Warning: This book review contains spoilers for “Wings Of Fire: The Dark Secret” by Tui T. Sutherland.
Cover of “Wings Of Fire: The Dark Secret” by Tui T. Sutherland.I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing “Wings Of Fire: The Dark Secret” by Tui T. Sutherland! I’ve read the first three books in this series before, so I’m looking forward to reading this fourth book. Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about:
“In the shadows, trouble is brewing. . .The mysterious NightWings keep everything hidden, from their home and their queen to their allegiance in the war. Now they’ve kidnapped their own dragonet of destiny, and Starflight is finally meeting the rest of his tribe — whether he wants to or not.The NightWings have also kidnapped several innocent RainWings, now trapped in the dark, barren, miserable place that is the NightWing kingdom. Starflight wants to help the RainWings, but he’s busy saving his own scales and trying to find a way back to his friends. The fate of two kingdoms rests in his talons, and with no one to save him, Starflight will have to find a way to be brave . . . before it’s too late.”
Content Warning:
This book contains some two major character deaths and mentions of kidnapping. If you’re sensitive to this content, be careful while reading.
Character Development: 4 out of 5 stars
I liked how this book centers on Starflight, but also ties very well into the events of the previous book involving Glory, especially since there are still kidnapped RainWings to worry about. However, the tie-in with Glory’s story doesn’t take away from Starflight’s individual development, with him trying to do the right thing while also trying to stay alive. He learns to value himself for his own abilities, even if he doesn’t live up to Morrowseer and other dragons’ expectations of him.
However, I do think that the other “alternate” prophesized dragonets didn’t have a lot of development, except for one or two of them. I wonder what will happen to them, now that the prophecy is actually revealed to be false all along. I also am surprised that Starflight’s father, Mastermind, didn’t have a lot of development, but I hope the later books remedy this.
Plot Development: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I love the reveal that the prophecy itself was literally made up by Morrowseer. I also enjoyed the twist of Glory becoming not just Queen of the RainWings, from the previous book, but also the NightWings. I also enjoyed reading how Starflight managed to communicate with his friends through dreams to warn them of the NightWings trying to take over the RainWings’ land.
However, I felt that there were some parts of the plot that felt a bit predicatable; the NightWing Queen dying the way she did was too obviously-hinted at from the beginning, and the way most of the NightWings seemed to accept having Glory rule over them felt rather rushed. I wonder what the consequences of the NightWings and RainWings being under one queen (Glory) will be like, later in the series.
Worldbuilding Development: 4 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed reading about how the “alternate” prophesized dragonets are treated compared to the original ones, as well as the general living conditions of the NightWings. I think the fact that the volcanic region the dragons lived in could be something better-expanded on, in terms of how it impacts them and their queen, because I felt that there wasn’t a lot of detail about how they lived. This is likely due to the time spent on Morrowseer and the other dragons’ plans to ‘replace’ the original dragonets. Now that said volcanic region is inhabitable due to the volcano erupting as is, I doubt we’ll have the chance to revisit that area.
Overall, I’m rating this book 4 out of 5 stars!
Though this book lacks in worldbuilding compared to previous books, as well as some plot parts that are too predictable, this is still an enjoyable entry in the series.
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