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kronie10 's review for:
Iron Flame
by Rebecca Yarros
Generally, I found this one to be was just a longer version of the first, and I basically liked it equally. Like the first book, the parts at the school went on too long and dragged. There was no reason to be that involved in all their training. I really only enjoyed it once they left school - that was true of the first too. It's just that here, the whole book is like twice as long, so the draggy parts drag longer. It really wasn't until the final battles of both books that I was truly engaged. But in the end, I was entertained and want to read the next.
My biggest issue is that, in very typical romantasy book fashion, Yarros had to overdo how wonderful Violet is, while she also makes a lot of assumptions and is strangely incurious despite her brilliant mind (like withAndarna ) yet no one seems to care. It’s highly annoying that she is the only one who can do anything important or figure anything out - including any of her other very smart allies/friends/family who have the same information as she does, and who often are way more experienced and have had the same information for longer (like the fucking attack on Basgiath at the end - really? She’s the only one who could figure it out? Right in the moment during the briefing?).
And everything is about her - and how great she is. There's literally a line where she says "this is about me" when the fliers are choosing to fight her squadmates. Even that couldn't have been because the fliers have separate reasons to hate the riders? Nope, all about Violet. And the only people who don’t think Violet is amazing are presented as being generally angry with the world, crazy, jealous, or all three. No one who knows her can just dislike because she’s an annoying know-it-all who won't stop making out with her boyfriend in public. Side note - it's so immature and rude to constantly paw each other in public, particularly when friends and family are around (and also NEED TO TALK TO YOU).
And of course she’s the bravest and smartest and has the most powerful dragon (who trades off with Xaden to constantly tell her how great she is) and has the most powerful signet ever and snagged the sexiest bad boy-also-king who believed he couldn’t love, but also fell madly in love her with her almost immediately despite them not knowing each other AT ALL. I feel like they are fated mates, yet presented as falling in love because they got to know each other. But they didn't! They don't communicate! And of course, Violet is now Xaden's only reason for living and his only motivation - fuck the people he's passionately leading (by his own choice), I guess. I'd like Xaden a lot better if he had some torn loyalties.
I know a lot of people are disappointed in this one - and I agree, it needed an editor (it seems Yarros agrees too). But I think the first suffered a lot of the same issues - draggy at school, YA-feel but with explicit sex. So I actually enjoyed this one more than many others - lowered expectations can be a good thing, I guess.
My biggest issue is that, in very typical romantasy book fashion, Yarros had to overdo how wonderful Violet is, while she also makes a lot of assumptions and is strangely incurious despite her brilliant mind (like with
And everything is about her - and how great she is. There's literally a line where she says "this is about me" when the fliers are choosing to fight her squadmates. Even that couldn't have been because the fliers have separate reasons to hate the riders? Nope, all about Violet. And the only people who don’t think Violet is amazing are presented as being generally angry with the world, crazy, jealous, or all three. No one who knows her can just dislike because she’s an annoying know-it-all who won't stop making out with her boyfriend in public. Side note - it's so immature and rude to constantly paw each other in public, particularly when friends and family are around (and also NEED TO TALK TO YOU).
And of course she’s the bravest and smartest and has the most powerful dragon (who trades off with Xaden to constantly tell her how great she is) and has the most powerful signet ever and snagged the sexiest bad boy-also-king who believed he couldn’t love, but also fell madly in love her with her almost immediately despite them not knowing each other AT ALL. I feel like they are fated mates, yet presented as falling in love because they got to know each other. But they didn't! They don't communicate! And of course, Violet is now Xaden's only reason for living and his only motivation - fuck the people he's passionately leading (by his own choice), I guess. I'd like Xaden a lot better if he had some torn loyalties.
I know a lot of people are disappointed in this one - and I agree, it needed an editor (it seems Yarros agrees too). But I think the first suffered a lot of the same issues - draggy at school, YA-feel but with explicit sex. So I actually enjoyed this one more than many others - lowered expectations can be a good thing, I guess.