Dragonslayer

I loved it as well. Though I will admit I was itching to get back to Wren and Sky and groaning inwardly when I had to get through Leaf and Ivy's chapters. They weren't too painful and I still enjoyed them, I was just way more invested in Wren's character and events but then I have to wait and get back to her later. I think I wouldn't have minded if Leaf and Ivy chapters were taken out to make room for more Wren and Sky adventures.

it's my favourite wof book honestly, i really enjoy rereading it. i was really invested in both Ivy and Wren's chapters, and i generally really enjoyed the side characters. i do like Leaf but honestly, i don't think he's that good of a character and feels really flat - he especially felt so in part three. i really loved Ivy's chapters in particular, and the background characters. i just wish that more could've been done with her character and getting her more involved in the plot, as in making her less passive (though imo it fits her character to be more passive about it, she was just...a lot less active in the plot and that can really drag her chapters down). i actually enjoy her more than Wren, tbh? i've already wrote an essay on why though so i'll just link it here. i really like the world-building in this book too, i'd really like to see more of how Valor functions and the like, prior to them moving underground, Valor under Heath's rule, and post Dragonslayer Valor.

i just...really cannot like part three, honestly. mainly because of Leaf's chapters just...being really difficult to read through at that point and for some reason i just felt really uncomfortable reading his "romance" with Ivy like?? that aside it felt forced and unneeded, and should've just stayed platonic - Ivy just...never seemed interested in romance at all (like her response to Daffodil talking about the Wingwatchers dance just gave me that vibe), and Leaf's story feels more family-oriented (technically same with Ivy? there's the whole thing with her dad). i feel it would've been more impactful for it to be a more sibling like relationship than whatever...that hot mess was meant to be. honestly i feel like that romance really puts the characters down even if it isn't very prevalent in the third part, and honestly i feel like there were better options if there had to be any sort of romance. Ivy has a lot of chemistry with Daffodil and Violet imo, i feel that they could've worked as the first canon polyam ship in wof tbh?? like i get it we need more platonic relationships in this series and i agree, my thing is just that i really don't get the decision with the ships in this book. Ivy and Leaf work fine as friends and don't really need to be a ship (i don't see why they can't just...talk without there being any romance implied), but i feel like Ivy would've done so much better with Daffodil and/or Violet, their relationships all felt really developd imo and i feel that they wouldn't feel forced in there, as they've spent almost the whole book interacting with each other and you really get a solid feel for their relationship. we really don't get that with Leaf and Ivy, they've only known each other for three weeks at best, we haven't seen them interact until the last part of the book, and there's hardly any development (and realistically wouldn't Leaf have trust issues after Rowan and Grove lied to him about Wren? like idk but it just feels really weird that he's trusting everything Ivy's saying after meeting her and already being so attached)

that aside i really liked the side characters in this book, i really wish some of them had been explored more. i honesty have issue with the ending regarding Heath, but despite its flaws i really don't see why Dragonslayer is so hated within the fandom. i have this older essay thing that i wrote a month or two ago that goes more into detail about that here - i've changed my mind slightly on some things and there are some things that i'd reword, but honestly it sums up how i feel really well

i'm also incredibly biased because i have had this book as a special interest for a year now and am writing a sequel fic to it, but i digress i really like it a lot even if i point out the flaws in it a lot. i just wish people would actually talk about the flaws of the book when saying why they hate instead of "ew human bad" or "this series is turning into httyd now!!". especially the latter because it's just. impossible but whatever