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solarel's review against another edition
- 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 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.
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
skillyillian's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
idk, y'all. i was so excited for this but i think i have just lost patience for violet, xaden, and their relationship. the side characters, specifically iron squad, were more fun and i enjoyed their scenes more than most of the violet + xaden ones. rhiannon and ridoc are my favorites. i wish sloane and jesinia got more time being present, but at the same time this book was long enough to begin with. other things took priority that i don't think needed to.
the longer the book went on the more annoying violet and xaden became. if you cut out all of the unnecessary drama and secrets the book would be like two hundred pages shorter.
Also, what's the deal with their relationship being almost entirely physical???? either one of them walks in a room and they're both immediately drooling. violet only ever thinks about getting to know xaden when she realizes he's hiding things. i don't remember xaden literally ever, maybe even in fourth wing, asking violet a single thing about her. they're just being horny, but also still willing to risk the entire world for each other, to an irritating degree.
and what's up with violet being so dumb, for someone who is supposedly the smartest person at the whole school??
the MCs feel like yarros forgot who they are and rewrote them for the sake of finding ways to keep tension between them. and cat? jesus christ don't even get me started. i did NOT like that. that was so fucking ick. good god.
idk. there's a lot of other logic flaws that just didn't need to be included. this book felt too long and some of the pacing was kind of weird. things would be brought up and then forgotten for actual months of the story, despite seeming urgent when it first happens. i had moments where i was fist pumping, cheering, laughing, or crying, and then some moments where i didn't understand why we needed to know about what was happening, or what happened to the earlier stuff that seemed so important.
It also feels like yarros just took from the most popular romantasies and kinda plopped in a lot of those stereotypes. this book feels like it was written more to sell to market instead of to tell a story, if that makes sense. idk. a lot of hype for something that feels like it ended up falling flat in more ways than one. my score is the way it is ONLY for the moments i loved that were enough to bring it up. if it weren't for the rest of iron squad, i'd have probably only given it 3 stars.
i'll probably keep reading the series but i'm not as impressed as i was the first time i read fourth wing. (and i did a reread before the iron flame drop and i think i'll be changing my review)
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, War, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Torture, Xenophobia, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- 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
"Iron Flame" is the much-anticipated sequel to "Fourth Wing". Violet and Xaden are being driven apart by their vindictive leaders, but they refuse to let some distance seperate them. Violet's second year at her college is going to be an even bigger challenge than her first, and she does not know how she is going to survive. Violet is determined to prove everyone wrong, and she is going to remind everyone that it is the dragon riders that make the rules.
I could not believe how invested I was in this story. Xaden's love for Violet is beautiful, and I love that Violet is holding her own. She is hurt by Xaden's refusal to share important details with her, and despite how much she wants to cave and be with him, she is holding firm.
Xaden's and Violet's scenes were spicy and really well done. I was so lost in their moments together that I completely lost track of what was going on around me.
After the huge cliffhanger at the end of "Fourth Wing" I was so excited to see what would happen next. Finding out that Violet's brother was still alive was incredible, and I was dying to get the whole story.
"Iron Flame" also ends in a cliffhanger, and I am so curious to see how this will play out for our characters.
I will definitely be anxiously waiting for the next book!
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Bullying, War, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Grief, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty
nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
- 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
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
katievallin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Cursing, Death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness and Body shaming
Minor: Ableism and Medical content
keelirae113's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Medical content, War, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Body horror, Classism, Child death, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Confinement, and Vomit
Minor: Bullying and Kidnapping
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
- 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
So many questions were answered and so many more arose. I liked watching Violet deal with the fallout of the first book and have to reframe everything she knows. So many sassy dragon moments I loved it. There’s so much to unpack and I loved it. I can’t wait for the next book
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, War, and Torture
Moderate: Bullying and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death, Gaslighting, and Murder
unicornofthesea's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: War, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Animal death, Medical content, Grief, Bullying, Ableism, Torture, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Death of parent, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
silverhill's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Torture
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Ableism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Misogyny
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- 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
I am still not sure how this story is going to stretch over 5 books, though with that cliffhanger, I guess we have a seed for the next book. Maybe even the plot seed for the rest of the series. We'll see where Yarros takes this story next!
The whole back and forth with Xaden and Violet did get a little old by the middle of the book; just commicate with each other already! That whole kind of trope just gets on my nerve in general, but also Xaden's "just ask me the right questions" thing was another level that drove me crazy. How the heck is she supposed to know what questions to ask when she didn't even know what was going on in the first place??
Anyway, if you're looking for an entertaining romantasy that won't make you think too hard, that isn't too heavy in the world building and fantasy aspects, this is the series for you. But be warned: Yarros definitely likes her cliffhangers.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Animal death, and War
Minor: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit