Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Iron Flame - Flammengeküsst: Roman | Die heißersehnte Fortsetzung des Fantasy-Erfolgs 'Fourth Wing' in wunderschön veredelter Ausstattung

This book was such a slog to get through. It was like a third-act breakup stretched across hundreds of pages because Violet and Xaden spent most of the book fighting. They were hardly ever together and when they were, they were having the same argument over and over. It was extremely tiresome, and I felt this romance novel was missing the romance. A lot of their issues seemed very contrived, like Violet was just looking for things to be mad or insecure about. She makes a whole issue about Xaden not saying he loves her, only that he's fallen for her. What does she think "fallen for" means exactly? I understand she was still upset with him for not telling her some big secrets in the first book, but I think it was way overblown and drawn out. It was also a bit hypocritical of her to be upset at Xaden for not telling her all the super-secret mission details while she was also not telling everything to her loved ones and was going behind Xaden's back on her own mission. All of the internal conflict was exhausting, and I kind of just wanted them to break up already so I wouldn't have to read about it anymore.

I also really didn't like that they had Violet and Xaden's ex fighting over him. It was childish, and I'm just done with books pitting women against each other because of some guy.

Xaden was just kind of there, without much personality. All of the side characters were also lacking development. I couldn't remember much about the friends and professors from the first book despite reading it only 4 months ago and was always mixing the characters up in my mind, but it didn't matter much as they weren't very present in this book.

I did like the non-relationship parts of the book, for the most part. I thought learning about the wards and more about Andarna were both interesting, as was the final part of the book. Even during the really exciting plot stuff happening, I was still easily able to put the book down and not feel the need to pick it up again for another day or two.

Just when I thought I was ready to give up on this series, that cliffhanger ending happened. I might give the next book a chance, but I'm really not interested in reading 3 more long books if they're like this one.

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skyfluff's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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stitchbooks22's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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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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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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