A review by cameronreads
Iron Heart by Nina Varela

adventurous fast-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? No

4.0

Funnily enough, in my review of Crier's War I said that the fact I wasn't attached to the characters brought it down to a four star. In Iron Heart, the characters were what brought it up to a four star. Our main characters lived up to my hope of developing further in this book, and I especially loved Crier. There were also some amazing new side characters (shout out to Hook and Erren, who definitely deserved more page time and were my favourite characters). I also loved the romance - it was present throughout the book without being the forefront and still being an amazing slow burn. 
I did enjoy the plot, and again I really love the concept behind this duology, but it could have been done a little better and I had some issues with the pacing - I didn't really get into it until about half way through. Again, there were certain characters and side plots that definitely deserved more attention (Hook! and! Erren!). A pet peeve of mine is when massive plot moments happen off page, and this book definitely fell into that, and could have really used more POVs (Benjy or Storme for example would have been interesting and helpful to hear from). 
I also really appreciated the representation, both the main sapphic relationship, but also the two side characters using they/them pronouns etc. I loved how casual it was, and that whilst Crier and Ayla's relationship was taboo it wasn't because it was an f/f romance, and I really appreciate that.
Overall, I really enjoyed this duology. It wasn't perfect, and didn't quite live up to the hype, but I had a great time reading it and would definitely recommend. 
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