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A review by brennanaphone
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
2.0
Obnoxious and tedious. The first one was devourable at least, even if it wasn't well-written, and the romance was sexy.
This book has no reason to be boring, but it is. For all the dragon-riding and signet-wielding, it's glacially paced and badly structured. The payouts aren't built up (and often have to be explained with exposition afterward), the storyline meanders through the mundane without reason, and characters and relationships don't progress in any meaningful way. Like, someone tell me the difference between Sawyer's and Ridoc's personalities. Anyone. Everyone speaks the same way, makes the same jokes, uses the same curses. Growth is the real fantasy here.
Also, this is less important, but it's fucking hilarious to me that for all the overwriting she does in dialogue and description, she cannot make me care about all these Red Shirts she kills off by the dozens. She'll be like, "And then I saw Gwen, who had warm russet skin and laughing eyes and a sensuous mouth." And I'm like, cool, maybe she wants to bang Gwen? And then she's like, "Oh no, she died. Aren't you sad now? Gwen was so great. She used to make BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING for EVERYONE. Doesn't that make you feel so SAD?"
Sex scenes are still pretty hot, which is the only reason this isn't one star.
This book has no reason to be boring, but it is. For all the dragon-riding and signet-wielding, it's glacially paced and badly structured. The payouts aren't built up (and often have to be explained with exposition afterward), the storyline meanders through the mundane without reason, and characters and relationships don't progress in any meaningful way. Like, someone tell me the difference between Sawyer's and Ridoc's personalities. Anyone. Everyone speaks the same way, makes the same jokes, uses the same curses. Growth is the real fantasy here.
Also, this is less important, but it's fucking hilarious to me that for all the overwriting she does in dialogue and description, she cannot make me care about all these Red Shirts she kills off by the dozens. She'll be like, "And then I saw Gwen, who had warm russet skin and laughing eyes and a sensuous mouth." And I'm like, cool, maybe she wants to bang Gwen? And then she's like, "Oh no, she died. Aren't you sad now? Gwen was so great. She used to make BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING for EVERYONE. Doesn't that make you feel so SAD?"
Sex scenes are still pretty hot, which is the only reason this isn't one star.