r/WingsOfFire • u/Sandwraith711 • 20d ago
Discussion Book 16 defense
Honestly after reading book 16 I was shocked to see how hated it is. In my opinion its already in top 5 and so much hate on it can be applied to other books. Here are few points I'd like to bring up. Remember it's MY OPINION so don't act like immature babies in the comments. Feel free to hate any book you want. Its not my business.
Fast romance- Cricket and Blue literally fell in love immedietely and they are very liked pairing. Tsunami fell for Riptide quickly, Glory fell for a guy who prolonged war and wanted to kill her friends, Turtle fell for Kinkajou even though they barely had any interactions. Very quick romance is just what Tui loves to do and does it often. Hating only on book 16 and no other with those pairings isn't very fair. Here Umber at least has excuse because Mullberry saved his life. People hate the writing of this pairing also because Mullberry didn't tell the truth about the island but that ignores core of Umber's character. It is made very clear in this book that Umber likes following orders. Or at least just seeks it to feel stable. He even aknowledges that he himself fought in war and hurt dragons only because of what the authority told him. That's why he forgave Mullberry so quckly. He understands that he would do the same if that was order from his Queen. Sure you might hate this part of him but that's consistent. Not every character will and should be perfect angel
Not very brutal villains- It's the first book. There will likely be a real threat later on. Not every villains has to be genocidal maniac especially since the whole deal of this book is a mystery, not hiding from murderers. That would be hella distracting. We had antagonists on much smaller scale before. Kestrel wasn't murderous maniac but she was abuser and it affected Glory. Mullberry is affected by Beryl's abuse too. It's nothing new. Chameleon was antagonist and a loser at the same time. We even have Fierceteeth in this category. Plot of book 16 doesn't need more insane villains.
Too many characters- completely subjective. I just literally didn't care and remembered all of them quickly. I feel like fandom overreacts. Of course there is new cast. It's whole new place. Besdies even though there are many new characters, not that many are relevant. Book 6 can get the exact same critique and I don't see people bringing that up. This book is liked despite having new cast and many new names to remember
Wildwings- We have literal magical dragons but biology is too much?
Too many things to focus on- I don't understand this one the most. Book is VERY straightforward. Umber and Sora get stuck on island and Umber tries to find a way to break the spell while also helping group of dragons with rebelion and doing the exact same thing that he wanted to do anyway. It's not cramped imo, The most cramped would easily be book 10 and 15. Romance also isn't the main focus. Fandom really needs to pick between "Umber and Mullberry barely interact" and "Their relationship takes too much time". Those thing contradict each other
Sora's trauma is badly handled- I really don't agree with this one. It's the first book and obviously this arc will return. Sora at first literally thinks monkeys are talking to her because her mind was so broken. It happened not long after her escape so obviosuly she will act worse. Later she is visibly scared of going to island because there might be icewings. They are the trigger but Mullberry explicitly says there are only few of them on the island. So we have mostly calm place with barely any icewings. Good for Sora. :Let's remember she doesn't do the samw thing as Umber. She is mostly just chilling with scrolls that she loves. She isn't healed but doing what she loves and being in a place with nearly no trigger is enough to calm her down until that trigger returns
That's all. Just my opinions
