A review by ladypalutena
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

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

3.5

I really feel like the relationship between Violet and Xaden regressed in this book. They're keeping secrets, but the secrets that Xaden is keeping could kill him and his dragon, while the "secrets" Violet thinks she's keeping would just make Xaden roll his eyes at her. They're truly not comparable. Violet is insufferable, and I do not like her as a main character. Just like the first book, I would much rather read this book from Xaden's point of view. I hate to say it, but this makes it out to be that there is very little character development from Violet in the entire book. 

The book is also really, really long. I feel like the book could have ended after
Violet was sprung from the interrogation chamber
and nothing would have been any different. There's a definitive mark of the "before" and the "after" after that scene, and ending the book there would not have hurt it.

At this point, also, I feel like the author is just killing people for shock value. I do like the Gryphon riders' reactions to the Dragon riders, though - one of them says something along the lines of "The way you kill your recruits/cadets is staggering." If a potential Gryphon rider fails their mounting challenge, they just pick themselves up and choose a different service branch. If a dragon rider fails ANY of their stuff, they die. Quick, but not always painless. Some of the deaths seem warranted, but a great many feel as if they are only to shock the reader.

And let's not even get started on the ending of this book.
Turning Xaden into the enemy? I knew that General Sorengale would have to die at some point, especially because she had just learned that her oldest kid Brennan was still alive, but at least her sacrifice appears to have been for the greater good. What is the point of turning Xaden? I'll read the next book, but to end the book on a cliffhanger like that seems like a step too far, again.
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