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A review by rifmelody
Iron & Embers by Helen Scheuerer
2.75
Look - this is not a bad book by any means. I'm just over some of the things that happen in this book. So this is very much a case of not for me. I'll explain in more detail below.
- First, Wren's inferiority complex really has no place. Why does she keep comparing herself to Thea? That didn't seem to bother her in the first series. And even if it did start bothering her now, we never hear why that would be a thing - how did it come to be that way?
- I'm over soulbond/mate/predetermined by something relationships. Alas, we get one here and I do not see why it was necessary. It wasn't necessary for Thea and Wilder.
- WHY did Torj not tell her about the soulbond and why when he broke it did he turn away from her like that? even without the soulbond existing there was no reason for that. That really did make me substract a whole star because it's just a setup for drama, that's all.
- The twist about Xavier was so obvious I guessed when I heard the academy was in Narva.
- The way the academy treats their students makes 0 sense. Why the secrecy? We never find that out. And then they TORTURE their students to test them. It's like fourth wing - you want alchemists, right? And then you treat them that way? Poh, no wonder you're falling behind. Honestly it feels like it was just done to create a dark academia atmosphere.
Below this is a story about healing and accepting help that has merit, but personally, I wasn't able to overlook a lot of the things mentioned in favor of that.
I doubt I'll pick up the second book.
- First, Wren's inferiority complex really has no place. Why does she keep comparing herself to Thea? That didn't seem to bother her in the first series. And even if it did start bothering her now, we never hear why that would be a thing - how did it come to be that way?
- I'm over soulbond/mate/predetermined by something relationships. Alas, we get one here and I do not see why it was necessary. It wasn't necessary for Thea and Wilder.
- WHY did Torj not tell her about the soulbond and why when he broke it did he turn away from her like that? even without the soulbond existing there was no reason for that. That really did make me substract a whole star because it's just a setup for drama, that's all.
- The twist about Xavier was so obvious I guessed when I heard the academy was in Narva.
- The way the academy treats their students makes 0 sense. Why the secrecy? We never find that out. And then they TORTURE their students to test them. It's like fourth wing - you want alchemists, right? And then you treat them that way? Poh, no wonder you're falling behind. Honestly it feels like it was just done to create a dark academia atmosphere.
Below this is a story about healing and accepting help that has merit, but personally, I wasn't able to overlook a lot of the things mentioned in favor of that.
I doubt I'll pick up the second book.