Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Iron Flame

I put this on par with the first book. Definitely more heavy on the trigger warnings. There are some absolutely brutal scenes that make deaths from the first book seem tame. Don't take that warning in the beginning of the book lightly. That being said, this book plays on all the emotions and is just wonderfully written.

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bethann_coleates's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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spaghettii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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s_r_sparrow's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I hated this more than the first book. The characters digressed, characters were brought back to life unnecessarily, and the story was very stereotypical and took tropes from the popular books that preceeded it. It was a waste of time

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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I thought this was really strong in the world building as well as setting up and introducing the readers to the overall conflicts that are driving the series as a whole. I think this book really focuses on betrayal and how it can come from different people in our lives and present itself in actions we take or don't take, and how people can try and repairs that relationships.
With this as the main focus of our story we do get a handful of miscommunication/mistrust between Violet and Xaden that was hard to get through and I know a few people had issues with this. I found it felt like for the whole 27+ hours I was listening these two took one step forward and two steps back, making the readers reread events that felt like it already happened or was similar enough to previous events that we lose interest. Whilst Violet and Xaden's relationship might have fallen a but in this story I think Rebecca Yarros did a really good job with the side characters and developing most of them and their relationships with Violet. I thought this was the strongest part of the book and keeps you interested to see what is happening next.
The overall conflicts in the story and the ending were good. I think the ending was interesting as to see how it plays out in the long run or if this is going to be one of those issues where everything is magically fixed. Given Rebecca Yarros has not shied away from breaking hearts and having consequences I think it will be an interesting to see hoe this will develop. The conflicts where fine across the book. The major conflict at the end was gripping and exciting but the conflict with Catriona I could do without as It doesn't feel like it really adds to the story for the most part.

Overall I think this was a good read and having listened to it on audio I think the pacing that others had issues with was less prominent. It does feel like it had some issues for the most part I didn't notice that critique. Overall I enjoyed the characters and the friendships particularly where a highlight of this book.

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natashalg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The story was absolutely amazing, and would have been 5 stars except for the interactions between Violet and Cat. I don't believe she added anything to the story besides angst for Violet and to serve as the "jealous bitch". I just don't think a strong woman, note WOMAN not teenager, would care? Also, the constant "can I trust him?" "oh woe is me" from Violet got old...Xaden is literally leading a revolution and it's silly to get upset over the stuff he "hid" from her when most of the time it was secrets keeping her/the nation/himself safe. It's very immature of her, and I fully take Xaden's side in it... Having secrets doesn't mean the person doesn't love you, especially if the secret can get you or someone you care about killed. Lastly, the twist ending makes me a little concerned especially with the "you'll be the greatest enemy" line... I will be forever upset with the author if she makes that a reality and the next book isn't about fixing what happened.

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