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A review by barda
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book, but this one is even worse.
The one positive is that I still do like the dragons, and find them to be much more compelling than any of the human characters. However, they're still not very fleshed out (especially Adarna), and I genuinely can't tell if that's because the author is trying to create an air of mystery about them that will be solved in later books, or if she's having trouble figuring out dragon culture and characterisation.
I feel that encompasses the main flaw of this book - that the author is making everything up as she goes along. This would explain the paper-thin worldbuilding (with country names and towns being thrown around without any context), inconsistent use of magic (where did all of this rune magic come from????), and exceedingly silly plot twists (the wholeJack coming back to life plot made no sense in-universe).
I also felt like I didn't care about the characters. She kills off a lot of characters, which normally would be fine (and if done properly, like in A Song of Ice and Fire, can make a book feel more compelling and thrilling), but I didn't feel any emotional connection to any of the characters killed off (and apart from Liam, it seems like Violet didn't either). The romance between Violet and Xaden is also very mediocre, with lots of unnecessary drama created between them just from a lack of communication.
I rated the first book a higher rating as, even though it had the same problems as this one, it was more entertaining; I found this book to be 200 pages too long, with a lot of it dragging in the middle.
In short, it's just not very good, even with the dragons. I would happily just take a book about the dragons and forget about all the human characters.
The one positive is that I still do like the dragons, and find them to be much more compelling than any of the human characters. However, they're still not very fleshed out (especially Adarna), and I genuinely can't tell if that's because the author is trying to create an air of mystery about them that will be solved in later books, or if she's having trouble figuring out dragon culture and characterisation.
I feel that encompasses the main flaw of this book - that the author is making everything up as she goes along. This would explain the paper-thin worldbuilding (with country names and towns being thrown around without any context), inconsistent use of magic (where did all of this rune magic come from????), and exceedingly silly plot twists (the whole
I also felt like I didn't care about the characters. She kills off a lot of characters, which normally would be fine (and if done properly, like in A Song of Ice and Fire, can make a book feel more compelling and thrilling), but I didn't feel any emotional connection to any of the characters killed off (and apart from Liam, it seems like Violet didn't either). The romance between Violet and Xaden is also very mediocre, with lots of unnecessary drama created between them just from a lack of communication.
I rated the first book a higher rating as, even though it had the same problems as this one, it was more entertaining; I found this book to be 200 pages too long, with a lot of it dragging in the middle.
In short, it's just not very good, even with the dragons. I would happily just take a book about the dragons and forget about all the human characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: War, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit