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micaelacccc's review
adventurous
hopeful
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
I loved getting to see Crier & Ayla finally get together but I did feel like once I hit page 300 it was kinda pointless. Last 100 pages kinda didn't need to happen, I ended up skimming just to get to their happy ending. But I truly did love these characters so much!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
l3m0n_sl1c3's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
A great book to end a great duology. I loved the book and the way the author tied the lose ends.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
bergha1998's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
Ayla has run to the Mad Queen’s court in hopes of finding her brother & fighting against Kinok’s evil plan. Crier’s wedding is upon her & she is still trying to get out of marrying a horrible man like Kinok.
LGBTQIA+, Enemies to Lovers
“If the Universe were static, I could stand anywhere in this world and I swear my line of sight would end on you. I swear I’d find you in the dark.”
“Because you are brilliant and have never once used it to cause harm.”
“You can’t read me once and know everything.” “Then I will read you again and again.”
LGBTQIA+, Enemies to Lovers
“If the Universe were static, I could stand anywhere in this world and I swear my line of sight would end on you. I swear I’d find you in the dark.”
“Because you are brilliant and have never once used it to cause harm.”
“You can’t read me once and know everything.” “Then I will read you again and again.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
courto875's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Genocide, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
Minor: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Animal death, Drug use, and Drug abuse
some_random_person_hi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is so YA Fantasy, in all the good and not so good ways. This includes being full of tropes and this book is packed to the brim with tropes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Police brutality, Torture, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Hate crime, and Murder
Minor: Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
dlrosebyh's review
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
Automae have ruled Rabu's country for far too long, oppressing its human subjects. But the human revolution has risen, and Ayla is at its center. Ayla, a former handmaiden turned fugitive, almost fled Lady Crier's palace, the girl she would've slain if she hadn't fallen in love first.
Ayla has now committed her loyalty to Queen Junn, who can assist the human revolt achieve its ultimate goal: the destroying of the Iron Heart. The Automae will be reduced to the point of extinction if it loses its strength. Ayla wants to succeed, but she can't get rid of her love for Crier. Unbeknownst to her, Crier has also abandoned the palace, joining a band of wandering rebels in her quest to find and defend Ayla.
Crier's War was my favorite book that I read in 2021. I was dying for this conclusion because I was afraid it wouldn't measure up to my expectations— yet, shockingly, it much exceeded them. Since I read Crier's War about two years ago, I was afraid I'd forget the story and, of course, the world-building. However, Nina Varela did an excellent job recap from Crier's War.
Iron Heart is certainly more political than Crier's War, which is why many people disliked the sequel. Personally, I enjoy political fantasies with a romantic subplot. I like how it's plot-driven, yet you can see Crier and Ayla staring at one other. If you like Crier's War for its romance, I think it's unlikely you'll enjoy Iron Heart as much.
The characters were considerably more developed and seemed more real. The characters were not conventional hero-villain types, yet there had complexity. There are reservations. The characters are ethically ambiguous—difficult it's to choose someone to trust because everyone ends up betraying one another.
It was fascinating to read about the interactions between Automaes and humans, and how they experience the world in such different ways yet still connecting together. I liked how the novel didn't just focus on the characters' romantic relationships, as most YA fantasy stories do, but also on platonic and family ones.
If you're looking for an enemies to lovers sapphic tale, this is a must-read. The representation is fantastic, both LGBTQIA+ and POC. If you're not a big lover of plot-driven novels, you might forgo this one since, as much as I adore the characters, it's somewhere in the midst of being plot-driven and character-driven.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, War, and Panic attacks/disorders
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
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
IRON HEART follows what happened after Crier ran away from her wedding, and Ayla ran away from her failure to kill Crier.
The worldbuilding from CRIER'S WAR is built on and complicated slightly in IRON HEART. This is everything from revealing the true nature of heartstone's production, to making it clear that humans and Automae have fallen in love before. My favorite bit is the technically-not-zombies, they're handled in a pretty cool way and make several appearances. I also love Queen Junn, she's a fantastic character.
This is the second book of a duology, and the the whole point of it is to wrap up things left hanging from CRIER’S WAR, which it does admirably. It gives resolutions to a bunch of characters (major and minor), untangles several heartstone-related mysteries, and handles atrocities, both recent and longstanding. There’s a minor storyline which begins and ends in this volume, and this focuses more on journeys than the first one did. As the final book it deals with systemic injustices which were established in the first one, doing so in ways that free most individuals from the oppressed/oppressor dynamics which were getting in the way of this sapphic love story. It wrapped up hanging plot threads and provided closure for several characters in ways I wasn’t expecting, which is nice. The point-of-view characters are the same, and they're consistent with their previous voices even though they've grown and changed throughout both books.
The story is complete enough and backstory recapped succinctly such that someone could probably pick up this book without having read the first one and have a good experience. It'll definitely be better for anyone reading the whole duology, but the recaps at the beginning are well done and the story can stand alone enough to makes sense.
The main plot alternates at first between Ayla in Queen Junn's court and Crier on the road, eventually merging the two threads when Ayla also has to travel. Their individual goals complement each other, but they have different pieces of the puzzle that a bunch of people are trying to solve, and don't realize it at first.
I originally had misgivings about this as an oppressor/oppressed romance, but I waited to see how things ended up. I'm so pleased about the choice to address the systemic inequalities rather than just having Ayla and Crier defy the odds or something. Even better, IRON HEART makes it clear that they aren't the first Automa/human couple and they won't be the last. They individually join up with existing efforts to solve the problems, not trying to reinvent the networks that other people have put in place over years. Also, Crier and Ayla have unique access to specific information, and particular connections with others that let them do what they're doing, but a bunch of other people's specific efforts are highlighted throughout. It makes them feel like people who happened to be in a position to do something to help, not destined heroes whose presence magically fix things it shouldn't have fixed.
The worldbuilding from CRIER'S WAR is built on and complicated slightly in IRON HEART. This is everything from revealing the true nature of heartstone's production, to making it clear that humans and Automae have fallen in love before. My favorite bit is the technically-not-zombies, they're handled in a pretty cool way and make several appearances. I also love Queen Junn, she's a fantastic character.
This is the second book of a duology, and the the whole point of it is to wrap up things left hanging from CRIER’S WAR, which it does admirably. It gives resolutions to a bunch of characters (major and minor), untangles several heartstone-related mysteries, and handles atrocities, both recent and longstanding. There’s a minor storyline which begins and ends in this volume, and this focuses more on journeys than the first one did. As the final book it deals with systemic injustices which were established in the first one, doing so in ways that free most individuals from the oppressed/oppressor dynamics which were getting in the way of this sapphic love story. It wrapped up hanging plot threads and provided closure for several characters in ways I wasn’t expecting, which is nice. The point-of-view characters are the same, and they're consistent with their previous voices even though they've grown and changed throughout both books.
The story is complete enough and backstory recapped succinctly such that someone could probably pick up this book without having read the first one and have a good experience. It'll definitely be better for anyone reading the whole duology, but the recaps at the beginning are well done and the story can stand alone enough to makes sense.
The main plot alternates at first between Ayla in Queen Junn's court and Crier on the road, eventually merging the two threads when Ayla also has to travel. Their individual goals complement each other, but they have different pieces of the puzzle that a bunch of people are trying to solve, and don't realize it at first.
I originally had misgivings about this as an oppressor/oppressed romance, but I waited to see how things ended up. I'm so pleased about the choice to address the systemic inequalities rather than just having Ayla and Crier defy the odds or something. Even better, IRON HEART makes it clear that they aren't the first Automa/human couple and they won't be the last. They individually join up with existing efforts to solve the problems, not trying to reinvent the networks that other people have put in place over years. Also, Crier and Ayla have unique access to specific information, and particular connections with others that let them do what they're doing, but a bunch of other people's specific efforts are highlighted throughout. It makes them feel like people who happened to be in a position to do something to help, not destined heroes whose presence magically fix things it shouldn't have fixed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit, Child death, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Drug use, Death of parent, and Self harm
naldorah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Death, Sexism, Medical content, War, and Panic attacks/disorders
librariangeorgia's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
Ughhhh, I just adore Crier and Ayla.
This is another slow burn but it felt like a quick read because of the easy-to-follow writing style. The world building isn’t over described which I prefer as sometimes it can be too much to remember. The characters are well developed, even the background characters have some backstory to them.
I really enjoyed this one, so much so that I read it within a couple of hours.
My favourite bit? The ending. It was everything that I’d spent the 2 books hoping for!
I’d love another book as a prequel with more in-depth detail on how the Automa came to be and the start of the divide between them and humans. It is told in flashes throughout these 2 books, but I want more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, Death, and Blood
teaskate's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
Enjoyed this sequel.Again the main characters are so great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Death