Reviews tagging 'Death'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

550 reviews

cassidy_99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

Throw me off the parapet and call me dead if she does this. HOW could she do this to Xaden?? He better not die or my world will be destroyed. This book had a lot more fluff and filler chapters than the last, but I understand it was necessary for story and world building. I just hope the next book keeps our boy and love story ALIVE.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood

fraugremlin's review against another edition

1.0

I bought this book this month and havent been able to bring myself to finish it because of one huge glaring issue... The "relationship crisis" filler.

Basically, MC has it in her head she cant trust Love interest because,,, he lied to her? REMINDER they are military and he is literally commiting treason and she has a mind reader childhood friend that betrays her trust in the previous book. He offers his life story to her and willingness to be open about himself but puts his foot down on revealing any secrets that could get him, his family and friends and even her killed. Seems reasonable, right?

Well, apparently, to Violet, its not. its an extreme breach of trust and she breaks off the relationship with him because "how can i be with someone who cant trust me?"

THEN we discover the entire plot of book 2 is around them going through POW scenarios about being interigated and not breaking to reveal secrets. ALL THE MORE REASAON HE IS BEING REASONABLE AND SHE IS NOT. But no, the author thought that because, oh well every book ever has a toxic relationship dynamic, that there needed to be uneccesary padding because reasons.

Extremely stupid and arbitrary BS that perpetuates Toxic relationship culture and needs to stop.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, War, Violence, Cursing, Torture, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

sicemsinger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

5.0

Wow what a ride! Fast-paced, action packed, thrilling bits of new information all the way through, and just enough steamy sex. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

ko_rax's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Iron Flame is the sequel of Rebecca Yarros' romantasy, preceeded by Fourth Wing, featuring further development of the revolution and conflicts arising in Violet's interpersonal relationships.

First things first: I cannot stand the protagonist, Violet. I have not liked her in Fourth Wing, either. Violet portrays toxicity for me, something I can do well without. Even so, I was hoping for her to have some character development (that proves good character building) and am troubled to find that I cannot discern much of it here.
Her conflicts dragged to a point that I feel like her slow-paced inner work does not match the high-strung tension of a fast-paced plot

that only ever took a breather during smut scenes

. That is not to say that inner work should be quick: Her disagreements felt repetitive -

a point that Violet herself acknowledges

- and it took away from the quality of the rushed plot, instead adding value by pushing lacklustre character development. Also, I wish 

Xaden took back saying that Violet is a rational being - she is not.

For a novel focused on romance, I dare say that it was lacking heavily in the romance department. I can only hope for The Empyrean series to improve from now on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, and War

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

teatunesandtales's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This series is intense! I think I may have loved Iron Flame just as much, if not more than Fourth Wing. I thoroughly enjoyed more of the lore and history of Navarre and Basgiath, along with dragon lore. There were many times the plot made me want to throw the book out of frustration, so it definitely had its claws in me. 

Be ready for more secrets and some shocking revelations. No spoilers. But let's talk about that cliffhanger??! 😱🫠

I wanted to rate this 5 stars, but knocking it down to 4.5 (4 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Storygraph), just for the sheer length of this tome (882 pages??!). I feel like there were several chapters in the middle that could have been edited down or deleted completely due to not much really transpiring, or that this could have been two separate books. 

Despite that, I did enjoy marathoning my way through this book. I've already pre-ordered book three!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Classism, Death, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

kalefactory's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death and Gore

Minor: Abandonment

woodweird's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Murder, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Death, War, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

grosemareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

This book is huge, and moves slower than fourth wing, but it’s just as dense if not more so. The length and density makes it difficult to binge read, it’s easier to read in smaller chunks. Can’t wait for Onyx Storm!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, War, and Vomit

strixy16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Body horror, Cursing, Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

booksemmahasread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and War