This was such a rollercoaster, meanwhile my life was doing the same so it was hard. But every step we took together was a step closer to a greater future. I’m in love with her writing style and I can’t wait for the next installment. 

This was fine. I only read it because I was sick with the flu and Libby had the audiobook available for immediate borrow. It definitely did not need to be this long. I was a bit shocked at the twists at the end

we all knew Jack was shady and not gonna change, but rip xaden for taking one for the team

and the world building got a bit more interesting but if the next book is more than 500 pages, I'm gonna give it a miss (from the library) 

Absolutely loved it book. Only issue I had was

Violets constant complaining about trust every other page

it got annoying after while until it was resolved closer to the end of the book. But still it was worth the read.

I absolutely cried when Liam came back during the interrogation/torture scene. I cried in Fourth Wing when he died and then now his ghost is here helping Violet.

I put this on par with the first book. Definitely more heavy on the trigger warnings. There are some absolutely brutal scenes that make deaths from the first book seem tame. Don't take that warning in the beginning of the book lightly. That being said, this book plays on all the emotions and is just wonderfully written. 

🇳🇱: jeetje was een dik boek. Toen ik begon aan dit boek voelde ik meteen weer de vibes waar ik fourth wing mee geëindigd ben. Naarmate ik verder kwam in het boek werd dit minder. Het boek is in mijn mening gehaast geschreven, het bevat veel actie die slecht uitgewerkt is. Er komt heel veel op je af in de 600 pagina's maar veel had beter uitgewerkt kunnen worden. Ook waren er veel nieuwe (soms onbelangrijke) namen die je in de war brachten. Het einde maakte een hele hoop goed, maar die had wat uitgebreidere gemogen. Beter uitgewerkte actie in het boek had beter op zijn plaats geweest dan de hoeveelheid korte actie. Ook was dit boek zoals wordt gezegt veel meer gefocust op informatie over de wereld en de manier van besturen en magie. Dit is niet voor iedereen weggelegt, vooral als je niet zo veel fantasie leest. Al met al een goed vervolg, maar hij had beter uitgewerkt kunnen worden. Door het einde ben ik enorm benieuwd naar deel 3.

🇬🇧: wow, that was a big book. When I started this book I immediately felt the vibes that I ended Fourth Wing with. As I got further into the book this became less. In my opinion, the book was written in a hurry, it contains a lot of action that is poorly developed. There is a lot to deal with in the 600 pages, but much could have been developed better. There were also a lot of new (sometimes unimportant) names that confused you. The ending made up for a lot, but it could have been a bit more elaborate. Better developed action in the book would have been more appropriate than the amount of short action. Also, as stated, this book was much more focused on information about the world and the way of governing and magic. This isn't for everyone, especially if you don't read much fantasy. All in all a good sequel, but it could have been developed better. The ending makes me very curious about part 3.

Iron Flame is fast paced and has a great (if somewhat clumsy) story — entrapment via ‘one more chapter’. As I was expecting following Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros knows how to write a compelling story but misses the mark on great writing / prose. I appreciate the purposeful use of modern, plain English which makes the fantasy genre so much more accessible. But just because it’s written in plain(er) English doesn’t mean the book wouldn’t be even better to read if the prose made the reader feel something. There hasn’t been one line or phrase in either of the books that has made me stop and go over the beauty or mastery of what I’d just read before moving on. The only time Yarros has made me emotional was during

Liam’s death and when Violet hallucinates seeing him while being tortured

. With a bit more effort, she could make the whole book have that sort of effect. But maybe not prioritising spending much time on the writing itself was a purposeful decision.

The plot is packed, which was one of the book’s — and story’s — downfalls. It felt like too much was trying to be crammed into one book. The story would have benefitted from most (if not all) of the plot points and characters being more fleshed out.

As a side note, it feels like more effort was made in the first book to have an actively diverse cast of characters. There also wasn’t as much character development in this book, which is something the first one already lacked quite a bit. That being said, I loved seeing all of the characters, especially Violet, trust and rely on each other more and become a really solid unit.

All in all, the book was enjoyable with fantastic twists and turns. I loved the stronger focus on politics and war strategy, as well as the found family within the Iron Squad and its newcomers. It just seems like fast pacing is what’s being aimed for with this series to its own detriment. Even more so than Fourth Wing, Iron Flame feels too rushed, like developing both plot and character were sacrificed in favour of fitting as much in as possible. Which is bonkers, considering the book is 600+ pages long. The premise, world building, characters, and story are all so interesting and promising — I can only imagine how incredible this series would read if it were given the space to do so, with an author / editor / publishing house team that were willing to spend more time and care on it rather than prioritising churning the sequel out so quickly. Or maybe Rebecca Yarros just always writes this way.

But gosh darn did she get me and I read it in 13 hours, unable to put it down for long. So, I’m boo boo the fool.