Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

17 reviews

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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

3.5

My feelings from the first book hold steady - an entertaining popcorn read with the worst aspect by far being the romance. I groaned every time Xaden showed up because I knew I was going to be subjected to page-long kiss descriptions and poorly written sex scenes. Violet has so much stupid emotional drama over this boy, I hated it. It really dragged down the middle of this book, especially the jealously subplot. I kept reading because I wanted to know how the conflict with the venin was going to shake out and because I wanted to learn more about the dragons. There were some nice developments on that front, and the set up for the next book will keep me reading.

Some things stood as as really jarring. There is a returning minor character whose actions are all over the place in an illogical way. I cannot reconcile their behavior. It also bothers me that
torture is constantly portrayed as a valid and reliable way of getting information, when in real life torture is completely ineffective. The fact that the author is military-adjacent only makes me feel more sour about this.
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lizziaha's review

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2.75

I think that this book was ultimately just too formulaic. I felt like I was just rereading the first book. Yarros even tried to replicate the whole enemies to lovers vibe, which was annoying given that the characters were already lovers. On that note, Violet just annoyed me in this one. Many of her choices seemed to exist only to drive the plot, rather than because of her characterization. Despite the lack of growth for Violet and Xaden, I did love to see some of the other characters really grow into their own in this book. Some of them truly took me by surprise. I wish Yarros had focused a little more on other characters instead of rehashing the same things over and over again in Violet’s head. And speaking of rehashing—there were a few too many action scenes in this for me. It felt repetitive and made the book drag out for longer than it needed to be. And despite the high stakes, I didn’t feel the tension that they deserve. Violet never really fails at anything, and it starts to feel too easy at a certain point. The series definitely has interesting worldbuilding and concepts but I don’t think it’s executed as well as it could be. 
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whatbeccareadnext's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

So... This book should have been put through at least one more round of edits. It definitely could have been cut down by 100+ pages. It's really sad because I was so excited to read this sequel, but it dragged so much in the middle. I would have rather waited for a much better version of this book to be published, than what we got. I hope that Rebeca Yarros and her publishers get back on track for book 3.

That said, it definitely picked up A LOT over the last 150 pages and the story really progressed a lot towards the end. If you're struggling with the middle, keep going. It is, at the very least, worth finishing. 
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katvou's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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zoenelson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I liked Fourth Wing a lot more. The author tried to fit so many new storylines and characters into this book. As a result, the pacing was quick and some storylines/characters were not fully fleshed out. At times I found there to be plot inconsistencies that would have benefited from closer editing. The torture scenes were really graphic. I’m also personally disappointed by the ending but hopeful the next books will get back on track! This book had high highs and low lows! Worth a read if you love the series and main characters.
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taryn_g's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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