The Dark Secret (Wings of Fire #4)

by Tui T. Sutherland

Conditional Recommendation: The dragon war is escalating and Starflight the NightWing must gather his courage to save both his friends and his tribe.

Age: Middle Grade
Series: Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy, Book Four
Pages: 336
Published: 2013

Genre: Fantasy

The plot is building! After the plodding set up in the beginning, the story takes off. Starflight, the NightWing, discovers the culture and truth of his mysterious tribe. Things are not actually what the NightWings want everyone to believe. The conflicts in this book are great—between the cultures of the different tribes of dragons and within Starflight to betray his friends or his tribe. The stakes are getting higher and the dragon war is escalating. It’s apparent we’re heading into the final book after this one!

There’s a twinkling of romance that appears in this book because we learn that Starflight loves Sunny and wants to have a relationship with this lifelong friend.

For a more about the series and its characters, please see my review of the first book, The Dragonet Prophecy.

Read Before this Book:

The Hidden Kingdom (#3)

Summary from the Publisher

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.

Recommendation Note

Some dragon violence.

Series Note
As of 2022, there are 14 books in this series with three major plot lines:
The Dragonet Prophecy: Books 1-5
The Jade Mountain Prophecy: Books 6-10

The Lost Continent Prophecy: Books 11-14

I have only read The Dragonet Prophecy (books 1-5) and those are the books I’m currently recommending for young readers to enjoy. I’ve heard from parents that LGBTQ agenda appears in later books so don’t set your kids loose on the whole series if you’re aiming to avoid such content. I can assure you that books 1-5 are free of this agenda and the storyline wraps up nicely in book 5 so a reader can be satisfied and not need to read more of the books.

Books I Recommend in the Series

The Brightest Night (#5)

Books Like This: Warriors series by Erin Hunter
Where to Find this Book: Amazon* or your local library!

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