Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

14 reviews

judassilver's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Death

Minor: Sexual harassment

midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Dragonfruit is a Pacific Islander YA fantasy adventure that is positively magical! Definitely reminds me of the adventure stories I read as a teen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Grief, and Kidnapping

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

Dragonfruit is a fun YA fantasy based on Pacific Islander culture and mythology. I think this book’s strength is its worldbuilding and setting. I love how the author incorporated elements of island culture and beliefs and you could see that in the world and characters. I think the broader world that was alluded to in the story sounded really interesting and the author left it so she could tell more stories in this world. I liked the characters, and Hanalei and Sam were sweet together but the romance is very subtle. I felt the plot was a little thin and predictable at times but I still had fun with it. This was a pretty quick read and worth picking up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Animal death

lindsayd's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A vivid island setting and lots of sea dragons set the stage for this coming-of-age adventure. Are dragons monsters meant for human benefit or apex predators worthy of respect? This is a question the adventurers explore while also coming into adulthood. 

At times I found the vibe uneven - sometimes brutal and other times like a narratively expected punch was pulled. But on the whole, the ending was satisfying enough and the world was worth visiting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Violence

Minor: Rape

belarna's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Blood and Grief

a_libra_library's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring tense 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

4.5

Magical sea dragons?! 💚🌊🐉
Magical tattoo??? 
Pirates and seas adventures??? 
I love this book and the audiobook? Amazing Highly reccomend . 

I'd love to see this author write an adult adventure with like the smallest romance plot line because they can write the most sublte flirty that has me kicking and screaming 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Trafficking, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, Classism, and Colonisation

ethias's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This book was boring and pointless, every plot point conveniently wraps up super quickly and the characters are incredibly flat. I can’t really say anything good about it unfortunately. A TON more animal death, torture, and violence than I expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Violence

There is a lot of death, torture, and consumption of the animals in this book, here are some specifics:

the prince’s bat partner is killed and thought to be consumed by another character, later they burn its body on a pyre, also newborn/unborn sea dragons are broken out of eggs and eaten several times in a gruesome way by humans, several adult dragons are brutally killed and cut open

openbookheartmind's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Animal death

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Tapping into the current zeitgeist for all things dragony; Makiia Lucier has lovingly crafted a lush, vibrantly unique YA fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology that completely stole my heart! 

Set on the island of Tamarind, where legend states imbibing the egg of a sea dragon (called a Dragonfruit) can undo a person’s greatest sorrow. We follow the exiled Hanalei, a decade after her father stole a seadragon egg from the Tamarindi Royals in order to save her life. 

Captured by Dragon hunting pirates (Dragoners), Hanalei manages to escape their clutches only to find herself returned to the island of her birth, with an opportunity to undo her father’s actions (by helping childhood friend and prince, Sam find a dragonfruit to revive his comatose mother.) 

But Hanalei knows that Dragons and Dragoners are the least of their worries as imbibing the Dragonfruit comes with it own danger. For every wish comes with a price…

This was such a magical, swashbucklingly adventurous read, exploring themes of family, friendship and community in ways that few books ever do, let alone as successfully as Lucier does here. 

With family ties and ancestral heritage key motivators for our POV characters, I enjoyed delving into both Hanalei and Sam’s backstories. Having grown up together as children, it was also really interesting to see how their dynamics changed after soo many years apart, especially for Hanalei who’s yearned to return to her homeland and the safety it represents.

I loved both our MCs (Hanalei and Sam), and found that throughout their shared emotional journeys they each remained endearingly likeable. For Sam, a Prince within a matriarchal society, it was interesting to see how he navigated the expectations and duties of his royal heritage— which was a refreshing change from the typical western portrayals of monarchy and leadership. I also adored his bat marking Fetu who had such a cheeky personality. 

Hanalei, was probably the most in depth of our characters with a fairly detailed yet tragic backstory that drew me to her instantly. Brave, compassionate and willing to risk her own life for the people she cares for most—it’s impossible not to like her! 

The chemistry between the pair was so quite magnetic but the romance isn’t as prevalent as I had hoped (taking a backseat to their quest to save Sam’s mother), but adorably sweet nonetheless.

The lore of the Island (particularly around Sea Dragons) and the unique, tattoo based magic system (where people form bonds with their sentient, animal markings) was one of the most fascinating aspects of the story. We don’t go into too much detail surrounding the latter (which was a shame) but I loved how immersed I became in this beautifully lush world. 

Overall, a gorgeously crafted, fast paced and engaging read that fans of dragons, seafaring adventures or villains you’ll love to hate should definitely consider adding to their TBRs. 

Also, a huge thank you to Harper360YA and Insta Book Tours for the finished copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Racism, and Death of parent

nashaytreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Absolutely loved this book. The dragons, the lore, the adventure, the desperate goal they have knowing the cost. The only reason it’s not a 5 is because I wish the “final showdown” was a bit more. It wrapped up pretty quickly and easily. Fetu and the concept of tattoo companions was my favorite part of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence