Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

156 reviews

imds's review against another edition

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

3.5


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christinereads1823'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? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Great sequel. Yarros's world building is intricate and magnetic, woven so tightly with the development of plot and character arcs that the book is practically impossible to put down.  
The twist ending seems utterly cruel, and I'm oddly excited to see what the third book does with it. 

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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izzygyrl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It has its moments where your jaw drops but also moments where you roll your eyes. 

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mepereyra6's review against another edition

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

2.0


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cxsmiccxtie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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

3.0


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nanastradamus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.5

Iron Flame is fast paced and has a great (if somewhat clumsy) story — entrapment via ‘one more chapter’. As I was expecting following Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros knows how to write a compelling story but misses the mark on great writing / prose. I appreciate the purposeful use of modern, plain English which makes the fantasy genre so much more accessible. But just because it’s written in plain(er) English doesn’t mean the book wouldn’t be even better to read if the prose made the reader feel something. There hasn’t been one line or phrase in either of the books that has made me stop and go over the beauty or mastery of what I’d just read before moving on. The only time Yarros has made me emotional was during
Liam’s death and when Violet hallucinates seeing him while being tortured
. With a bit more effort, she could make the whole book have that sort of effect. But maybe not prioritising spending much time on the writing itself was a purposeful decision.

The plot is packed, which was one of the book’s — and story’s — downfalls. It felt like too much was trying to be crammed into one book. The story would have benefitted from most (if not all) of the plot points and characters being more fleshed out.

As a side note, it feels like more effort was made in the first book to have an actively diverse cast of characters. There also wasn’t as much character development in this book, which is something the first one already lacked quite a bit. That being said, I loved seeing all of the characters, especially Violet, trust and rely on each other more and become a really solid unit.

All in all, the book was enjoyable with fantastic twists and turns. I loved the stronger focus on politics and war strategy, as well as the found family within the Iron Squad and its newcomers. It just seems like fast pacing is what’s being aimed for with this series to its own detriment. Even more so than Fourth Wing, Iron Flame feels too rushed, like developing both plot and character were sacrificed in favour of fitting as much in as possible. Which is bonkers, considering the book is 600+ pages long. The premise, world building, characters, and story are all so interesting and promising — I can only imagine how incredible this series would read if it were given the space to do so, with an author / editor / publishing house team that were willing to spend more time and care on it rather than prioritising churning the sequel out so quickly. Or maybe Rebecca Yarros just always writes this way.

But gosh darn did she get me and I read it in 13 hours, unable to out it down for long. So, I’m boo boo the fool.

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hematthews's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0


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librarianeno's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book was a wild ride. It took about halfway for me to be fully invested and then 8 hours to finish the book after that. So a slow build but then a very fast end. It's hard to review this one without giving away the ending. 

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