Author: Rebecca Yarros
Year: 2023
Genre: Fantasy
Rate: 4.5 stars.
About:
“Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.”
Review:
Wow!
Now I get all the hype surrounding this book! In fact, I haven’t been awake until 2 am to finish a book in a long time.
What I like:
- Plot, Outline, and Narrative: The story flows well, it’s entertaining and with a page-turner scene at the end of every chapter. It’s unique and it has a personal touch.
- Violet: I loved the main character's development. It’s clear how she grows up along the pages, it’s an interesting journey reading about her improvement and how she believes in herself.
- Secondaries characters: They are perfect for their role, even the villains. Which, the reader really learns how to hate them.
- Dialogues and interactions: They are magistral, especially the interaction with dragons, funny, sarcastic, emotive…
Why not 5 stars:
-Repetitions: My always pet peeve. Some scenes are repetitive just with different wording which makes the book longer than what is necessary.
-Romance: I know right! As a hopeless romantic, this should be my favourite part and even though the book is now about romance as a main plot, I enjoyed it for the most part. What didn’t convince me was the way it was presented. I think a romance scene should be according to the world building and in this case, it reads more like contemporary. I’m not a fantasy expert but I believe there is a method to write an intimate scene without pulling the reader out of the era of the fantasy trance.
Overall, this book is exceptional. Let’s keep reading!
Note: Images were taken from google.com and goodreads.com