No on page descriptions but several animals help in a battle in the latter chapters of the book and it is noted that there are a number of them who did not survive, including dogs.
No on page descriptions but several animals help in a battle in the latter chapters of the book and it is noted that there are a number of them who did not survive, including horses.
Though the PoV Character Veronyka does disguise herself as a boy it is mentioned in text that she knows some people dress as other genders for their own comfort and to be their true selves and that is not the case for her. It is implied others might distrust her if she reveals her gender but specifically because it was recently revealed another character was a mole for the enemy and not because of her choosing to disguise herself as a boy explicitly.
Mentions of fire throughout with the specification that Phoenix fire cannot harm their riders most of the time, however it is not uncommon for riders to dive bomb while they and their phoenix self-immolate as a last ditch effort to take out as many enemies as possible in a fiery explosion, which is described a few times as well as a battle in the back chapters where several phoenixes set siege equipment on fire, including the people around them.
Through technicality only, and not in a malicious transphobic sense. PoV character Veronyka explicitly does not identify as a boy but does choose to disguise herself as one, and adopts a more masculine name and pronouns for the majority of the book. Other characters refer to her using that name those pronouns. The most malicious you could argue this gets is when Val arrives and deliberately refuses to use said name and pronouns in front of another character, similar to outing Veronyka.
Though the PoV Character Veronyka does disguise herself as a boy it is mentioned in text that she knows some people dress as other genders for their own comfort and to be their true selves but that is not the case for her. There are no explicitly trans characters in the book, woman or otherwise.
Through technicality only, and not in a malicious transphobic sense. PoV character Veronyka uses the name Nyk while in disguise and a few times after discovering her true gender PoV character Tristan refers to her as Nyk before correcting himself in his head. The most malicious you could argue this gets is when Val arrives and deliberately refuses to use said name in front of another character, similar to outing Veronyka.
The text of the book itself leaves it unclear if PoV Character Sev's love interest survives the events of the books however the sequel confirms he did, so while not clear he does not die. There are arguably only two other LGBTQ characters and they both survive the book explicitly.
PoV Character Sev watches his parents death and both Val and Veronyka's parents are dead before the start of the book, though we never see their death on page.
PoV Character Verokyna and her sister Val lose their adoptive grandmother in several flashbacks where it is assumed she is dead. She later is killed on page.
PoV Character Sev watches both his parents die in a flashback.
Several mentions throughout of a historical figure whole family's death, mother, father, step-mother and half-sister. It is later revealed that said half-sister was Veronyka's actual mother and said historical figure is a PoV character for a few dream sequences and a chapter at the end.
Only one character who can be argued to be bisexual (it is not stated explicitly however he has clear feelings for a character he believes to be a boy and only finds out much later is a girl in disguise but he clearly develops feelings for her much earlier than that) and he does not ever feel anything for anyone but his clear love interest.
Several mentions throughout the battle that takes place in the latter chapters, attackers are scaling walls and the defenders are cutting ropes leading to several people falling to their death.
Several characters lose their home through violence or having to flee. PoV character Sev becomes homeless in a flashback due to an army approaching and having to flee. Pov Character and her sister Val lose their home through mob violence, and are largely transient for the first several chapters.
PoV character Veronyka's phoenix is killed in the early chapters via poisoning, it is on page and somewhat graphic.
No on page descriptions but several animals help in a battle in the latter chapters of the book and it is noted that there are a number of them who did not survive.
Several. An alpaca is killed in one chapter, and in the battle of the later chapters many animals die when they are allowed to help in the fight with the animages.
Several characters experience PTSD like symptoms as the book takes place only 16 years post a devastating war and many characters both PoV and otherwise experienced it first hand. Several of the adults in the Phoenix Riders and PoV character Sev show the symptoms most clearly.