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ashleighreadsbooks 's review for:
Iron & Embers
by Helen Scheuerer
I loved the Legends of Thezmarr series by Helen Scheuerer, so I was really excited when I saw the announcement for her new spin-off series! Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan/Tor Bramble for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Iron & Embers follows Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, who is hell-bent on seeking vengeance for the deaths of her friends during the last war. When an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king, Wren is charged with finding a cure for the strange new poison. Offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor, she must claim her spot by conquering a series of deadly trials called the gauntlet. To her dismay, she is assigned a bodyguard in the form of Torj Elderbrock, the war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge. Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both.
Although this book does have a small recap on the events of the last Legends of Thezmarr book, I would urge anyone wanting to read this book to go and read the Legends of Thezmarr series first. One, it’s a great series and this book does spoil the ending, and two, I think you’ll enjoy this book more if you know the backstory of the characters.
I knew I liked these characters from seeing them in the previous series, and it was really great to get to know them better. While I liked Wren, Torj was the standout character for me. Although I did enjoy their slow-burn romance, I wasn’t *obsessed* with them as a couple. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but something was missing, and I didn’t love them together as much as I did Helen’s other couples. I also found the “bodyguard” conflict a little flimsy, as we know from the previous series that warswords do whatever they want! The spice was well-written, and there was a twist in their relationship that I didn’t see coming.
The academy setting sounded really fun, and I did enjoy learning more about alchemy, but I felt that all of the lessons took away from time that Wren and Torj could be spending together, developing their relationship. I think I actually enjoyed it more at the beginning of the book where Wren was poisoning her victims, and Torj is sent to stop her. This could have been a really fun storyline if it had been dragged out and further developed, with a cat and mouse dynamic that could have added more tension.
I was really glad to see Cal and Kipp return, and there were some interesting side characters introduced. I also loved the Wilder and Thea cameos we got!
The plot had good pacing, and it was overall engaging. However, I was disappointed by the gauntlet, which seemed to be over in a few pages. It was talked about as such a huge and daunting event, but it was over so quickly. The ending had a great twist, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it yet. I’m also unsure about how one of the characters reacted to something that happened - I think they could have handled it in a different way that would have been more true to their character, but I appreciate that this decision was probably made to create more angst for the next book.
Overall, this was a good start to a new series, and I’m so excited to see what Helen does with these characters next! I will definitely be reading the sequel when it’s released.
Iron & Embers follows Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, who is hell-bent on seeking vengeance for the deaths of her friends during the last war. When an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king, Wren is charged with finding a cure for the strange new poison. Offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor, she must claim her spot by conquering a series of deadly trials called the gauntlet. To her dismay, she is assigned a bodyguard in the form of Torj Elderbrock, the war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge. Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both.
Although this book does have a small recap on the events of the last Legends of Thezmarr book, I would urge anyone wanting to read this book to go and read the Legends of Thezmarr series first. One, it’s a great series and this book does spoil the ending, and two, I think you’ll enjoy this book more if you know the backstory of the characters.
I knew I liked these characters from seeing them in the previous series, and it was really great to get to know them better. While I liked Wren, Torj was the standout character for me. Although I did enjoy their slow-burn romance, I wasn’t *obsessed* with them as a couple. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but something was missing, and I didn’t love them together as much as I did Helen’s other couples. I also found the “bodyguard” conflict a little flimsy, as we know from the previous series that warswords do whatever they want! The spice was well-written, and there was a twist in their relationship that I didn’t see coming.
The academy setting sounded really fun, and I did enjoy learning more about alchemy, but I felt that all of the lessons took away from time that Wren and Torj could be spending together, developing their relationship. I think I actually enjoyed it more at the beginning of the book where Wren was poisoning her victims, and Torj is sent to stop her. This could have been a really fun storyline if it had been dragged out and further developed, with a cat and mouse dynamic that could have added more tension.
I was really glad to see Cal and Kipp return, and there were some interesting side characters introduced. I also loved the Wilder and Thea cameos we got!
The plot had good pacing, and it was overall engaging. However, I was disappointed by the gauntlet, which seemed to be over in a few pages. It was talked about as such a huge and daunting event, but it was over so quickly. The ending had a great twist, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it yet. I’m also unsure about how one of the characters reacted to something that happened - I think they could have handled it in a different way that would have been more true to their character, but I appreciate that this decision was probably made to create more angst for the next book.
Overall, this was a good start to a new series, and I’m so excited to see what Helen does with these characters next! I will definitely be reading the sequel when it’s released.