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vaguely_pink's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Fourth Wing was mid at best for me, so color me shocked when I absolutely could not put down this book and realized that this was good.
(It's worth noting at the beginning here that this book needs a heavy trigger warning for torture, so if that's the only part of this review you read ((as if anyone reads my reviews )), I'll be okay.)
A lot of the issues I had with Fourth Wing were nonexistent here. Violet is no longer info dumping all the time. The world has been built in book one (no matter how lazily), so the lore we get here is well crafted and executed. It sort of felt like Fourth Wing was just the book she had to write so Iron Flame made sense.
The character writing is also much improved in book two. Particularly when it comes to Violet and Xaden's relationship. (Although I will never forgive Ms. Yarros for naming him Xaden.) This genre has so many male love interests that are too perfect and exist only to teach the FMC something about herself (Manic Pixie Dream Bat Boys™), but Xaden is flawed as hell. They fight and I can't take anyone's side because they're both wrong and toxic as hell sometimes. They both have major character growth throughout the book, and we love to see it.
The more minor characters are much more enjoyable too. In Fourth Wing I could barely keep everyone straight in my head, so it was hard to appreciate the found family banter. In Iron Flame, it's all there and wonderful. Would die for Ridoc.
And of course we love to see this kind of disability representation. And not only EDS, but some great PTSD portrayals in there too. As a neurodivergent disabled girlie, there was lots to warm my cold heart. And all the great family drama in there too. Juicy.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. While I could predict every single twist to Fourth Wing, I had no idea what was coming next in Iron Flame. I still maintain that the Empyrean series so far is nothing revolutionary. Despite what the blurb on the cover says, this is exactly like every fantasy you've ever read. But damn if this Divergent/Eragon/wizard-books-that-shall-not-be-named mash up isn't fucking fun. Very excited for the next installment.
(It's worth noting at the beginning here that this book needs a heavy trigger warning for torture, so if that's the only part of this review you read ((as if anyone reads my reviews )), I'll be okay.)
A lot of the issues I had with Fourth Wing were nonexistent here. Violet is no longer info dumping all the time. The world has been built in book one (no matter how lazily), so the lore we get here is well crafted and executed. It sort of felt like Fourth Wing was just the book she had to write so Iron Flame made sense.
The character writing is also much improved in book two. Particularly when it comes to Violet and Xaden's relationship. (Although I will never forgive Ms. Yarros for naming him Xaden.) This genre has so many male love interests that are too perfect and exist only to teach the FMC something about herself (Manic Pixie Dream Bat Boys™), but Xaden is flawed as hell. They fight and I can't take anyone's side because they're both wrong and toxic as hell sometimes. They both have major character growth throughout the book, and we love to see it.
The more minor characters are much more enjoyable too. In Fourth Wing I could barely keep everyone straight in my head, so it was hard to appreciate the found family banter. In Iron Flame, it's all there and wonderful. Would die for Ridoc.
And of course we love to see this kind of disability representation. And not only EDS, but some great PTSD portrayals in there too. As a neurodivergent disabled girlie, there was lots to warm my cold heart. And all the great family drama in there too. Juicy.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. While I could predict every single twist to Fourth Wing, I had no idea what was coming next in Iron Flame. I still maintain that the Empyrean series so far is nothing revolutionary. Despite what the blurb on the cover says, this is exactly like every fantasy you've ever read. But damn if this Divergent/Eragon/wizard-books-that-shall-not-be-named mash up isn't fucking fun. Very excited for the next installment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Ableism, Body horror, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Kidnapping, and Xenophobia
Minor: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Animal death
lemonwrlds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Vomit, Bullying, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Medical trauma
lexim's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Chronic illness, and Confinement
Minor: Bullying, Classism, Medical trauma, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders
chasingpages1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Violence, Gaslighting, War, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Chronic illness, and Classism
Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Gore, Medical trauma, Genocide, Drug use, Kidnapping, Medical content, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
dkgreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Ermahgerd, why is this series SO FREAKING GOOD?! The dragons, the magic, the non-stop action. The characters, the comradery, the scorching hot romance. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved how Xaden legit FOUGHT for his relationship with Violet. Freaking SWOON. And Violence (still love that nickname), gawd that girl is a badass. The sh*t she goes through in this book? Damn. Not gonna lie, the end was bad—intense, devastating, whatever—but not as bad as I thought it would be. I’m kinda dreading what Yarros has in store for the next three books, but I’m so invested at this point I’ll submit myself to the torture and come back asking for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, War, Chronic illness, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
solarel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first book was so much fun and well thought out. We all loved the theories and guesses about what was coming next. Iron Flame only delivered partially.
The story itself was engaging about a third of the way through. The first third was just excruciating watching our loved characters just be miserable.
The relationship conflicts were confusing and unnecessary, easily solved if given one rational conversation. These aren’t teens, so why are they acting so broody and immature? We expect better from them.
The ending felt more like an attention grabber than a plot twist. It just made me disengage from the story for how left field it was.
And lastly, the publisher really messed up on the delivery of this book. Not only did it have a slew of misprints, but there were dozens of typos and the grammar in some places was horrible. Not to mention the cheesy lines and nonsense derailments. They rushed this big time and the quality tanked because of it.
The story itself was engaging about a third of the way through. The first third was just excruciating watching our loved characters just be miserable.
The relationship conflicts were confusing and unnecessary, easily solved if given one rational conversation. These aren’t teens, so why are they acting so broody and immature? We expect better from them.
The ending felt more like an attention grabber than a plot twist. It just made me disengage from the story for how left field it was.
And lastly, the publisher really messed up on the delivery of this book. Not only did it have a slew of misprints, but there were dozens of typos and the grammar in some places was horrible. Not to mention the cheesy lines and nonsense derailments. They rushed this big time and the quality tanked because of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Bullying, Chronic illness, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement
hdunscombe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Kidnapping, Confinement, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
cryosphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
You know how some people wait for an entire series to be released before they commit to reading it? Well, good for them, I have envy because now I have to wait who knows how long before the next one.
There's a lot going on here, which I expected being that the sequel is a lot longer, and the pacing gets a bit clunky at times but I'm glad we are at least going places outside of Basgiath. It's still a hell of a rollercoaster the whole time. I had several audible reaction to many scenes while reading.
I still love Xaden and some of the best swoon-eorthy dialogue happens but Violet got a annoyingly bratty at times. The dragons are still a hoot. The squad group is delightful.
Now give me Book 3, please and thank you.
There's a lot going on here, which I expected being that the sequel is a lot longer, and the pacing gets a bit clunky at times but I'm glad we are at least going places outside of Basgiath. It's still a hell of a rollercoaster the whole time. I had several audible reaction to many scenes while reading.
I still love Xaden and some of the best swoon-eorthy dialogue happens but Violet got a annoyingly bratty at times. The dragons are still a hoot. The squad group is delightful.
Now give me Book 3, please and thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Murder, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness and Torture
Minor: Ableism
eberzy's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
5 stars - for the series. Immaculate vibes. Scratches all the itches. Plus the fanfare and community around this book is incredible. Also just some really cool things going on. Those script quotes at the beginning of each chapter are super cool and have to be dropping hints for later revelations, right? The time gaps always seem perfectly timed, very intentional.
4.25-4.5 stars - for this particular book. It wasn't quite as good as Fourth Wing. Perhaps because of the pacing or length? I just wasn't as engaged.
So 800 pages---sheesh! Readers more than get their money's worth. I would have been absolutely okay if this had been split into two books. This was a giant to get through; however, I enjoyed every minute of it. Shout out to Rebecca for not being a money grabber.
I really enjoyed this book's realism in its relationships and banter. The representation of Andarna as a sassy adolescent was perfect. <I typically don't like the whole miscommunication between romantic interests creating a rift trope, but it was well-done here in the way that both Xaden and Violet were eventually able to admit their wrong doing and sift through emotions like adults. The interactions with other war college groups--infantry and scribes was fun. I think the sub-plot around the professors, especially Nolon, experimenting with venin was awesome. I love that even at this point we don't really understand the intentions there (help us out a little Xaden??), but that the whole thing gives us ideas for what could now happen with Xaden. I also loved the scene where Jack saved Violet. It's a twist that again, sets us up for what could or could not happen with Xaden.>
The couple things I didn't like--a lot of side characters introduced quickly; some of the scenes felt unnecessary (e.g. the castle, the gryphon mountain climb), but I'm hoping they will come into play with upcoming books; and General Sorrengail's savior move felt predictable. It was very similar to the long-lost father coming and saving the day in the ACOTAR series.
<There are a couple of areas of plot that are either holes or I just missed:
-How is no one, even in Aretia, questioning what's going on with Andarna? Why is no one commenting that she all of a sudden grew and changed colors? I thought that absolutely no one knew that dragon youth could bond.
-Why couldn't Xaden tell Violet anything? Why was it always "ask me." I felt like her needing to ask was going to be some sort of plot point...like Xaden is under a curse and can't verbally share things.
-Why was no one overly concerned or interested in talking about the fact that Violet's special knife opened the door to the interrogation room? That seems important, especially considering in book 1 the venin were going after something that seemed to be locked up in the middle of the town.
-How did Ridoc and team help hide Aaric's blistered hand when Basgiath leadership was doing a search? Perhaps this doesn't really matter.
-Why would General Sorrengail make a deal with Xaden and not just one of the head professors at Basgiath to protect Violet?>
<Some random predictions:
-No one really dies after they fall off the parapet. After falling, they are swept up into the venin army (thus why Violet commented that one she saw in battle seemed young, almost her age). Also, just a side note, when we're talking about the Venin, I am picturing the Game of Thrones Ice King and his army.
-Violet's second signet is dream walking or something? That could be why she has all those intense dreams in this book. An alternative is something to do with texts and reading...I mean she has scribe history in her blood supposedly! OR one other option is it has something to do with flexibility/regeneration--thus her muscle condition and Andarna's malformed wings. Plus it seems like she has started healing without Nolon more and more.
-Sloan is going to be key to getting rid of or at least stalling the Venin. Theoretically, she can siphon the energy right out of them.
-Violet is part something...maybe venin? The venin clearly notice something every time they look at her silver portion of hair. And this would cover that part in the scripts about the blood of two or whatever.>
4.25-4.5 stars - for this particular book. It wasn't quite as good as Fourth Wing. Perhaps because of the pacing or length? I just wasn't as engaged.
So 800 pages---sheesh! Readers more than get their money's worth. I would have been absolutely okay if this had been split into two books. This was a giant to get through; however, I enjoyed every minute of it. Shout out to Rebecca for not being a money grabber.
I really enjoyed this book's realism in its relationships and banter. The representation of Andarna as a sassy adolescent was perfect. <I typically don't like the whole miscommunication between romantic interests creating a rift trope, but it was well-done here in the way that both Xaden and Violet were eventually able to admit their wrong doing and sift through emotions like adults. The interactions with other war college groups--infantry and scribes was fun. I think the sub-plot around the professors, especially Nolon, experimenting with venin was awesome. I love that even at this point we don't really understand the intentions there (help us out a little Xaden??), but that the whole thing gives us ideas for what could now happen with Xaden. I also loved the scene where Jack saved Violet. It's a twist that again, sets us up for what could or could not happen with Xaden.>
The couple things I didn't like--a lot of side characters introduced quickly; some of the scenes felt unnecessary (e.g. the castle, the gryphon mountain climb), but I'm hoping they will come into play with upcoming books; and General Sorrengail's savior move felt predictable. It was very similar to the long-lost father coming and saving the day in the ACOTAR series.
<There are a couple of areas of plot that are either holes or I just missed:
-How is no one, even in Aretia, questioning what's going on with Andarna? Why is no one commenting that she all of a sudden grew and changed colors? I thought that absolutely no one knew that dragon youth could bond.
-Why couldn't Xaden tell Violet anything? Why was it always "ask me." I felt like her needing to ask was going to be some sort of plot point...like Xaden is under a curse and can't verbally share things.
-Why was no one overly concerned or interested in talking about the fact that Violet's special knife opened the door to the interrogation room? That seems important, especially considering in book 1 the venin were going after something that seemed to be locked up in the middle of the town.
-How did Ridoc and team help hide Aaric's blistered hand when Basgiath leadership was doing a search? Perhaps this doesn't really matter.
-Why would General Sorrengail make a deal with Xaden and not just one of the head professors at Basgiath to protect Violet?>
<Some random predictions:
-No one really dies after they fall off the parapet. After falling, they are swept up into the venin army (thus why Violet commented that one she saw in battle seemed young, almost her age). Also, just a side note, when we're talking about the Venin, I am picturing the Game of Thrones Ice King and his army.
-Violet's second signet is dream walking or something? That could be why she has all those intense dreams in this book. An alternative is something to do with texts and reading...I mean she has scribe history in her blood supposedly! OR one other option is it has something to do with flexibility/regeneration--thus her muscle condition and Andarna's malformed wings. Plus it seems like she has started healing without Nolon more and more.
-Sloan is going to be key to getting rid of or at least stalling the Venin. Theoretically, she can siphon the energy right out of them.
-Violet is part something...maybe venin? The venin clearly notice something every time they look at her silver portion of hair. And this would cover that part in the scripts about the blood of two or whatever.>
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Torture
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Vomit
nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Physical abuse, War, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury