Y'all. I loved this book so much! It was so full of action and adventure and hot boys and drama and surprise and dragons. Just everything I love about this genre and why I will always love the YA/NA fiction and fantasy genre even when I'm old and decrepit. I'm so glad I jumped on the bandwagon late because now I don't have to wait so long for the second book to come out!
Basgiath
Honestly, my favorite part about this book was the world building around Basgiath, the school they go to. The war college has 4 quadrants for students to enroll: Rider, Healer, Scribe, and Infantry. Our lovely protagonist, Violet, after training for 5 years to become a scribe, very predictably joins the Rider quadrant. No, of course it was not by choice but "every Sorrengail is a rider". Her older siblings Mira and Brennan and her mother General Lilith Sorrengail, who ordered her youngest to join the Rider quadrant instead of following in her father's footsteps to become a Scribe, are all very successful and respected Riders in the military. As we mentioned in the Endgame intermission post, I really like reading about young people who are incredibly skilled and trained in one thing or another and this is no exception. I think it's just me wanting to feel cool imagining myself doing hand-to-hand combat though.
Boyzzz
I debated having a whole section dedicated to just boys but then I thought "who am I kidding?" It wouldn't be a quick read by Ceraya if it didn't have a whole section dedicated to the golden retriever love interest from the first half and the tall, dark and handsome who inevitably becomes the love interest in the second half. What's that knife theory for plays? If there's a knife in the first act, someone will be killed with it in the second act. Well, my theory for books is that if a couple is together in the first half, they will not be together in the second half. This rang true in this book also, with the resident golden retriever cutie, Dain, getting (rather quickly actually) beat out by the mysterious broody bad boy (who I fell for immediately of course) Xaden Riorson. As Brieanna says when the bad guy comes in, "oh no he's hot" which is exactly what Violet's reaction was to seeing Xaden at Parapet for the first time after being EXPLICITLY warned by her older sister Mira to stay away from him because he 1000% would try to kill her. Unfortunately, she also was told by Mira to find Dain and stay with him for safety which ended up being the downfall of their relationship. Best friends since childhood who always wanted something more and now when they're in the position to finally make that happen for themselves, he decides to screw it up by being a boy, as per usual. As Violet very eloquently summed it up "I needed to change in order to survive. He wouldn't let me." Xaden, on the hand, forced her to grow and change and survive and find love in the cut throat world of young adulthood and dragons. In addition to being literally the hottest man in the known universe, he is a liar and a scoundrel and a guarded mystery-man. But more on that later. Anyway, this not primarily a love story. This is a story about a young woman who can't keep her frickin' seat.
Conspiracy, Corruption, and Copulation
Ok it's later. Let's talk about The Betrayal™. If you haven't read this book, why are you?...what?....go away! If you have, tell me did you cry? Did you also feel very devastate? Much anger? Because I felt like I too was going to summon lighting and strike down the next boy to tell me anything. I did not see that one coming at all and was incredibly shocked and angry at Xaden for lying the whole time and not trusting Violet enough to tell her the truth. But then I thought about how in doing so, he revealed the corruption not only in the military but also potentially in the overall government of Navarre. Covering up the existence of an entire species by turning them into a fairy tale and then banning the book? Allowing them to wreak havoc on the people of the land just to hide the fact that your military can't keep these people under control? Disgusting. You guys know I'm really bad at transitions. You guys also read the title of this section though, so get on your segways and follow me to spicy Booktok. Usually, if I see a video on Booktok and it's spicy, I will be notified by the creator of the video. In this particular case, I had not been made aware of the level of spice in this novel before putting it on the list. I simply saw the entire internet was obsessed and, after deciding to read it, I promptly avoided all possible spoilers like the plague. So, that being said, sorry mom, this book is NSFW and I would rate the spice level 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/10. You have been warned.
-Enjoy! 😈
Ceraya
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