The Poison Jungle (Wings of Fire #13) (13)

So first off, skirting around the controversial issue for a moment, I really enjoyed the book. I gave it 5 stars because it was, like all these books in the series, a fun read. This is my opinion; it may not be yours. I am a sucker for any stories with dragons. I am a young adult, and I think these books are geared towards teens and young adults, as they do have a fair bit of violence. All in all, I think the book was exciting and once again left me waiting for the next one to come out. The author, Tui T. Sutherland, has a great way of telling the story through the characters; their actions feel natural and their dialogue is engaging. Once again, I liked the book and have given it 5 stars.Now about the issue others are having with the book. A main character has a romantic relationship with another character of the same gender. In a book previously the Sutherland had hinted at a relationship between two female characters. Now Sutherland has made it a large part of the story in this book. While I am not bothered by it being in the book, I will say it didn't add anything to the story told. There is dialog between the two characters about their relationship, but otherwise the story's plot wasn't altered. Which is good. If there were major alterations to the storytelling because of their relationship, then it would have felt forced upon the reader, like it was shouting to them "look at me, look at me! I'm not normal!" So, like I said before, it didn't affect my opinion of the book.Well... it did make me say "uh oh" when I got to their introduction of their relationship in the story. Because, as I said before, Sutherland had introduced a non-heterosexual relationship between two female characters before this book. There was also negative feedback in the reviews for that book. Not everyone agrees with these views, which is a shame, but their allowed to have their own beliefs and want their children to also be raised with the same beliefs. So why did Sutherland decide to alienate some people? No one knows except her. Maybe she just wanted to step away from the cookie-cutter and do something new. All I hope is that it wasn't because of some spiteful ulterior motive.If you’re uncomfortable with this subject being around you or your children, don’t buy the book. But if you’re looking for a fun story with lovable characters and suspenseful plots, then this series, and this book, are fantastic. Thanks for another great story Tui, I would love one day to meet the person who has written my favorite book series.

Character development is fun. The plots are complex and interesting. Each book is better than the last, far. I can hardly wait for the next, and last, book. Where is the author going next?

My son loves these books and is buying them like hotcakes. I'm just happy he's gotten into reading.

My imaginary child, Karen, came into my room one night, crying because of all the straight relationships happening in this book. Why should the straight people have to go pushing their outdated, political heterosexual agenda down people's throats? I took the book away from Karen and tossed it into the trash, instead of donating it to a library for someone else to read. To be honest, Karen wasn't really crying over the book, but because I took the book away and raised such a stink about it. It's all the gross heteros' fault, not my narrowmindedness. I had no problem with all the magic, war, slaughter, blood, burning, and other violent things, but the political heterosexual agenda has gone too far. Karen is so upset by all the straight people and traumatized by my outburst (but again, totally not my fault) that she wants to speak to the publishing manager!All joking aside, as I had actually bought, read and listened to the book... While a couple scenes did get a little mushy at times (this happened with the straight characters and couples too, in the previous books), I still found it great that an LGBT couple was officially introduced into the series, even with the occasional ones hinted in the previous books. The dragon friends didn't even question or ridicule when one introduces the other as her girlfriend, which is a huge plus. In this day and age where sexuality and gender have become more open, kids who are questioning their preferences can have someone they can relate to. Love is love, regardless of gender (and consent). Kids should never have to feel ashamed or "disappointed" over a same sex relationship. I grew up in a mostly conservative household, but became more open about LGBT issues and discovering my bisexuality as I became an adult. I often wonder what it would've been like if I had discovered LGBT representation a lot sooner.We get to see new and old characters again struggle with the dangers of the jungle, new and old villains, and yes, even love. One of the characters ends up having a pretty interesting twist towards the end. A new villain is one you wouldn't expect one to be! The book does leave at a cliffhanger obviously, but we do see a little of what will happen in the epilogue. It will be interesting to see how the next book will play out.I listened mostly to the audio book but have both that and the Kindle version. The narrator read out the story very well, with different voices and tones for each character. There were a couple of times where a character or two sounded the same as the narrator, usually with Willow, for example. This was the first audio book I had fully listened to and bought, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.I do question a lot of these 1 star reviews saying their kids were disappointed. Were they really disappointed, or was it really the parents taking the books away, saying they can't read them anymore due to hateful views? As said earlier in the review, the series has murder, war, magic, racism, etc., sometimes in graphic detail. For some examples, one dragon killed their parent without even knowing it, and one used their magic to force their father to commit suicide by slicing his throat open. A dragon burns their opponents to death with their fire scales, and another dragon has their face painfully disfigured by another dragon's toxic spit. One dies by electrocution, and another dies by boiling hot lava. We even have one or two dragon characters who enjoyed witnessing these types of gory incidents. But nah, the one single gay ship out of all that is the issue.

Mi hijo le encanta.

Good to read, recommended for 12+ age children's

Excellente série

Mein Sohn (12) verschlingt die Bücher und liebt die Charaktere. Angefangen hatte er die Buchreihe auf deutsch. Da aber noch nicht alle Titel übersetzt sind, hat er einfach die englische Reihe weitergelesen und möchte dabei bleiben.

Ignore the low reviews, as they're all homophobics. This book is truly amazing, and if you're saying that gay dragons aren't appropriate for kids, then may I remind you that not only is this the 2000s, but that this is literally a series about war and oppression but non-graphic with dragons?Anyway, the book was amazing, with a well-written gay relationship and powerful scenes and well-written and well-developed characters. It talks a lot about Sundew's anger and the rifts between the two LeafWing kinds. This book is amazing, and you should definitely read it.