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katymat18'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Torture, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Chronic illness
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
cait'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
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Classism, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Colonisation, Stalking, War, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, and Vomit
barda's review against another edition
- 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
1.75
The one positive is that I still do like the dragons, and find them to be much more compelling than any of the human characters. However, they're still not very fleshed out (especially Adarna), and I genuinely can't tell if that's because the author is trying to create an air of mystery about them that will be solved in later books, or if she's having trouble figuring out dragon culture and characterisation.
I feel that encompasses the main flaw of this book - that the author is making everything up as she goes along. This would explain the paper-thin worldbuilding (with country names and towns being thrown around without any context), inconsistent use of magic (where did all of this rune magic come from????), and exceedingly silly plot twists (the whole
I also felt like I didn't care about the characters. She kills off a lot of characters, which normally would be fine (and if done properly, like in A Song of Ice and Fire, can make a book feel more compelling and thrilling), but I didn't feel any emotional connection to any of the characters killed off (and apart from Liam, it seems like Violet didn't either). The romance between Violet and Xaden is also very mediocre, with lots of unnecessary drama created between them just from a lack of communication.
I rated the first book a higher rating as, even though it had the same problems as this one, it was more entertaining; I found this book to be 200 pages too long, with a lot of it dragging in the middle.
In short, it's just not very good, even with the dragons. I would happily just take a book about the dragons and forget about all the human characters.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: War, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit
spootilious's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Title: Iron Flame
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Review:
1. The story concept is a good one. And if another author (a skilled one) had written this story I’m sure I would have LOVED it.
Onto the list of things I didn’t like:
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, War, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit
vivivi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's one thing after another! People are dropping like flies!
Really hard to put down.
Finally able to catch my breath at the halfway mark.
And somehow we manage to come back to a school setting, which I love.
Things are looking bleak. I'm in the final 2 hours of the audiobook. Anything can happen. Anyone might die. Ahhh
Holy cow that ending. Two cliff hangers in a row!! Amazing. Love it. Also, I need the next book.
Are reviews supposed to make sense? I can't make any sense at the moment.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Vomit, Violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Kidnapping
katvou'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Gore, Medical content, War, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Body horror, Drug use, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide attempt, Excrement, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Self harm
micaelamariem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Torture, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Violence, and Vomit
taryn_g'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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, War, Murder, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
maggies'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: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Vomit, War, Murder, Gore, Gaslighting, and Ableism
knunderb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Vomit