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Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

82 reviews

spootilious's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

 
Read: November 29, 2023
 Title: Iron Flame 

Series: The Empyrean #2 

Author: Rebecca Yarros 

Genre: New Adult Fantasy
 Rating: 1.5 / 5
 Review: 

Let me start by saying, I’ve been trying…. SO HARD… to like this book and I just… Can’t. 

I didn’t care much for the first either, but I’ve been hoping that the series will redeem itself… so far that has not happened. 

Did I enjoy reading the book? I suppose so. Is the book good? Absolutely not. 

There are two issues more than anything that stand out before I simply provide a list of what I liked and did not like about the book: 1. Yarros seriously needs to find an editor the writing is just terrible! And 2. There is ZERO originality in the series. 

Okay… Onto the list of this I liked:
 1. The story concept is a good one. And if another author (a skilled one) had written this story I’m sure I would have LOVED it. 

2. I like Dragons. 
 
 Onto the list of things I didn’t like: 

1. I don’t think Yarros understand that in order to build the climax of a story you have to have a consistent baseline that is lower than the climax itself. If the punches never stop then the ‘final blow’ won’t feel any different than the first 100 jabs. There is absolutely zero downtime between ‘big’ events throughout this book and thus the ending (and everything really) wasn’t memorable in the least. Yarros didn’t get herself space to build on when she set the base line on the same level as the climax of the book. Honestly, I’ve never read an author who wasn’t self aware enough (or skilled enough… whatever the case may be) to realize this and it’s EXTREMELY disappointing. 

2. Almost all the characters (minus a small handful) weren’t memberable and very flat. I can’t even remember all of Violet’s squad members… I might be able to name… 3? And that’s after the merge. All the characters are 1 dimensional and unremarkable… Too many names not enough characters. 

3. As mentioned in the things that I liked, the story is good. Which is a problem because Yarros isn’t. It makes the story disproportionate to the author’s skill level. Which is nothing against Yarros, no one starts off skilled, but when your story is better than your abilities it causes problems. 

4. This, like Fourth Wing, felt like a young adult novel wanting to be adult by adding sex and violence. Not a good mix. 

5. The main character is EXTREMELY hypocritical, expecting so much from so many people when she does the same exact things with no consequences. 

6. There is no real character development for any of the main characters. 

7. Violet once again gets away with EVERYTHING with practically no consequences, and conveniently finds the solution to all their problems every time just in time. (superman syndrome) Which is amusing considering this isn’t a ‘chosen one’ series. 

8. The pacing is TERRIBLE. Which goes back to the whole jab jab punch thing. All jabs… no punches. 

9. Every female character in this series are defined by male characters, with the exception of maybe 2 (Mira and Ri which are in the background). 

10. Yarros keeps telling the reader how smart and strong and unique violet is but violets actions never really show it. She always has to be saved or comes to these big epiphanies when guided but not on her own. She doesn’t stand out. 

11. Toxic relationship(s) on both (and every) side 

12. So repetitive both in dialog and plot points. 

13. The hole book felt like a scramble to try and fill in every plot hole found in book 1 while ignoring all the ones in book 2. Which means book 3 will probably be the same. 

14. Honestly the entire novel felt like a regurgitated version of Twilight but with Dragons. 

15. Which brings us back to the first issue of being completely unoriginal. 

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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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amylynnknitsreads's review

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

3.5

I was astounded seeing that the audiobook was 28h long. But it was a pretty good 28h.

I enjoyed the further world building. I enjoyed learning more about established characters and new ones.

I was annoyed by Violet and Xaden's communication issues, but realized it was pretty on point for two very screwed up people. And they are two very screwed up people.

I saw where a few people are annoyed by the introduction but lack of exploration of Auric, but I actually think it makes sense. How many second years actually interacted with the OG crew outside of Dain in Fourth Wing? I liked the Fliers joining the party and actually thought that Cat's introduction helped Violet as a character.

I saw the end coming, mostly bc...well there's still a bunch of unanswered plot to get to, and this allows a deeper dive into the ancient history of the world Yarros has built. Also, y'all the series is called Empyrean and we haven't even met that crew yet. Pretty sure we're going to by the end of the series.


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maggies's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

Where Fourth Wing set up the world and characters of the series, Iron Flame significantly expanded these. Like, doubled+. Wish we'd had a character list to reference, including
gryphons and fliers
because your girl was lost. I still don't know/remember who half the dragons and their riders are! I've rated Iron Flame lower than Fourth Wing because there were small plot moments I didn't like, but overall, I think (hope) that it'll be a good bridge to the rest of the series. There are so many places it can go now!
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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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brandywyne's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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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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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

Fourth Wing was mid at best for me, so color me shocked when I absolutely could not put down this book and realized that this was good.

(It's worth noting at the beginning here that this book needs a heavy trigger warning for torture, so if that's the only part of this review you read ((as if anyone reads my reviews )), I'll be okay.)

A lot of the issues I had with Fourth Wing were nonexistent here. Violet is no longer info dumping all the time. The world has been built in book one (no matter how lazily), so the lore we get here is well crafted and executed. It sort of felt like Fourth Wing was just the book she had to write so Iron Flame made sense.

The character writing is also much improved in book two. Particularly when it comes to Violet and Xaden's relationship. (Although I will never forgive Ms. Yarros for naming him Xaden.) This genre has so many male love interests that are too perfect and exist only to teach the FMC something about herself (Manic Pixie Dream Bat Boys™), but Xaden is flawed as hell. They fight and I can't take anyone's side because they're both wrong and toxic as hell sometimes. They both have major character growth throughout the book, and we love to see it.

The more minor characters are much more enjoyable too. In Fourth Wing I could barely keep everyone straight in my head, so it was hard to appreciate the found family banter. In Iron Flame, it's all there and wonderful. Would die for Ridoc. 

And of course we love to see this kind of disability representation. And not only EDS, but some great PTSD portrayals in there too. As a neurodivergent disabled girlie, there was lots to warm my cold heart. And all the great family drama in there too. Juicy.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. While I could predict every single twist to Fourth Wing, I had no idea what was coming next in Iron Flame. I still maintain that the Empyrean series so far is nothing revolutionary. Despite what the blurb on the cover says, this is exactly like every fantasy you've ever read. But damn if this Divergent/Eragon/wizard-books-that-shall-not-be-named mash up isn't fucking fun. Very excited for the next installment.
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lemonwrlds's review against another edition

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

2.5

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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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