penwalla

ch. 21
violet and liam, her bodyguard, are at the archives
violet wants to hate liam but unfortunately he's "...nice. Courteous, funny, and ridiculously helpful." you know, this is more complimentary than violet has ever been about xylon.
violet is depressed about the prejudice the rebel's kids face and comments she feels bad about judging xylon on sight. you know, this would be a much more meaningful revelation if violet had with xylon, in the moment, instead of being dropped in casual convo.
violet's friend uses sign language. that's cool
violet gets mad at liam for flirting with her friend bc said friend doesn't do flings, only long term relationships
we're getting some backstory about the rebel's kids, finally. i don't think via liam is the best way to do this, especially since we've skipped past all the development of their friendship. considering violet's position as the daughter of the person who executed the leader of the rebellion, i think we really should get to see her earn their trust before they share anything personal with her. and frankly i think this would be a great way to advance xylon and violet's so far one-sided relationship.
apparently all the rebel's kids were fostered by other aristocrats, which is an outdated custom.
liam mentions that his father was executed, and violet is surprised because she didn't know that. as they talk, we find out that violet is familiar with the official history but it seems a lot of info is either classified or redacted.
all the rebel's kids were conscripted into the riders. liam thinks this is because it gives them the best path to advancement, others think it's to kill them off. again, it's insane that the navarre gov't even allowed that as part of their peace treaty. there are 107 total rebel's kids, the youngest is 5.
i feel like violet could stand to be a lot more sympathetic to liam. he's baring his tragic backstory for her, come on. and i also feel like...violet, your mom was directly involved in these people's oppression. could your famous compassion maybe be extended to these people? you wanna work up some righteous anger for them?
Big T gets hungry and violet feels it.
class scene. banter between the cadets. violet notes people are still getting killed frequently during flight lessons--one cadet was scorched for standing too close to someone else's dragon.
i'm genuinely confused by this bit of worldbuilding. if the dragons just kill at whim and bonding doesn't offer you any protection...why is there no protest against it? there's not really any sign that the military impresses on its riders the important of risking their lives because of the advantage bonding gives. like this book is so casual about the endless death that it makes you, the reader, feel crazy.
more banter. violet is being roasted for not having sex. ew.
uh they are at battle brief. violet peeked at a scroll in the last scene about a skirmish, so she's expecting it to be the subject of today's battle brief, but it isn't. instead they're analyzing a battle from 600 years ago. apparently gryphons and dragons used to work together and humans fought them with cross bolts.
ch. 22
so now violet is wondering what else they don't tell them in battle brief? is the military...not completely honest with them?
no shit! your military runs a war college where 75% of the candidates die, violet! your own mother forcibly conscripted you and helped conscript dozens of children whose only crime was having the wrong kids! also, there are plenty of non-sinister reasons why a group of still-in-training cadets might not be getting full military intel at their briefings.
violet is frustrated because she's still falling off her dragon and can't channel.
violet is doing strength training, etc and still keeps falling off her dragon. this is supposed to be a strength issue: she's just not strong enough to hang on. let's set aside how stupid it is that the riders rely solely on your ability to hang on with your limbs when riding at high speed giant flying lizards. like that's idiotic, but whatever. on multiple occasions in this book violet has bypassed a test or challenge by finding a loophole or cheating. the arc the book is setting up is that despite being down on herself, violet is capable of being a dragon rider. but so far...is she? like the book refuses to give her any accommodations so far, so either she's just muscling through the pain (which feels unrealistic and stupid) or she's just not mastering the skill in question. okay, violet poisoned her way through all combat, but she's training to be an elite solider and people keep trying to kill her. so far she's been fine, but it doesn't feel like we really ever got to see her get good at fighting enough to justify her wins.
i don't know. there's a good story possible out of all these parts and i think yarros is just not a thoughtful writer about any aspect of her story, so she can't execute.
sparring practice. violet is mad because her friend is taking it easy on her. violet, this is practice sparring. you're supposed to be holding back so that you don't have injuries, so that you can actually perform in combat. also, you canonically have glass bones and fragile tendons, maybe your friends have a point?
violet is pissed that xylon assigned her a bodyguard but isn't personally training her, which....girl, have you asked? then she gets distracted because xylon is sparring and he's just so hot.
jack starts talking shit again, gets bodied by violet's 8000 buff male protectors. finally xylon comes over and starts talking to her. again, violet is weirdly distrusting, insisting that just because he can't kill her doesn't mean he won't hurt her. xylon is pissed because violet isn't wearing her armor during sparring.
immediately after, Big T and golden dragon pop into violet's brain to inform her that because she held her ground and controlled her temper, she's...ready. i mean...did she? she's literally bitching at xylon for no good reason here.
next scene. violet gets smacked in the brain with Big T's energy. she's channeling! woo!
nope! plot twist! she's actually overwhelmed with lust from Big T, who is presumably...uh...fucking her dragon mate? the feeling is so intense she literally has to flee before she pounces on liam.
uuuhhhh. like a chapter ago Big T closed the bond between them to block out his hunger, so we know that's possible.
i don't know, man! this would be a fun trope in a different book! i'm not even opposed to dubcon psychically influenced sex! but yarros just isn't good enough to pull this off.
violet runs into xylon, who is getting high to cope with his dragon's intense lust. so what, dragons can't or don't bother to shield their riders when they fuck? WHY?
xylon is a lot more chill than violet is and again, he's so reasonable. he literally says violet can't consent to sex and that it's none of his business what she does otherwise. he then defends himself against her incredulous response--"You're actually going to help me?" by pointing out all the times he's actually helped her.
xylon insists violet say please before he'll teach her to shield, and you know what? dick move but i'll give it to him.
his teaching is effective and naturally violet is so gifted that she masters it immediately. thank fuck because i'm not ready to read this book's porn.
and then they make out.
and then xylon stops them because neither of them can consent at this moment and begs her to go.
and then violet, despite having lusted over xylon for the entire book so far, despite the fact xylon has literally always helped her, starts berating herself. because she can't fully trust xylon and apparently doesn't like him. girl you admitted to being obsessed with him like 2 pages back! what is with this fake enemies to lovers bullshit! they're not enemies in any meaningful way, yarros, you can stop trying to convince me!
would literally be less annoying to me if they'd just fucked.