but not least Tairn and Andarna best characters, change my mind.
P.s. it might seem that I didn't like the book but I actually did, in my opinion somethings could have been written better.
Last but not least Tairn and Andarna best characters, change my mind.
P.s. it might seem that I didn't like the book but I actually did, in my opinion somethings could have been written better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
aadams92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Chronic illness
kim_lommaert's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
hardcover_hazel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This series is my Roman Empire.
I related literally everything I could to it, turning my personal reality into its universe. The heat wave Joburg experienced? We had dragons breathing down our necks, or they were trying to break us in land nav 😂
The lightning storms we had were perfect timing for this series 😍 especially for the last battle - reading it during a storm was everything ⚡️
This book goes into politics, truths, and rebellions a bit more. Still made me cry. Violet is even more badass. I really loved that she didn’t become someone who couldn’t handle her trauma.
Read if you love:
-dragons
-shadow daddy’s
-magic
-banter with friends
-dropping all your money on merch
I related literally everything I could to it, turning my personal reality into its universe. The heat wave Joburg experienced? We had dragons breathing down our necks, or they were trying to break us in land nav 😂
The lightning storms we had were perfect timing for this series 😍 especially for the last battle - reading it during a storm was everything ⚡️
This book goes into politics, truths, and rebellions a bit more. Still made me cry. Violet is even more badass. I really loved that she didn’t become someone who couldn’t handle her trauma.
Read if you love:
-dragons
-shadow daddy’s
-magic
-banter with friends
-dropping all your money on merch
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
booknerderika's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the first book, and the ending wasn't as shocking to me as everyone said it would be. I thought what happened at the end was going to happen to Violet, not the other person, but still. I have a feeling Onyx Storm will annoy me now, and I'm not as excited about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
otherwordly_owl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
An adventurous Sarah J Maas book but with dragons.
I will give credit that Vi is sort of a relatable character, but the forced tension and scenes between her and Xaden were not for me.
Book was certainly way too long as the plot fell flat and dry. Many scenes were very forced, overly dramatized, and/or drawn-out. Among theses were the spice, violence, and Vi and Xaden's messy romance.
Also, no surprise, Andarnais a special seventh dragon species (*wow*) .
I will give credit that Vi is sort of a relatable character, but the forced tension and scenes between her and Xaden were not for me.
Book was certainly way too long as the plot fell flat and dry. Many scenes were very forced, overly dramatized, and/or drawn-out. Among theses were the spice, violence, and Vi and Xaden's messy romance.
Also, no surprise, Andarna
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: Blood and War
dyadmight's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and War