A review by grace_b_3
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I thought Fourth Wing was a fun read, even if some parts of it were stupid (for example, I didn’t realize that no one was using saddles on their dragons for 12+ hour long flights until a big deal was made of Violet’s saddle), and it was fastly-paced enough to keep you turning pages. So going into Iron Flame, I was expecting a fun popcorn book that had some dumb elements for me to hand-wave away. 

At the beginning of this book, I was less than impressed because
they return to the school instead of sticking with the rebellion. I also thought the Brennen issue needed to be dealt with more, and him lying about being dead just ended up seeming like not that big of a deal.
The beginning of this book just felt like treading water, where nothing really changes. Things happen, sure, and the chapters follow a similar formula of introducing a conflict and then resolving it, so it’s hard to get invested as most of what’s happening feels pointless. 

About halfway though the book, after a major shift, things started picking up, and I was honestly really enjoying it. There was plot momentum, fun new lore being revealed, etc. This was everything I was expecting (and wanting) from this book. 

However, the book lost me in the last 50 or so pages, with some truly irritating choices:
Andarna being a super special secret kind of dragon, and Xaden turning venin.
Will I still read the next book in the series? Probably, but I am lowering my expectations.
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