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Wings of Fire #8
Escaping Peril
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Middle Grade & Children's (2016)Large Print's increased font size and wider line spacing maximizes reading legibility, and has been proven to advance comprehension, improve fluency, reduce eye fatigue, and boost engagement in young readers of all abilities, especially struggling, reluctant, and striving readers.
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2016
1775 people are currently reading
11532 people want to read
About the author
Tui T. Sutherland
195 books6,147 followersOkay, I know what you’re thinking. Tui? What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?
Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!
I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)
I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).
Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.
My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.
My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.
And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!
Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!
I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)
I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).
Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.
My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.
My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.
And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,080 reviews
May 3, 2016
What a fantastic installment to the Wings of Fire series! I love Peril, and her book was everything I wanted it to be. I did lower my rating a bit because while this was definitely my favorite of the series I think the writing was just a bit too young to be a full five star book, but high 4.5 stars!
This book started off strong, the prologue went off with a bang and a level of intensity I was not expecting.
I was immediately impressed how spot on Tui got Peril’s point of view! When we have these assassin type characters in middle grade the author usually tends to avoid the gory details, but that wasn’t the case at all. Dare I say it; Peril was more of a killer than Celaena (from Throne of Glass)!
I wasn’t expecting Peril to be so young sounding, but I think it worked in her favor. I was able to easily sympathize with her character, but at the same time readers get to see how naïve and childish her thought process is.
I was kind of annoyed with Clay. I think he was sending Peril some seriously mixed messages, which isn’t fair to her. Peril is so infatuated with him in the start that she’s almost delusional, but I think we’ve all been there once or twice when it comes to having a crush. In a way Peril kind of reminded me of Cress from The Lunar Chronicles. I mean, their personalities are totally different but they both had that way of idealizing/romanticizing their crush.
I mentioned before that I found Peril to be a very sympathetic character. When we would get glimpses of her upbringing or when people would talk crap about her I kind of just wanted to give Peril a hug, but that probably wouldn’t work out too well for me with the firescales and all…
I found her super relatable as well. Turtle and Peril are just adorable! They’re super socially awkward but in a way that’s super cute. Their banter was great as well. I hope their relationship stays platonic; I don’t feel like they fit romantically.
I have to say I grew really attached to Peril throughout the story. I was like
I really like the dynamic of the group, actually quite a bit more than the original group, and I love the bonds between the characters. The plot is a lot deeper than I thought and has obviously been planned out since the beginning of the series.
I thought the ending was fantastic, and I am eagerly awaiting the next book (which I believe is from Turtle’s POV). I can’t wait to see where this series go from here!
This book started off strong, the prologue went off with a bang and a level of intensity I was not expecting.
I was immediately impressed how spot on Tui got Peril’s point of view! When we have these assassin type characters in middle grade the author usually tends to avoid the gory details, but that wasn’t the case at all. Dare I say it; Peril was more of a killer than Celaena (from Throne of Glass)!
I wasn’t expecting Peril to be so young sounding, but I think it worked in her favor. I was able to easily sympathize with her character, but at the same time readers get to see how naïve and childish her thought process is.
I was kind of annoyed with Clay. I think he was sending Peril some seriously mixed messages, which isn’t fair to her. Peril is so infatuated with him in the start that she’s almost delusional, but I think we’ve all been there once or twice when it comes to having a crush. In a way Peril kind of reminded me of Cress from The Lunar Chronicles. I mean, their personalities are totally different but they both had that way of idealizing/romanticizing their crush.
I mentioned before that I found Peril to be a very sympathetic character. When we would get glimpses of her upbringing or when people would talk crap about her I kind of just wanted to give Peril a hug, but that probably wouldn’t work out too well for me with the firescales and all…
I found her super relatable as well. Turtle and Peril are just adorable! They’re super socially awkward but in a way that’s super cute. Their banter was great as well. I hope their relationship stays platonic; I don’t feel like they fit romantically.
I have to say I grew really attached to Peril throughout the story. I was like
I really like the dynamic of the group, actually quite a bit more than the original group, and I love the bonds between the characters. The plot is a lot deeper than I thought and has obviously been planned out since the beginning of the series.
I thought the ending was fantastic, and I am eagerly awaiting the next book (which I believe is from Turtle’s POV). I can’t wait to see where this series go from here!
July 26, 2017
This was the Wings of Fire that I love. I was so happy to delve deeper into one of my favorite characters in the series and see her struggle, grow, and change. This is one of my favorites in the whole series!
January 7, 2016
This is my favorite Wings of Fire book, and actually my favorite book of all time. The story has lots of twists and turns and the characters are amazing. In this book, we find out many things- Turtle's secret, Peril's father, the identity of the NightWing working for Scarlet in Winter Turning, and more about the new queen of the SkyWings, Queen Ruby, Darkstalker, and, of course, Peril herself. I could not put down this book and finished as soon as I possibly could- then re-read it immediately. I would say this is my favorite WoF book because there are so many unexpected secrets to discover, and because Peril as a character is so interestingly tortured. I actually didn't like Peril very much before, but, after reading this story, she has definitely become one of my favorites. I would absolutely rate this book more than five stars if I could. Tui has done a stunning job at creating a fresh, interesting story in the world of Pyrrhia!
February 1, 2020
4 stars.
Slight Spoilers:
- I think one reason why it ended this way was to show judgement will happen even when it not your fault.
🇺🇸🦋
Slight Spoilers:
- I think one reason why it ended this way was to show judgement will happen even when it not your fault.
🇺🇸🦋
December 8, 2020
4.5/5 stars. My first rating for this series that is under 5 stars, oh no! To be honest, I find this book's main character a bit boring (lol) and I just never got attached to her at the start. But good thing this book pulled through in the second half, it makes me very excited to read the next one!
March 27, 2016
A little more child like than the last few books, too much for my taste but still good. Can't wait to see what happens with Darkstalker, he was one of my favorites in Moon's book and I'm sure I'll like him in the next!
February 11, 2016
Okay, this series is officially not for children anymore. They just straight up say that Scarlet has a gladiator fetish near the end. The word fetish is actually, completely, knowingly printed into this "kids book." What is the official definition of fetish again?
Fetish
"a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc." -Google search "Fetish Definition". I can just imagine some little kid reading this, and asking their parent, "Hey Mom, what's a fetish," and then the parent's eyes bulge out of their head.
So, why does this book feel more childish than any other Wings of Fire entry?
Tui Sutherland is a master of defining characters through their narration and thoughts, and that's always aided in letting the reader slip into the protagonists, erm, talons, seamlessly. It never fails that a new Wings of Fire book would come out, I would feel skeptical if the POV character was not one I liked that much, and ended up sympathizing with and knowing them as if they were my own children by the end, loving them all to bits in the process.
But now for the very first time, it failed. I don't feel any closer to Peril now that I've been in her head than before I read this. I don't feel sad that her time in the sun is over and now I will have to explore Pyrrhia with someone else.
I don't exactly blame Tui for this failure, as Peril is not an easy character to sympathize with. Not because she was a mass murderer, but because she's childish, impulsively violent, possessive and altogether very unstable. Tui already had her work cut out for her trying to make Peril as likable, understandable and lovable as she's done with all of the other protagonists, but she seemed to have shot herself in the foot when she wrote a lot of thoughts and dialogue in all caps, (seriously, that's just embarrassing and immersion shattering when author's do that. I wanted to smack my head against a sharp edge of a bookshelf every time there was all caps.) and seemed to repeat a lot of Peril's insecurities over, and over, and over, and over again.
If I have to read one more sentence of Peril wishing she could burn someone alive because they were annoying and then think, "but Clay waifu wouldn't want me to do that!" I will scream.
Thankfully, the writing and other characters was still superb, which kept me going through to the end, when the book starts to shine. But I'll get to that later. Let's start at the beginning.
The novel begins with Peril at Jade Academy, waiting in a solitary room because of Queen Ruby of the Skywing's is visiting, to pick up the body of Carnelian, a Skywing student who died in an accident in the first book. Why does Peril have to hide in a room by herself while Ruby's here? One, Ruby banished her from the Sky Kingdom the moment she became queen, since she thinks Peril killed her sister, Tourmaline. As well as the trail of death she left behind as Scarlet's arena champion. Two, she has "firescales", a condition when a dragon absorbs their twin in the egg and burns everyone and everything they touch. Hasn't stopped her from attending class as normal before, so... I guess they just don't want to offend the royalty.
Of course, Peril get’s impatient waiting for the visit to end and goes wandering off by herself, cause honestly, we would be pretty bored if she didn’t. She runs into Turtle, a Seawing prince also attending the school, and he ends up dragging her on his quest to eavesdrop on the royal visit. It amuses me that Turtle is the secondary character in this book because I know that Turtle is going to be the next protagonist, and I can just imagine Tui thinking, “Oh, balls! I forgot to give Turtle any personality whatsoever! Quick, get the shoehorn!”
But I don’t mean that as a negative. I know this character had to get fleshed out one way or another, being in the same class as the previous protagonists after all. That still doesn’t mean it was done all that well, though. Throughout the book, Turtle shows himself to be a passive, laid back, nice, somewhat cowardly introvert, who shows great concern for his friends who have abandoned the school back in book one to help Winter search for his brother, then fulfill the prophecy Moon blurted out during one of her psychic episodes. Never mind that this conflicts with the Turtle shown in book one, who doesn’t interact with his classmates that much and doesn’t seem at all interested in being friends with any of them, but it comes across as plain. To me, Turtle just seems to be the second coming of Clay, except even more cliché and uninteresting. Yet, somehow, I still find myself sympathizing with him. How is that possible?!
So a lot of things that aren’t really worth talking about happens between the beginning and the third act, so I am just going to sum up the event that kicks off Peril’s journey, what sets her on the path to hunting down Scarlet, her former queen, and killing her.
Scarlet flies up to the school and literally drops a decapitated head on them made to look like Queen Glory by a magic scroll, just to scare them.
That is some hardcore psychological warfare there. I was in a panic along with Sunny and Clay for a second there. So Tui, if you even think of killing off my favourite character for real, I will hunt you down and drive pencils under you’re fingernails.
The third act involves a lot of twists, which frankly, I should have seen coming after the twist in the last book. I salvaged some of my dignity when I guessed that Soar, shortly after his introduction revealed to be Peril's father, was not a real sky wing and using an enchantment to look like someone else entirely, and that Tourmaline, Queen Ruby's sister, was still alive. And the second before the reveal, I guessed that Tourmaline was trapped in Ruby's skin by yet another enchantment from Chameleon's, Peril's father's real name, ramblings. Honestly, I was taken by surprise when it turned out to be true, but in hindsight, I shouldn't have been. It was exactly the same twist from the climax of the last book! Talk about lazy. And I feel really stupid for not seeing it from further away.
In all fairness, I don't think that was supposed to be the shocking part. The real core of the twist, the "meat" of the bombshell is truly brilliant.
Ruby isn't real. She was nothing but a mask of the enchantment, loaded with fake memories so no one would suspect her of being an empty husk.
And if it wasn't for the prologue of this book from Ruby's POV, seeing her memories and feeling her dread of Tourmaline's absence and witnessing the horror of toddler Peril burning up all of the eggs in the hatchery under Scarlet's orders, this would not have any impact at all. The dragon mask that Hailstorm was trapped under in WT wasn't real either. But experiencing life under Scarlet's terrible regime through her eyes as if she were a real dragon saved this twist from that fate, made the reader look back at that prologue and think, "but her thoughts were so real!" The best part is that it feels natural. It doesn't feel like Tui realized halfway through the manuscript that this twist wouldn't work and had to put in something else to salvage it. I applaud Tui for re using an old twist and making something completely new out of it.
But I think the award winning part is before that reveal, when the siege on Queen “Ruby’s” court begins. It turns out Soar is working for Scarlet, who is desperately trying to get back her throne. He has a scroll that allows him to create any enchantment he wants, which he uses to create a necklace that can mask Peril’s power. She can touch all the dragons she wants without burning them up, (and no, that is not an innuendo). The only thing Peril has to do is pledge her loyalty to Scarlet once more.
Of course, anyone with a half a brain can see that there’s a double edge to this deal, but Peril, being the insecure, unstable killing machine she is, takes it anyway, and immediately throws herself at Scarlet’s feet again. With any other character, this would have felt abrupt and random, it would have completely thrown off the pacing of the story. But again, Tui shows just how much she understands her characters. Peril is so fickle and self conflicted that this decision feels completely realistic for her, especially when a lot of Peril��s repeated thoughts throughout the book was her going back and forth between her unwavering loyalty to her former queen and wanting to kill her savagely.
It’s only a few chapters later, like a frog in boiling water, that you realize something is terribly wrong.
The change in Peril’s thought pattern is very subtle at first, but immediately noticeable at the same time. There were a lot of moments that I thought Peril was going to go on a lament about Clay, only for her to think, “I feel like I am forgetting something really important, but it’s on the tip of my tongue!” I was relieved at first, freed from listening to Peril’s love crazed whining, then as it was repeated again and again, it slowly dawned on me what was happening. Then a wham line crashes down, confirming my suspicions,
“Clay? Who’s that?”
The necklace that freed Peril from her firescales also stole her memories, one by one. This twist isn’t all that surprising in hindsight, but again, I don’t think it was meant to surprise people. This is Tui’s last resort, to make sure the readers she failed to appeal Peril to before will now root for her to the end. By making Peril a victim of manipulation, by her own father and his magic, even as she’s holding the queen’s chick hostage, she is made a sympathetic anti hero. I’ll admit, this final act had me cheering on Peril to fail in her support of Scarlet and come back to her original self, even if that self did piss me off quite a few times. Which she does, and helps “Ruby” finally kill Scarlet and rule her kingdom with love and fairness.
So that brings me to the last point I want to talk about, the ending, the most unintentionally hilarious cliffhanger ever.
In the first book, we are introduced to a historical figure called Darkstalker, the first and only animus (able to enchant and or control items or the physical world around them with their minds) Nightwing, who had performed crimes so heinous it drove the entire Nightwing tribe to abandon their city and go into hiding beside an active volcano for generations.
It turns out, the scroll Peril’s father had was the one Darkstalker created, and the only thing that can free him from his prison under Jade Mountain. Moon, the only one who can communicate with him, as she is the only Nightwing mind reader since they moved to home sweet volcano, thinks Darkstalker is misunderstood and steals the scroll to free him, but just to be safe, reads the oldest passages first.
And it turns out he’s just as evil as the legends described.
So the rest of the group catch up to Moon and Peril, who reached her first, and start arguing about how the scroll can be used for good.
Anyone who’s heard of the Lord of The Rings can see where this is going.
So Peril makes a decision, the first decision she ever makes by herself, without thinking if it’s what Scarlet or Clay would want her to do. In her first independent act ever made, she snatches the scroll and burns it with her firescales. It’s so beautiful the way Peril is so confident that it was the right thing to do by reading her new friends faces, and she feels so free and hopeful and happy for the first time in her entire life…
And then Darkstalker crawls out of the mountain. The scroll itself was the key to his jail. The very thing they were trying to prevent was brought by Peril doing what was right for the very first time.
I. Laughed. So. Hard. I laughed so hard when Darkstalker turns his massive head and thanked Peril personally. I laughed so much when Darkstalker genuinely smiles at her. I am cracking up just imagining how the next book is going to open up with Peril rage quitting life. If it wasn’t for this cliffhanger, I wouldn’t be able to make myself laugh at the possibilities, so for the first time in media history, I am formally thanking Tui Sutherland for writing a cliffhanger ending.
So overall, this book is the weakest of the Wings of Fire series as a whole, but it’s by no means bad. It’s held back by Peril’s childish and primitive narration, but the clever twists and other characters still hold up the story to a wonderful read.
Fetish
"a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc." -Google search "Fetish Definition". I can just imagine some little kid reading this, and asking their parent, "Hey Mom, what's a fetish," and then the parent's eyes bulge out of their head.
So, why does this book feel more childish than any other Wings of Fire entry?
Tui Sutherland is a master of defining characters through their narration and thoughts, and that's always aided in letting the reader slip into the protagonists, erm, talons, seamlessly. It never fails that a new Wings of Fire book would come out, I would feel skeptical if the POV character was not one I liked that much, and ended up sympathizing with and knowing them as if they were my own children by the end, loving them all to bits in the process.
But now for the very first time, it failed. I don't feel any closer to Peril now that I've been in her head than before I read this. I don't feel sad that her time in the sun is over and now I will have to explore Pyrrhia with someone else.
I don't exactly blame Tui for this failure, as Peril is not an easy character to sympathize with. Not because she was a mass murderer, but because she's childish, impulsively violent, possessive and altogether very unstable. Tui already had her work cut out for her trying to make Peril as likable, understandable and lovable as she's done with all of the other protagonists, but she seemed to have shot herself in the foot when she wrote a lot of thoughts and dialogue in all caps, (seriously, that's just embarrassing and immersion shattering when author's do that. I wanted to smack my head against a sharp edge of a bookshelf every time there was all caps.) and seemed to repeat a lot of Peril's insecurities over, and over, and over, and over again.
If I have to read one more sentence of Peril wishing she could burn someone alive because they were annoying and then think, "but Clay waifu wouldn't want me to do that!" I will scream.
Thankfully, the writing and other characters was still superb, which kept me going through to the end, when the book starts to shine. But I'll get to that later. Let's start at the beginning.
The novel begins with Peril at Jade Academy, waiting in a solitary room because of Queen Ruby of the Skywing's is visiting, to pick up the body of Carnelian, a Skywing student who died in an accident in the first book. Why does Peril have to hide in a room by herself while Ruby's here? One, Ruby banished her from the Sky Kingdom the moment she became queen, since she thinks Peril killed her sister, Tourmaline. As well as the trail of death she left behind as Scarlet's arena champion. Two, she has "firescales", a condition when a dragon absorbs their twin in the egg and burns everyone and everything they touch. Hasn't stopped her from attending class as normal before, so... I guess they just don't want to offend the royalty.
Of course, Peril get’s impatient waiting for the visit to end and goes wandering off by herself, cause honestly, we would be pretty bored if she didn’t. She runs into Turtle, a Seawing prince also attending the school, and he ends up dragging her on his quest to eavesdrop on the royal visit. It amuses me that Turtle is the secondary character in this book because I know that Turtle is going to be the next protagonist, and I can just imagine Tui thinking, “Oh, balls! I forgot to give Turtle any personality whatsoever! Quick, get the shoehorn!”
But I don’t mean that as a negative. I know this character had to get fleshed out one way or another, being in the same class as the previous protagonists after all. That still doesn’t mean it was done all that well, though. Throughout the book, Turtle shows himself to be a passive, laid back, nice, somewhat cowardly introvert, who shows great concern for his friends who have abandoned the school back in book one to help Winter search for his brother, then fulfill the prophecy Moon blurted out during one of her psychic episodes. Never mind that this conflicts with the Turtle shown in book one, who doesn’t interact with his classmates that much and doesn’t seem at all interested in being friends with any of them, but it comes across as plain. To me, Turtle just seems to be the second coming of Clay, except even more cliché and uninteresting. Yet, somehow, I still find myself sympathizing with him. How is that possible?!
So a lot of things that aren’t really worth talking about happens between the beginning and the third act, so I am just going to sum up the event that kicks off Peril’s journey, what sets her on the path to hunting down Scarlet, her former queen, and killing her.
Scarlet flies up to the school and literally drops a decapitated head on them made to look like Queen Glory by a magic scroll, just to scare them.
That is some hardcore psychological warfare there. I was in a panic along with Sunny and Clay for a second there. So Tui, if you even think of killing off my favourite character for real, I will hunt you down and drive pencils under you’re fingernails.
The third act involves a lot of twists, which frankly, I should have seen coming after the twist in the last book. I salvaged some of my dignity when I guessed that Soar, shortly after his introduction revealed to be Peril's father, was not a real sky wing and using an enchantment to look like someone else entirely, and that Tourmaline, Queen Ruby's sister, was still alive. And the second before the reveal, I guessed that Tourmaline was trapped in Ruby's skin by yet another enchantment from Chameleon's, Peril's father's real name, ramblings. Honestly, I was taken by surprise when it turned out to be true, but in hindsight, I shouldn't have been. It was exactly the same twist from the climax of the last book! Talk about lazy. And I feel really stupid for not seeing it from further away.
In all fairness, I don't think that was supposed to be the shocking part. The real core of the twist, the "meat" of the bombshell is truly brilliant.
Ruby isn't real. She was nothing but a mask of the enchantment, loaded with fake memories so no one would suspect her of being an empty husk.
And if it wasn't for the prologue of this book from Ruby's POV, seeing her memories and feeling her dread of Tourmaline's absence and witnessing the horror of toddler Peril burning up all of the eggs in the hatchery under Scarlet's orders, this would not have any impact at all. The dragon mask that Hailstorm was trapped under in WT wasn't real either. But experiencing life under Scarlet's terrible regime through her eyes as if she were a real dragon saved this twist from that fate, made the reader look back at that prologue and think, "but her thoughts were so real!" The best part is that it feels natural. It doesn't feel like Tui realized halfway through the manuscript that this twist wouldn't work and had to put in something else to salvage it. I applaud Tui for re using an old twist and making something completely new out of it.
But I think the award winning part is before that reveal, when the siege on Queen “Ruby’s” court begins. It turns out Soar is working for Scarlet, who is desperately trying to get back her throne. He has a scroll that allows him to create any enchantment he wants, which he uses to create a necklace that can mask Peril’s power. She can touch all the dragons she wants without burning them up, (and no, that is not an innuendo). The only thing Peril has to do is pledge her loyalty to Scarlet once more.
Of course, anyone with a half a brain can see that there’s a double edge to this deal, but Peril, being the insecure, unstable killing machine she is, takes it anyway, and immediately throws herself at Scarlet’s feet again. With any other character, this would have felt abrupt and random, it would have completely thrown off the pacing of the story. But again, Tui shows just how much she understands her characters. Peril is so fickle and self conflicted that this decision feels completely realistic for her, especially when a lot of Peril��s repeated thoughts throughout the book was her going back and forth between her unwavering loyalty to her former queen and wanting to kill her savagely.
It’s only a few chapters later, like a frog in boiling water, that you realize something is terribly wrong.
The change in Peril’s thought pattern is very subtle at first, but immediately noticeable at the same time. There were a lot of moments that I thought Peril was going to go on a lament about Clay, only for her to think, “I feel like I am forgetting something really important, but it’s on the tip of my tongue!” I was relieved at first, freed from listening to Peril’s love crazed whining, then as it was repeated again and again, it slowly dawned on me what was happening. Then a wham line crashes down, confirming my suspicions,
“Clay? Who’s that?”
The necklace that freed Peril from her firescales also stole her memories, one by one. This twist isn’t all that surprising in hindsight, but again, I don’t think it was meant to surprise people. This is Tui’s last resort, to make sure the readers she failed to appeal Peril to before will now root for her to the end. By making Peril a victim of manipulation, by her own father and his magic, even as she’s holding the queen’s chick hostage, she is made a sympathetic anti hero. I’ll admit, this final act had me cheering on Peril to fail in her support of Scarlet and come back to her original self, even if that self did piss me off quite a few times. Which she does, and helps “Ruby” finally kill Scarlet and rule her kingdom with love and fairness.
So that brings me to the last point I want to talk about, the ending, the most unintentionally hilarious cliffhanger ever.
In the first book, we are introduced to a historical figure called Darkstalker, the first and only animus (able to enchant and or control items or the physical world around them with their minds) Nightwing, who had performed crimes so heinous it drove the entire Nightwing tribe to abandon their city and go into hiding beside an active volcano for generations.
It turns out, the scroll Peril’s father had was the one Darkstalker created, and the only thing that can free him from his prison under Jade Mountain. Moon, the only one who can communicate with him, as she is the only Nightwing mind reader since they moved to home sweet volcano, thinks Darkstalker is misunderstood and steals the scroll to free him, but just to be safe, reads the oldest passages first.
And it turns out he’s just as evil as the legends described.
So the rest of the group catch up to Moon and Peril, who reached her first, and start arguing about how the scroll can be used for good.
Anyone who’s heard of the Lord of The Rings can see where this is going.
So Peril makes a decision, the first decision she ever makes by herself, without thinking if it’s what Scarlet or Clay would want her to do. In her first independent act ever made, she snatches the scroll and burns it with her firescales. It’s so beautiful the way Peril is so confident that it was the right thing to do by reading her new friends faces, and she feels so free and hopeful and happy for the first time in her entire life…
And then Darkstalker crawls out of the mountain. The scroll itself was the key to his jail. The very thing they were trying to prevent was brought by Peril doing what was right for the very first time.
I. Laughed. So. Hard. I laughed so hard when Darkstalker turns his massive head and thanked Peril personally. I laughed so much when Darkstalker genuinely smiles at her. I am cracking up just imagining how the next book is going to open up with Peril rage quitting life. If it wasn’t for this cliffhanger, I wouldn’t be able to make myself laugh at the possibilities, so for the first time in media history, I am formally thanking Tui Sutherland for writing a cliffhanger ending.
So overall, this book is the weakest of the Wings of Fire series as a whole, but it’s by no means bad. It’s held back by Peril’s childish and primitive narration, but the clever twists and other characters still hold up the story to a wonderful read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2017
*SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW*
Well, I have to say, this is a personal best for Ms. Sutherland. The book made me cry.
I enjoy how Peril refers to herself in the beginning as 'former hopeful idiotic self' when she is discussing her problems with herself. The part that made me cry was … when Glory died. Or at least when we THOUGHT she died. I reacted quite like Sunny.
I believe that Ms. Sutherland portrayed Turtle incorrectly. She made him seem like an idiotic naive MudWing. Seriously! And we can't have him acting like this in his book, Talons of power.
I think that Peril's character development was quite interesting, and enjoyable to watch. I think that her puzzlement over why Turtle was so loyal to his friends was sweet. After all, in the beginning her only loyalties are to Clay and Scarlet.
Somehow, I knew Turtle was an animus! But, I have to say, the whole 'Magic Chameleon thing' was quite confusing, and Ms. Sutherland needs to work on her clearness of magic. She is getting better at it, I will admit. I for one, should know, as I am an authoress.
I love Cliff and his antics. ^^
Moon+Winter
Peril+Turtle
Well, I have to say, this is a personal best for Ms. Sutherland. The book made me cry.
I enjoy how Peril refers to herself in the beginning as 'former hopeful idiotic self' when she is discussing her problems with herself. The part that made me cry was … when Glory died. Or at least when we THOUGHT she died. I reacted quite like Sunny.
I believe that Ms. Sutherland portrayed Turtle incorrectly. She made him seem like an idiotic naive MudWing. Seriously! And we can't have him acting like this in his book, Talons of power.
I think that Peril's character development was quite interesting, and enjoyable to watch. I think that her puzzlement over why Turtle was so loyal to his friends was sweet. After all, in the beginning her only loyalties are to Clay and Scarlet.
Somehow, I knew Turtle was an animus! But, I have to say, the whole 'Magic Chameleon thing' was quite confusing, and Ms. Sutherland needs to work on her clearness of magic. She is getting better at it, I will admit. I for one, should know, as I am an authoress.
I love Cliff and his antics. ^^
Moon+Winter
Peril+Turtle
September 17, 2025
A great redemption arc and growth for Peril! This is her learning on her own how to prioritize what is right, not just for other people. It's about confronting your past and making peace with it. About how you are not responsible for things you did as a child being abused. This series goes deep, but with dragons in an age appropriate way with a fun adventure.
December 29, 2015
Yesterday I received a happy surprise that my Barnes and Noble had already set out Escaping Peril! So I bought it and took it home with high expectations. And I was not disappointed. The first book to come from a Skywing's point of view, and one of the most popular ones. Peril is trying to be a completely changed dragon, devoted on doing what Clay thinks is right to prove herself to him. Even doing what Clay thinks will help her, no one truly trusts Peril, least of all Queen Ruby who has come to Jade Mountain to finally transport the body of Carnelian. So Peril sets out on a quest, to prove her new self and gain some trust, with an annoying Seawing who wants to try to be her friend, and who also wants to find his friends. But will Peril ever truly belong with her deadly firescales, and her instinct to fight?
April 2, 2021
Another good edition to this great series. I have been reading along after my two boys (11 and 13) so I can chat to them about it, but its also been really enjoyable. Adventure, intrigue, friendship, betrayal, action, magical enchantments in a world dominated by dragons split into different tribes that are constantly warring with each other. Aimed at a teenage audience, but well written, and recommended to all!
Read
January 5, 2022it was a good book about a dragon swaying between good and evil but she pulled threw and did what she thought best but then a surprise hit, and all her efforts suddenly felt like they were all a lie.
March 25, 2016
This was a great sequel to the previous book. Not many questions were answered but new ones came and went. There are new loose ends and even more twists.
November 25, 2016
I'm dying for the ninth book! This is why I read this book so late. Now, I only have to wait ONE MONTH for the next book!
*groans*
*groans*
Read
March 8, 2023read this AGES ago but I found my old copy today, and as I was skimming through it I think the reason Peril was my favourite is bc she’s nesta. they’re both cut of the same cloth and there stories are just REALLY similar when you think about it. maybe that’s why I loved nesta.
January 1, 2016
My love for these books burns with the white hot intensity of thousand suns.
January 6, 2018
AHHH IM SO HAPPY AND PROUD THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE NOMINEES FOR BEST BOOKS OF 2016!!!
January 30, 2016
This is the eighth volume in the Wings of Fire series. This book follows the story of Peril, who has been in many of the previous books. This story was very well done. I have been reading these because my son reads them and have really started enjoying the books a lot.
Peril has left Queen Scarlet behind and is loyal to Clay now. Peril is trying to live with the other dragons at the Jade Mountain Academy, but it is tough when everything she touches bursts into flames. When Scarlet shows up threatening the Academy, Peril decides that she can probably do the most good by hunting down Scarlet and killing her once and for all. The only problem is Turtle, he is a SeaWing that is concerned about his friends and wants to go searching for both his friends and Scarlet with her.
Peril is probably the most emotionally damaged of all the dragonets. She was taught to kill at a very young age and she is very good at killing. Meeting Clay has taught her that there is good in her and she is good at things other than killing. She doesn’t have any friends and always says things the wrong way or at the wrong time. It was amazing to watch her grow throughout this story.
A lot happens in this story both to Peril and dragon society as a whole. The new prophecy still looms over them and Peril is worried about her part in this. As with previous books the Scavengers (humans) are there in the background...I always wonder if they will become a bigger part of the story at some point.
The book is well written, easy to read, and moves at a fast clip. It’s very engaging and the dragonets are easy to love. There is a lot in here about friendship and becoming the best you can be despite other people’s low expectations or perceptions of how you should be.
Overall an incredibly fun read and very well done. I really enjoyed hearing Peril’s story. There is a lot of action and humor in here and the book is a quick read. I would recommend to middle grade readers who enjoy books like The Warriors series. This series is very similar to that series, but I honestly think the Wings of Fire series is better written and a lot more fun to read.
Peril has left Queen Scarlet behind and is loyal to Clay now. Peril is trying to live with the other dragons at the Jade Mountain Academy, but it is tough when everything she touches bursts into flames. When Scarlet shows up threatening the Academy, Peril decides that she can probably do the most good by hunting down Scarlet and killing her once and for all. The only problem is Turtle, he is a SeaWing that is concerned about his friends and wants to go searching for both his friends and Scarlet with her.
Peril is probably the most emotionally damaged of all the dragonets. She was taught to kill at a very young age and she is very good at killing. Meeting Clay has taught her that there is good in her and she is good at things other than killing. She doesn’t have any friends and always says things the wrong way or at the wrong time. It was amazing to watch her grow throughout this story.
A lot happens in this story both to Peril and dragon society as a whole. The new prophecy still looms over them and Peril is worried about her part in this. As with previous books the Scavengers (humans) are there in the background...I always wonder if they will become a bigger part of the story at some point.
The book is well written, easy to read, and moves at a fast clip. It’s very engaging and the dragonets are easy to love. There is a lot in here about friendship and becoming the best you can be despite other people’s low expectations or perceptions of how you should be.
Overall an incredibly fun read and very well done. I really enjoyed hearing Peril’s story. There is a lot of action and humor in here and the book is a quick read. I would recommend to middle grade readers who enjoy books like The Warriors series. This series is very similar to that series, but I honestly think the Wings of Fire series is better written and a lot more fun to read.
August 20, 2021
peril: i have never done anything right in my life, ever
me: you are a traumatized victim of emotional abuse and ostracism who is nevertheless doing her best to redeem herself after being used as a weapon her entire life. and i love you
anyway the plot twists in this book! the ENDING holy fucking shit!
me: you are a traumatized victim of emotional abuse and ostracism who is nevertheless doing her best to redeem herself after being used as a weapon her entire life. and i love you
anyway the plot twists in this book! the ENDING holy fucking shit!
November 8, 2023
I really liked Peril’s perspective, and her sarcasm was funny. My favorite part was when Tourmaline decided to stay looking like Ruby, and my favorite character is Moon. I liked seeing more of the SkyWings, since most of them haven’t really played a big part yet. I want to know what happens with Foeslayer now that she was released. The parts that surprised me the most were when Scarlet tricked the prophecy dragons that Glory was dead, and when Turtle was revealed as an animus. A few parts were predictable for me, like when Chameleon and Scarlet lied to Peril, and when Peril burned the animus scroll.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2023
Me: *makes strangled noises*
My brother: “Um…”
Me: “THE PLOT TWISTS”
Let’s just say this one took me totally by surprise AND THAT ENDING???? Good thing I had book 9 on hand.
My brother: “Um…”
Me: “THE PLOT TWISTS”
Let’s just say this one took me totally by surprise AND THAT ENDING???? Good thing I had book 9 on hand.
March 30, 2025
Nie byłam świadoma, jak bardzo za nimi tęskniłam! Ale to zakończenie? To powinno być karalne, więc od razu odpalam kolejny tom <3
July 9, 2024
--8 July 2024
once again, i love you peril and your weird thought processes. you are trying so hard <3
the way she constantly thinks things about, like, killing people to solve her problems but then almost every time stops herself and does the better or kinder thing adds to one of the themes from moon's book, about how people can think terrible things but that doesn't matter because they haven't done them! and moon can see futures about people doing bad things but that doesn't mean they will do it.
the theme i've been most focused on in the series this read, however, and that is highlighted pretty strongly in this book, is around personal autonomy and self-determination and messing with other people's minds. this happens with moon debating whether it's morally correct to judge people based on their thoughts or what they might do, and then with winter and hailstorm. here, peril's own mind is altered, and it's different because peril is constantly thinking that she wants someone to tell her what to do because that's all she's been used to! but then it happens without her consent, and it happens to others without their consent, and it's violating and wrong.
and the way scarlet has fucked peril up even without magic! by treating her as a weapon and convincing her she needs the black rocks to survive and that scarlet is the only one who will love her (even though she doesn't) and the way peril is trying to break free of that but keeps circling it! (similar to winter in some ways, with the way his family/the people around him treated him growing up.)
ruby's an interesting datapoint because she wanted to go back to being ruby, just with all her memory of both lives. and she was ruby for so long she managed to break through the spell that said she was never to be queen or challenge scarlet.
anyway! unrelated - my favorite peril being peril moment: “I don't have an evil plan!” said Peril, panicking. “All my evil is spur of the moment! Turtle, tell them how bad I am at planning.”
--8 July 2021
peril is hilarious and i do think, though the audiobook narrator did a great job, that this is one time you're missing out on the print book's comedic effect when peril will go suddenly and alarmingly into all caps. anyway if i wanted to pull the best quotes i would pull like,, half of the book
also the character development >>> i should just stop saying this every time bc it's always good but oh well
once again, i love you peril and your weird thought processes. you are trying so hard <3
the way she constantly thinks things about, like, killing people to solve her problems but then almost every time stops herself and does the better or kinder thing adds to one of the themes from moon's book, about how people can think terrible things but that doesn't matter because they haven't done them! and moon can see futures about people doing bad things but that doesn't mean they will do it.
the theme i've been most focused on in the series this read, however, and that is highlighted pretty strongly in this book, is around personal autonomy and self-determination and messing with other people's minds. this happens with moon debating whether it's morally correct to judge people based on their thoughts or what they might do, and then with winter and hailstorm. here, peril's own mind is altered, and it's different because peril is constantly thinking that she wants someone to tell her what to do because that's all she's been used to! but then it happens without her consent, and it happens to others without their consent, and it's violating and wrong.
and the way scarlet has fucked peril up even without magic! by treating her as a weapon and convincing her she needs the black rocks to survive and that scarlet is the only one who will love her (even though she doesn't) and the way peril is trying to break free of that but keeps circling it! (similar to winter in some ways, with the way his family/the people around him treated him growing up.)
ruby's an interesting datapoint because she wanted to go back to being ruby, just with all her memory of both lives. and she was ruby for so long she managed to break through the spell that said she was never to be queen or challenge scarlet.
anyway! unrelated - my favorite peril being peril moment: “I don't have an evil plan!” said Peril, panicking. “All my evil is spur of the moment! Turtle, tell them how bad I am at planning.”
--8 July 2021
peril is hilarious and i do think, though the audiobook narrator did a great job, that this is one time you're missing out on the print book's comedic effect when peril will go suddenly and alarmingly into all caps. anyway if i wanted to pull the best quotes i would pull like,, half of the book
also the character development >>> i should just stop saying this every time bc it's always good but oh well
January 22, 2016
"Wings of Fire is the greatest book series of all time ever!" - Says Max English, from the Park Slope Reader. "I.Love.This. Series!" Says Georgia Kretz, from the New York Spirit. Wings of Fire is fun and fantastical, but also tackles real life issues such as discrimination, as only dragons can. Tui T. Sutherland writes these stories in such a way that you can't put it down, no matter what. She is an author in part of the Erin Hunter team, "author" of Warriors, Seekers, Survivors series'.
In the latest Wings of Fire book, Escaping Peril, We follow one character through their journey. This time, it's Peril. She made her first appearance in book one, as the "psycho killer" for the evil Queen Scarlet. In this story, Peril tries desperately to redeem herself, and make some friends.
Peril tries to be funny, and innocent, and friendly, but because she has been killing since she was a dragonet (baby dragon), she has a dark side. when someone is hostile, she hopes that they attack her so she can kill them. She has something called Firescales, meaning that her scales instantly burn anything flammable. Anything. With her new "friend" Turtle, she tries to joke about killing people, or melting their ears off, or something along those lines, but really, she just freaks him out. A large problem she faces is discrimination. Everyone, even her on kind, see her as a weapon, not a dragon. She has a hard time dealing with a life not filled with death and hatred.
I would give this book 1000000000000000000000000 stars out of five. It is The best book in the series so far, and I love it! The only downside to these books is they are still being written, so I have to wait, like, six months before I can read the next one! Six months! I recommend this book to everyone who has herd a story where the knight saved the princess from the evil dragon, and anyone who just likes fantasy. Enjoy!
In the latest Wings of Fire book, Escaping Peril, We follow one character through their journey. This time, it's Peril. She made her first appearance in book one, as the "psycho killer" for the evil Queen Scarlet. In this story, Peril tries desperately to redeem herself, and make some friends.
Peril tries to be funny, and innocent, and friendly, but because she has been killing since she was a dragonet (baby dragon), she has a dark side. when someone is hostile, she hopes that they attack her so she can kill them. She has something called Firescales, meaning that her scales instantly burn anything flammable. Anything. With her new "friend" Turtle, she tries to joke about killing people, or melting their ears off, or something along those lines, but really, she just freaks him out. A large problem she faces is discrimination. Everyone, even her on kind, see her as a weapon, not a dragon. She has a hard time dealing with a life not filled with death and hatred.
I would give this book 1000000000000000000000000 stars out of five. It is The best book in the series so far, and I love it! The only downside to these books is they are still being written, so I have to wait, like, six months before I can read the next one! Six months! I recommend this book to everyone who has herd a story where the knight saved the princess from the evil dragon, and anyone who just likes fantasy. Enjoy!
Read
June 6, 2017I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!! I hope Clay fallows her and they fall in love but always she better kick Scarrlet's butt. Besides is she not dead from Glory's venom????
October 21, 2018
Peril is literally the definition of 'amazing'
May 13, 2018
*4.5/5
Now this probably would’ve been a full five stars if it weren’t for the fact that I was in a reading slump while reading this. I think the slump was mostly due to the fact that the past month was very busy, but there was also something about this book that wasn’t as gripping as the others. Still, I enjoyed myself whenever I got around to reading it and I still can’t wait to continue with the series. Based on the end of this book, I have a feeling the next two books are going to be some of the best in the entire series.
Now this probably would’ve been a full five stars if it weren’t for the fact that I was in a reading slump while reading this. I think the slump was mostly due to the fact that the past month was very busy, but there was also something about this book that wasn’t as gripping as the others. Still, I enjoyed myself whenever I got around to reading it and I still can’t wait to continue with the series. Based on the end of this book, I have a feeling the next two books are going to be some of the best in the entire series.
March 7, 2024
I hate Scarlet and chameleon
May 25, 2024
Tui trzyma poziom!
October 9, 2019
My least favorite WoF book without a doubt, Escaping Peril tells the story from the perspective of the psychotic dragon Peril, a firescale SkyWing who was insanely loyal to Queen Scarlet to the point that she happily murdered other dragons to make her queen happy.
Peril's change in this is too forced for me to believe it. This is a dragon who has spent the time from her hatching all the way to the first book, mercilessly killing dragons for her queen AND JUSTIFYING IT. The emotional trauma that should come from this, or the consequences are never dealt with. We are talking about an actual hitman/soldier who never once has to deal with the fact that she killed other dragons, some of them innocent, simply because she never took the time to think for herself and fight against Scarlet, which she could have one very easily.
Peril is constantly considering setting people and places on fire to alleviate their impact on her life simply because they are annoying, and her conscience is so destroyed that she never once thinks that's wrong. Instead, she considers it from the perspective of "Clay wouldn't like that."
She is treated as a hero throughout the entire book when she still has thoughts of murdering innocent dragons, and nothing is resolved and no punishments are meted for her actions in the past.
Peril is not an enjoyable hero. If anything, she should have been a straight-up anti hero. That would have made her much more fascinating, especially in that her drive is to make someone else happy so that they will love her, not that she actually wants to be a good dragon.
Peril's change in this is too forced for me to believe it. This is a dragon who has spent the time from her hatching all the way to the first book, mercilessly killing dragons for her queen AND JUSTIFYING IT. The emotional trauma that should come from this, or the consequences are never dealt with. We are talking about an actual hitman/soldier who never once has to deal with the fact that she killed other dragons, some of them innocent, simply because she never took the time to think for herself and fight against Scarlet, which she could have one very easily.
Peril is constantly considering setting people and places on fire to alleviate their impact on her life simply because they are annoying, and her conscience is so destroyed that she never once thinks that's wrong. Instead, she considers it from the perspective of "Clay wouldn't like that."
She is treated as a hero throughout the entire book when she still has thoughts of murdering innocent dragons, and nothing is resolved and no punishments are meted for her actions in the past.
Peril is not an enjoyable hero. If anything, she should have been a straight-up anti hero. That would have made her much more fascinating, especially in that her drive is to make someone else happy so that they will love her, not that she actually wants to be a good dragon.
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