Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

177 reviews

savage_book_review's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

My initial reaction after finishing this book is that I wish I'd had it available to read immediately after 'Fourth Wing'. Not because I couldn't bear the wait to find out what happened next, or because I needed another Xaden fix, but because the break between the two made this one so much more difficult to get into. I can remember the events of book one no problem, but the intricacies and niceties of dragon riding, Basgaith War College and the general detail of worldbuilding smack you between the eyes in this book. Without the context of 'Fourth Wing' fresh in your memory, you are definitely left trying to place certain people and events and it left me a bit lost and confused in places, which I don't think would have been the case if I had been able to binge read both. It feels very technical and, I suppose, like it's being taught as a Battle Brief lesson at Basgaith (which may be what the author is going for, given the intros of each chapter). 

There were a few things I'd heard about this book that I was looking forward to discovering, but upon reading they didn't do as much for me as I'd hoped. The 'throne scene', I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was more than what I got. Not that it didn't make me a little hot under the collar, but it cries out for a comparison to the ACOMAF throne scene, and I know which I found sexier. Similarly, the ending... I can understanding why those that are full on fans are rocked by it, and it's certainly a great hook into the next book, but nevertheless I felt a little underwhelmed. I will absolute be reading Onyx Storm upon its release, but I'm just not feeling that dire impatience for January to get here. I'll add it to my reserve queue at the library and see when it arrives (and make sure I do a full reread before starting it!).

I wasn't a huge fan of Violet's character in this book either. She's just a bit hypocritical and cuts her nose off to spite her face, when the whole thing could have felt more cohesive with a bit of understanding rather than her abrasive stubbornness. It seemed to me that the author had possibly introduced too many characters, what with the number that seemed to fade in and out of the background, or have moments that don't really lead anywhere. I get that every hero needs a good foil, but both Cat and Varrish are wasted; I was just starting to lean into the violent disgust of them both when the author gave them an 'easy' out. Even Andarna, sassy adolescent that she is, only gets a few good lines and not much action. The only character that seemed to stay true to the one plotted out in Fourth Wing was Xaden, and he is by far and away the most interesting character in the cast. And I could definitely do with more Bodhi in my life - he needs to be more than a secondary character!

It is a solid story and the overarching vision is a masterpiece, but it didn't hit enough of my expectations to really shine.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lauren625'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

amyreh's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Animal death

aleen_elizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and War

ksmith_23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, and Alcohol

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

This was fine. I only read it because I was sick with the flu and Libby had the audiobook available for immediate borrow. It definitely did not need to be this long. I was a bit shocked at the twists at the end

we all knew Jack was shady and not gonna change, but rip xaden for taking one for the team

and the world building got a bit more interesting but if the next book is more than 500 pages, I'm gonna give it a miss (from the library) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

lafe's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping

meg53's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely loved this with my whole heart and it's now in my top five but it also absolutely destroyed me 😂

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Cursing, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

pottertj's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I think I have a different perspective as I read this as an audiobook, so the somewhat tedious second act wasn't as much work as it would have been if I were reading it without someone else doing the voicework. The third act does a good job of setting up for the next book. Overall, I think this was better written than Fourth Wing and we need to remember that this is designed to be a five book series, so we're still in the plot and character development phase of the story arch

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Sexual content