Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

69 reviews

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Ableism and Animal death

skyfluff's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Bullying, Death of parent, Gore, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Genocide, Medical content, Death, Abandonment, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, War, Chronic illness, Grief, Violence, Bullying, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Vomit, Xenophobia, Murder, Torture, Medical trauma, Ableism, Animal death, and Gaslighting

spaghettii's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Gore, Kidnapping, Blood, Drug use, Genocide, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, War, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

natashalg's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Grief, and Bullying

janchamp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Death, Violence, War, Torture, Animal death, and Grief

As part of training, students undergo faux kidnapping and torture.

Under suspicion, Violet is actually abducted and truly tortured by an enemy. She is healed and tortured repeatedly for days.

anilein's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Cursing, Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Medical content, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

darienjade's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

piaswen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, War, Murder, Violence, and Grief

thebookaddict's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-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? No

3.5

🇳🇱: jeetje was een dik boek. Toen ik begon aan dit boek voelde ik meteen weer de vibes waar ik fourth wing mee geëindigd ben. Naarmate ik verder kwam in het boek werd dit minder. Het boek is in mijn mening gehaast geschreven, het bevat veel actie die slecht uitgewerkt is. Er komt heel veel op je af in de 600 pagina's maar veel had beter uitgewerkt kunnen worden. Ook waren er veel nieuwe (soms onbelangrijke) namen die je in de war brachten. Het einde maakte een hele hoop goed, maar die had wat uitgebreidere gemogen. Beter uitgewerkte actie in het boek had beter op zijn plaats geweest dan de hoeveelheid korte actie. Ook was dit boek zoals wordt gezegt veel meer gefocust op informatie over de wereld en de manier van besturen en magie. Dit is niet voor iedereen weggelegt, vooral als je niet zo veel fantasie leest. Al met al een goed vervolg, maar hij had beter uitgewerkt kunnen worden. Door het einde ben ik enorm benieuwd naar deel 3.

🇬🇧: wow, that was a big book. When I started this book I immediately felt the vibes that I ended Fourth Wing with. As I got further into the book this became less. In my opinion, the book was written in a hurry, it contains a lot of action that is poorly developed. There is a lot to deal with in the 600 pages, but much could have been developed better. There were also a lot of new (sometimes unimportant) names that confused you. The ending made up for a lot, but it could have been a bit more elaborate. Better developed action in the book would have been more appropriate than the amount of short action. Also, as stated, this book was much more focused on information about the world and the way of governing and magic. This isn't for everyone, especially if you don't read much fantasy. All in all a good sequel, but it could have been developed better. The ending makes me very curious about part 3.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexual content, Death, Violence, War, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail