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chasingpages1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
cturn's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Racism, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
eberzy's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.5
5 stars - for the series. Immaculate vibes. Scratches all the itches. Plus the fanfare and community around this book is incredible. Also just some really cool things going on. Those script quotes at the beginning of each chapter are super cool and have to be dropping hints for later revelations, right? The time gaps always seem perfectly timed, very intentional.
4.25-4.5 stars - for this particular book. It wasn't quite as good as Fourth Wing. Perhaps because of the pacing or length? I just wasn't as engaged.
So 800 pages---sheesh! Readers more than get their money's worth. I would have been absolutely okay if this had been split into two books. This was a giant to get through; however, I enjoyed every minute of it. Shout out to Rebecca for not being a money grabber.
I really enjoyed this book's realism in its relationships and banter. The representation of Andarna as a sassy adolescent was perfect. <I typically don't like the whole miscommunication between romantic interests creating a rift trope, but it was well-done here in the way that both Xaden and Violet were eventually able to admit their wrong doing and sift through emotions like adults. The interactions with other war college groups--infantry and scribes was fun. I think the sub-plot around the professors, especially Nolon, experimenting with venin was awesome. I love that even at this point we don't really understand the intentions there (help us out a little Xaden??), but that the whole thing gives us ideas for what could now happen with Xaden. I also loved the scene where Jack saved Violet. It's a twist that again, sets us up for what could or could not happen with Xaden.>
The couple things I didn't like--a lot of side characters introduced quickly; some of the scenes felt unnecessary (e.g. the castle, the gryphon mountain climb), but I'm hoping they will come into play with upcoming books; and General Sorrengail's savior move felt predictable. It was very similar to the long-lost father coming and saving the day in the ACOTAR series.
<There are a couple of areas of plot that are either holes or I just missed:
-How is no one, even in Aretia, questioning what's going on with Andarna? Why is no one commenting that she all of a sudden grew and changed colors? I thought that absolutely no one knew that dragon youth could bond.
-Why couldn't Xaden tell Violet anything? Why was it always "ask me." I felt like her needing to ask was going to be some sort of plot point...like Xaden is under a curse and can't verbally share things.
-Why was no one overly concerned or interested in talking about the fact that Violet's special knife opened the door to the interrogation room? That seems important, especially considering in book 1 the venin were going after something that seemed to be locked up in the middle of the town.
-How did Ridoc and team help hide Aaric's blistered hand when Basgiath leadership was doing a search? Perhaps this doesn't really matter.
-Why would General Sorrengail make a deal with Xaden and not just one of the head professors at Basgiath to protect Violet?>
<Some random predictions:
-No one really dies after they fall off the parapet. After falling, they are swept up into the venin army (thus why Violet commented that one she saw in battle seemed young, almost her age). Also, just a side note, when we're talking about the Venin, I am picturing the Game of Thrones Ice King and his army.
-Violet's second signet is dream walking or something? That could be why she has all those intense dreams in this book. An alternative is something to do with texts and reading...I mean she has scribe history in her blood supposedly! OR one other option is it has something to do with flexibility/regeneration--thus her muscle condition and Andarna's malformed wings. Plus it seems like she has started healing without Nolon more and more.
-Sloan is going to be key to getting rid of or at least stalling the Venin. Theoretically, she can siphon the energy right out of them.
-Violet is part something...maybe venin? The venin clearly notice something every time they look at her silver portion of hair. And this would cover that part in the scripts about the blood of two or whatever.>
4.25-4.5 stars - for this particular book. It wasn't quite as good as Fourth Wing. Perhaps because of the pacing or length? I just wasn't as engaged.
So 800 pages---sheesh! Readers more than get their money's worth. I would have been absolutely okay if this had been split into two books. This was a giant to get through; however, I enjoyed every minute of it. Shout out to Rebecca for not being a money grabber.
I really enjoyed this book's realism in its relationships and banter. The representation of Andarna as a sassy adolescent was perfect. <I typically don't like the whole miscommunication between romantic interests creating a rift trope, but it was well-done here in the way that both Xaden and Violet were eventually able to admit their wrong doing and sift through emotions like adults. The interactions with other war college groups--infantry and scribes was fun. I think the sub-plot around the professors, especially Nolon, experimenting with venin was awesome. I love that even at this point we don't really understand the intentions there (help us out a little Xaden??), but that the whole thing gives us ideas for what could now happen with Xaden. I also loved the scene where Jack saved Violet. It's a twist that again, sets us up for what could or could not happen with Xaden.>
The couple things I didn't like--a lot of side characters introduced quickly; some of the scenes felt unnecessary (e.g. the castle, the gryphon mountain climb), but I'm hoping they will come into play with upcoming books; and General Sorrengail's savior move felt predictable. It was very similar to the long-lost father coming and saving the day in the ACOTAR series.
<There are a couple of areas of plot that are either holes or I just missed:
-How is no one, even in Aretia, questioning what's going on with Andarna? Why is no one commenting that she all of a sudden grew and changed colors? I thought that absolutely no one knew that dragon youth could bond.
-Why couldn't Xaden tell Violet anything? Why was it always "ask me." I felt like her needing to ask was going to be some sort of plot point...like Xaden is under a curse and can't verbally share things.
-Why was no one overly concerned or interested in talking about the fact that Violet's special knife opened the door to the interrogation room? That seems important, especially considering in book 1 the venin were going after something that seemed to be locked up in the middle of the town.
-How did Ridoc and team help hide Aaric's blistered hand when Basgiath leadership was doing a search? Perhaps this doesn't really matter.
-Why would General Sorrengail make a deal with Xaden and not just one of the head professors at Basgiath to protect Violet?>
<Some random predictions:
-No one really dies after they fall off the parapet. After falling, they are swept up into the venin army (thus why Violet commented that one she saw in battle seemed young, almost her age). Also, just a side note, when we're talking about the Venin, I am picturing the Game of Thrones Ice King and his army.
-Violet's second signet is dream walking or something? That could be why she has all those intense dreams in this book. An alternative is something to do with texts and reading...I mean she has scribe history in her blood supposedly! OR one other option is it has something to do with flexibility/regeneration--thus her muscle condition and Andarna's malformed wings. Plus it seems like she has started healing without Nolon more and more.
-Sloan is going to be key to getting rid of or at least stalling the Venin. Theoretically, she can siphon the energy right out of them.
-Violet is part something...maybe venin? The venin clearly notice something every time they look at her silver portion of hair. And this would cover that part in the scripts about the blood of two or whatever.>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and War
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, and Blood
Minor: Vomit
keelirae113's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Xenophobia, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Kidnapping
singingshooter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.0
Felt a bit denser than the first one, but still a lot of twists, turns, and further world building to keep you going.
It definitely needed some more time in editing. I kinda hope the third book isn’t rushed to be published so that we can get the best book possible.
It definitely needed some more time in editing. I kinda hope the third book isn’t rushed to be published so that we can get the best book possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
kirstym25's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Vomit
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
Is this much longer than it needs to be? Yes. Is it the best written fantasy/romance? Nope. Are there are there a lot of common tropes throughout? Also yes. But man, there's something about the story that just hooks you and keeps you reading. I'm gonna say it's the dragons because the dragons are absolutely the best part of this book.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and War
Minor: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
rockbison's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Torture
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Violence, and War
Minor: Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
readwithria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
HOLY SHIT
Iron Flame took the world that was established in Fourth Wing and fucking ran with it. I didn’t see this story coming, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
This is going to be plot spoiler free, but if you don’t like emotional spoilers you should stop reading here.
The character development not just of Violet, but if so many other characters was great. Second Squad, Flame Section, Fourth Wing is some good ass found family. I love them with my whole heart. And there were some other surprise characters that really stood out in this book for reasons I wasn’t expecting! Especially around the end of part one.
Speaking of, the transition from part one to part two was NOT on my bingo card. I had no clue that was coming! Definitely a good development for the series.
There were one or two twists that I saw coming, but in a good way! I felt like I was learning things as Violet did, which means that the information was laid out in a way that was realistic and didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere. I love learning with the characters!
The end of this book hurt me so much, but it left me excited to see what comes next! 5 stars
Iron Flame took the world that was established in Fourth Wing and fucking ran with it. I didn’t see this story coming, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
This is going to be plot spoiler free, but if you don’t like emotional spoilers you should stop reading here.
The character development not just of Violet, but if so many other characters was great. Second Squad, Flame Section, Fourth Wing is some good ass found family. I love them with my whole heart. And there were some other surprise characters that really stood out in this book for reasons I wasn’t expecting! Especially around the end of part one.
Speaking of, the transition from part one to part two was NOT on my bingo card. I had no clue that was coming! Definitely a good development for the series.
There were one or two twists that I saw coming, but in a good way! I felt like I was learning things as Violet did, which means that the information was laid out in a way that was realistic and didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere. I love learning with the characters!
The end of this book hurt me so much, but it left me excited to see what comes next! 5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit
sunsetwillcome's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unlike Fourth Wing, Iron Flame focused more on the relationship between Navarre's "most powerful" mating pair bonded riders, Violet and Xaden. Xaden graduated from the academy and Violet is starting her 2nd year in the academy. Because they are in the different years, they could not meet everyday unlike before. This pose a problem since a mating pair cannot be apart from each other for a long time. We would see the development of their relationship here. Both Xaden and Violet will try to poke and prod, and test each other's boundary since they could not really open to each other before.
Xaden's ex appears in this book and apparently there is something we largely forgot, Riorson is an aristocratic name. Xaden is the heir to the throne of their new "kingdom" and his ex is the beautiful heiress to their ally. Beautiful, cunning, and jealous of Xaden and Violet's relationship. She was not only an ex; Xaden and her was bethrothed because of old alliance clause. They "tried" for three-quarter of the year and broke up. This part is really full of YA romance where the ex taunts the female protagonist with male protagonist and ex's old relationship, female protagonist feels insecure, lashes out to everything and everyone, then male protagonist professes his undying love to her, and female protoganist be the bigger person to start working together with male protagonist's ex.
Oh there's also a hint to Violet's ex here. Apparently she dated someone in the infantry. We might see him on the next installment.
Since Violet and Xaden cannot meet everyday, Violet branches out to find more allies and friends. Now, she reaches out to her old friend in the Scribe Quadrant, Jesinia Neilwart. Violet and Jesinia were supposed to be trained together as Scribes. Alas General Sorrengail "foluntold" Violet to apply to the Riders Quadrant and be a Rider. We would see a little bit of the reasonings behind Gen. Sorrengail's action and the complex relationship between Sorrengail's family.
Violet's old tutoring in Scribes education plays a big part in unveiling the truth of Navarre's history and saving everyone.
Apparently Sorrengail is quite high in the totem pole since the third prince of Navarre is Violet's childhood friend, Violet was handpicked and trained by the Scribe's Master to become his successor, and Violet's father had several banned books in his possession (which became the start of his distrust in the government).
Being a second year means Violet and friends would see the new batch of cadets to try their luck and gamble their life in their journey to become a Rider, including Liam's younger sister, Sloane Mairi who hates Violet for her part in Liam's death. Tutoring new ducklings would pose a new problem for Violet and friends, and Violet would find how similar she is to Xaden.
Just like Fourth Wing, Iron Flame shows that betrayal could come from anywhere, anyone, and anytime. But that should not be a deterrent to try and forge new bonds since it might help us in the future. Forgiveness is also could be the key. A lot of secrets would unravel here; both humans and dragons have their secrets, secrets that could end everyone's life.
Our female protagonist, Violet, is not only magically powerful and the first human known to be bonded to two dragons, her dragons are both specials in their own way. Tairn is the Black Morningstartail which is a really powerful dragon type. Her second one, Andarna, was thought to also be a Black dragon like Tairn, but apparently she is the 7th type of the dragon which has not been seen in centuries. Either Andarna or every dragon has some kind of premonition since she tells Violet that she waited to hatch for centuries until on the 18th year of Violet's life, because Andarna knew Violet would be her rider based on her history and personality. Andarna would also be the key to save everyone and return magical protection to the land. Hopefully there would be another dragons in Andarna tribe so that they could save more people.
Oh there's also a hint to Violet's ex here. Apparently she dated someone in the infantry. We might see him on the next installment.
Since Violet and Xaden cannot meet everyday, Violet branches out to find more allies and friends. Now, she reaches out to her old friend in the Scribe Quadrant, Jesinia Neilwart. Violet and Jesinia were supposed to be trained together as Scribes. Alas General Sorrengail "foluntold" Violet to apply to the Riders Quadrant and be a Rider. We would see a little bit of the reasonings behind Gen. Sorrengail's action and the complex relationship between Sorrengail's family.
Violet's old tutoring in Scribes education plays a big part in unveiling the truth of Navarre's history and saving everyone.
Being a second year means Violet and friends would see the new batch of cadets to try their luck and gamble their life in their journey to become a Rider, including Liam's younger sister, Sloane Mairi who hates Violet for her part in Liam's death. Tutoring new ducklings would pose a new problem for Violet and friends, and Violet would find how similar she is to Xaden.
Just like Fourth Wing, Iron Flame shows that betrayal could come from anywhere, anyone, and anytime. But that should not be a deterrent to try and forge new bonds since it might help us in the future. Forgiveness is also could be the key. A lot of secrets would unravel here; both humans and dragons have their secrets, secrets that could end everyone's life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
Do not read this in one-sitting. This book is better when you have time to digest the issues inside. Read this leisurely. You would need hot tea or cocoa to lighten your heart.
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