Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Iron Flame

This book was so fun and entertaining to read! Though compared to the first in the series, the pacing was slower in the beginning and too fast towards the end. The ideas in this book felt less flushed out and I sometimes had to reread parts to make sure I understood what happened. The spice was 👌 though Xaden and Violet had a lot of miscommunication from not setting expectations for how they communicate and it got old. I love how we got to know the side characters better in this book! The squad is awesome. There were a few crazy twists at the end that make it so hard to wait for the next book! I’m not sure where this series is going for a total of five books, but I feel like this book could have easily been split into two.

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natashareadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What the ffff-!!

Ok, so I am still processing, trying to figure out what I just read and how I am feeling about it 😂😂.

Iron Flame follows the events of Fourth Wing.

Everyone including Violet expected Violet to die during her first year at Basgaith- but it turns out that Threshing was just the first test to weed out the weak-willed and unlucky.

Now the real training begins. But it's not that it is malicious and brutal, or that it is designed to stretch a riders pain capacity beyond endurance. No it is the new Code Commandment who has made it his personal mission to teach Violet how powerless she is and to betray the man she loves. The man who broke her trust.

Even though Violet's body might be frailer than everyone else's, her will is iron.

But determination to survive won't be enough.

Soooo, where do I begin?

Let's start with the issues- I feel like the release was somewhat rushed. It seems sooo many people have had issues- from businesses that were promised the black pages for preorders, having those cancelled, to the wrong title being on the covers, to the missing dragons on chapter 17 (which include my copy I got from Indigo/Coles in Canada, to the lone copy I found in NYS- but I will take the missing dragon over any other issues), but I've even heard missing pages/chapters. Honestly, I don't know where the problem was, it shouldn't have en this big of an issue to begin with.

Now that that is out of the way, let's continue onto the story within the book.

I still love this world, and these characters.

I get the conflict between Xaden & Violet, but felt like it dragged on a bit longer than it should have. The biggest issue being trust & communication after the events of Fourth Wing continued on through the whole of Iron Flame.

I also feel like the book was longer than it needed to be- I get that it was building up the story & the ending conflict/battle, but there is also a whole lot of nothing happening too. So it could have been condensed some.

But besides those, like I said, I LOVED the world, and the characters.

Even despite Violet's weaknesses she is still strong. And I absolutely love that strength about her.

And I still love Xaden- for everything he has been through and everything he is. All his lies and secrets. He is still my favorite character.

I still love Rhiannon, Ridoc, Sawyer, and all the other characters too.

And WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?! I am going to lose my mind until I get the next book, because well, as always, I need answers, i need conclusion, and i need more 😂😂. I loved this book, and cannot wait for more from this story.
4⭐ out of 5⭐.

3🌶️ out of 5🌶️. Multiple scenes throughout in detail.

Tropes:
→ fantasy romance /romantasy
→ enemies to lovers
→ forced Proximity
→ academy (war college)
→ New Adult romance
→ chronic illness (h) representation
→ morally gray H
→found family
→ slow burn
→ overcoming adversity/underdog
→ dysfunctional family

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wrensreadingroom's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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zanazy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I binged read this immediately after the midnight party so full disclosure I may have missed things. Overall, this a decent follow up to Fourth Wing. The story picks up immediately after the ending of the previous book and while we get some answers, I am left with more questions, frustrations, and slight disappointment with the main character’s arc.

Brennan is alive, so is his dragon. I re-read FW and both are dead as far as Violet knows in that book. Interesting his dragon is alive, meaning all the dragons hid that. The relationship between Violet and Brennan is not fully hashed out, but they are neutral-close. I didn’t get too much about it from the story. Brennan plays a somewhat larger role in this book, but his ranking in the rebellion leadership is confusing.

Xaden and Violet’s relationship is “fixed” rather too easily, with both swapping roles and Xaden being the one not wanting intimacy without hearing Violet say I love you. Meanwhile, Violet wants him to say it. Honestly, for how much I loved them in book 1, everything between them fell flat this book.

My favorite parts of the book are everything to do with the dragons. Andarna, Tairn, Sgaeyl… all of the, add so much and they have their story within the story. Sgaeyl and Tairn’s relationship even mirrors and rivals what Xaden and Violet have. Another big like is Cam/Aaric, the King’s son. We don’t get too much, but he is setup to play a key role and fill the void Violet feels after losing Liam.

The low points for me were everything dealing with the gryphon riders. It felt like filler content and took up way too much of the book even though they play almost no role in the end conflict. The Dain arc was too rushed & we get no follow up or depth which I think was needed. The ending conflict also feels very rushed, especially with how much info we get & how much impact it has on everyone and everything. Sloane was a let down. Her character could use more development, especially because I think she will be key in future books. I would much rather take out the gryphon details and get more time to the characters mentioned above.

Overall, still enjoyable, but lacks a bit in pace, story, and development compared to Fourth Wing. Book 3 will definitely make or break this series.

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skillyillian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

spoilers ahead.

idk, y'all. i was so excited for this but i think i have just lost patience for violet, xaden, and their relationship. the side characters, specifically iron squad, were more fun and i enjoyed their scenes more than most of the violet + xaden ones. rhiannon and ridoc are my favorites. i wish sloane and jesinia got more time being present, but at the same time this book was long enough to begin with. other things took priority that i don't think needed to.

the longer the book went on the more annoying violet and xaden became. if you cut out all of the unnecessary drama and secrets the book would be like two hundred pages shorter.

like there's miscommunication trope and then there's whatever the fuck that mess was. every time they spoke to each other it was "i don't trust you" and then "you're not asking the right questions" like holy fuck dude you can't know what you don't know so just be honest if you want her to trust you ffs. don't be such a spiteful pissbaby about her not trusting you if you're not giving her reasons to believe anything you say. good god.

Also, what's the deal with their relationship being almost entirely physical???? either one of them walks in a room and they're both immediately drooling. violet only ever thinks about getting to know xaden when she realizes he's hiding things. i don't remember xaden literally ever, maybe even in fourth wing, asking violet a single thing about her. they're just being horny, but also still willing to risk the entire world for each other, to an irritating degree.

and what's up with violet being so dumb, for someone who is supposedly the smartest person at the whole school??

she sees the symbols in warrick's journal and is like "ah yes, the six and the one" but doesn't think about what that means at all and only does the initial wards with six dragons. and then when jesinia is like "yo, that's just a seven, you clown" she's completely mind blown and "how could i have missed this?" like yeah that's actually an excellent question. it's almost like she needed to not figure it out for like 200 pages so the solution at the end was more impactful.

not only this but all of the logical, analytical traits she was originally written with are just gone. she doesn't think anything through, she takes unnecessary risks that don't fit her character, and she can't find any control with her magic until the very end. it's one of those things where the MC struggles so badly until the very end and then they almost never miss, but if they do, it's by inches bc the enemy moved so through no fault of their own.

the MCs feel like yarros forgot who they are and rewrote them for the sake of finding ways to keep tension between them. and cat? jesus christ don't even get me started. i did NOT like that. that was so fucking ick. good god.

idk. there's a lot of other logic flaws that just didn't need to be included. this book felt too long and some of the pacing was kind of weird. things would be brought up and then forgotten for actual months of the story, despite seeming urgent when it first happens. i had moments where i was fist pumping, cheering, laughing, or crying, and then some moments where i didn't understand why we needed to know about what was happening, or what happened to the earlier stuff that seemed so important.

It also feels like yarros just took from the most popular romantasies and kinda plopped in a lot of those stereotypes. this book feels like it was written more to sell to market instead of to tell a story, if that makes sense. idk. a lot of hype for something that feels like it ended up falling flat in more ways than one. my score is the way it is ONLY for the moments i loved that were enough to bring it up. if it weren't for the rest of iron squad, i'd have probably only given it 3 stars.

i'll probably keep reading the series but i'm not as impressed as i was the first time i read fourth wing. (and i did a reread before the iron flame drop and i think i'll be changing my review)

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

I picked this up after loving "Fourth Wing" earlier this year.
"Iron Flame" is the much-anticipated sequel to "Fourth Wing". Violet and Xaden are being driven apart by their vindictive leaders, but they refuse to let some distance seperate them. Violet's second year at her college is going to be an even bigger challenge than her first, and she does not know how she is going to survive. Violet is determined to prove everyone wrong, and she is going to remind everyone that it is the dragon riders that make the rules.
I could not believe how invested I was in this story. Xaden's love for Violet is beautiful, and I love that Violet is holding her own. She is hurt by Xaden's refusal to share important details with her, and despite how much she wants to cave and be with him, she is holding firm.
Xaden's and Violet's scenes were spicy and really well done. I was so lost in their moments together that I completely lost track of what was going on around me.
After the huge cliffhanger at the end of "Fourth Wing" I was so excited to see what would happen next. Finding out that Violet's brother was still alive was incredible, and I was dying to get the whole story.
"Iron Flame" also ends in a cliffhanger, and I am so curious to see how this will play out for our characters.
I will definitely be anxiously waiting for the next book!

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keelirae113's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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booking_along's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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