by Rebecca Yarros
4.3 · 4 reviewsShe was built to be a scribe, not a soldier — but at a war college where graduation means surviving, the dragons get the final say.
Violet Sorrengail was raised to live among books and quiet libraries, her fragile body never meant for the battlefield. But her iron-willed mother, a celebrated general, has other plans: at twenty, Violet is ordered to enter Basgiath War College and train as one of the kingdom's elite dragon riders. The catch is brutal — most cadets who attempt the crossing never make it to graduation, and the ones who fail tend to die.
Surrounded by stronger, faster recruits who would happily see her gone, Violet quickly learns that surviving the trials demands cunning over brawn. Worse, the dragons themselves choose who lives, refusing to bond with anyone they deem unworthy. And among the cadets is Xaden Riorson, the powerful, dangerous wingleader whose family was branded as traitors — a young man with every reason to want Violet dead.
As alliances shift and the war beyond the college walls creeps closer, Violet discovers that the lessons she was taught about her kingdom may be lies, and that the deadliest threats aren't always the ones she expected. To stay alive, she'll have to outthink her rivals, win over a dragon, and decide who she can truly trust.
First published in 2023.
4 reviews
Not high literature, but I had a blast. It's fast, propulsive, and the stakes feel real because characters actually die. Knocked off a star because I wanted more worldbuilding, but I tore through it in a weekend.
Loved the premise and the dragons are genuinely great, but the pacing sags a bit in the middle and some of the romance beats felt familiar. Still entertaining, and the last hundred pages really picked up. I'll probably continue the series.
The banter, the tension, the way the danger never lets up — this was everything I wanted. I cried, I yelled at my Kindle, and then I immediately preordered the sequel. Pure escapism done right.
I went in skeptical of all the hype and ended up reading the whole thing in two days. Violet is the kind of heroine I root for — clever, stubborn, and underestimated by everyone. The dragon bonding scenes gave me chills and the slow burn absolutely delivered.