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A review by lauren_miller
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
holy shit.
upon reflection: it's actually hilarious that so many of my favorite booktubers & tokers have given this 1 and 2 star ratings. and used the phrase "fast fashion books." were we even reading the same book?? obviously this is not the peak of literature, but as someone who reads and edits books for a living... y'all are just cranky lol. is it a bit too long? yep. were there more sex scenes than necessary? ha, welcome to modern romance. was it cookie cutter? i should think the fuck not.
the biggest thought I had when reading Fourth Wing is that it was wayyy better written and far more serious than I was expecting given all the commentary about it. and this sequel is no exception. in fact, i would actually dare to put this opinion out there: In terms of "serious" YA dystopian writing, I would say it goes The Hunger Games > The Empyrean > Divergent. the quality is there, but we're talking entertainment, not World Fantasy or Hugo awards.
to end my rant, I will concede that yes, maybe medium plays a huge part in people's reviews (which is NOT being acknowledged by the general masses). if I had physically read every single word of this 500+ page book, I might be singing a very different tune. but I didn't. I listened to this nearly 29-hour audiobook in 12 hours flat and had a fucking ball. so I will stand by my 5 stars. at the end of the day, I had a great time and that's what really matters.
upon reflection: it's actually hilarious that so many of my favorite booktubers & tokers have given this 1 and 2 star ratings. and used the phrase "fast fashion books." were we even reading the same book?? obviously this is not the peak of literature, but as someone who reads and edits books for a living... y'all are just cranky lol. is it a bit too long? yep. were there more sex scenes than necessary? ha, welcome to modern romance. was it cookie cutter? i should think the fuck not.
the biggest thought I had when reading Fourth Wing is that it was wayyy better written and far more serious than I was expecting given all the commentary about it. and this sequel is no exception. in fact, i would actually dare to put this opinion out there: In terms of "serious" YA dystopian writing, I would say it goes The Hunger Games > The Empyrean > Divergent. the quality is there, but we're talking entertainment, not World Fantasy or Hugo awards.
to end my rant, I will concede that yes, maybe medium plays a huge part in people's reviews (which is NOT being acknowledged by the general masses). if I had physically read every single word of this 500+ page book, I might be singing a very different tune. but I didn't. I listened to this nearly 29-hour audiobook in 12 hours flat and had a fucking ball. so I will stand by my 5 stars. at the end of the day, I had a great time and that's what really matters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence