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A review by catreadsitall
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
emotional
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
4.25
"The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity"
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
What To Expect:
✔️ Sassy dragons
✔️ Touch her and die
✔️ Chronic illness
✔️ Found family
✔️ Dragon riders
✔️ Shadow Daddy vibes
What It's About:
Against all expectations, Violet Sorrengail has made it to her second year at Basgiath War College as a bonded dragon rider with a badass Signet. But now she knows the truth of the secrets Navarre is hiding from its people. Violet struggles to trust even those closest to her as she tries to work out a way to keep everybody safe from the evil that stalks closer every day. And that evil may already be closer than she knows.
General Thoughts:
Still a very enjoyable read, but there were pacing issues in this book and it does feel like a good edit could have made all the difference. The main relationship suffered from having jealousy drama inserted into it for way too long to be entirely convincing, especially given all the shit that's already gone down here. Dragon banter claws at least half a star back from the abyss, and the cliffhanger slayed me enough (even on re-read) that we're at 4 stars despite Violet & Xaden's extensively strung out issues.
What I Enjoyed:
Violet discovering more about the history of Navarre and how deeply the truth has been hidden was beautifully paced, and there was none of the unlikley intuition that seems so often to be how the solution is discovered in books like this. The continued emphasis on friendship and found family is amazing, and I actually adore all the secondary characters (even when I loathe them) because of how fleshed-out they feel. Yes there are villains here, but they've got at least 2-dimensions to them! Tairn and Andarna continue to be the greatest. The Liam flashbacks killed me. "My house. My chair. My woman." OMFG.
What I Struggled With:
The fucking relationship drama was toooooooo prolonged okay. Both parties were oddly invested in not being truthful to each other when the issue was that truths needed to be told. Don't even get me started on the jealousy trope because I am not here for it. It didn't feel realistic for the character growth in Fourth Wing that Xaden wouldn't have resolved all of this in about the first 3 chapters.
I actually enjoyed the book more on a re-read, I think because I knew where we were heading this time around. Even though it's straight off a cliff...
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
What To Expect:
✔️ Sassy dragons
✔️ Touch her and die
✔️ Chronic illness
✔️ Found family
✔️ Dragon riders
✔️ Shadow Daddy vibes
What It's About:
Against all expectations, Violet Sorrengail has made it to her second year at Basgiath War College as a bonded dragon rider with a badass Signet. But now she knows the truth of the secrets Navarre is hiding from its people. Violet struggles to trust even those closest to her as she tries to work out a way to keep everybody safe from the evil that stalks closer every day. And that evil may already be closer than she knows.
General Thoughts:
Still a very enjoyable read, but there were pacing issues in this book and it does feel like a good edit could have made all the difference. The main relationship suffered from having jealousy drama inserted into it for way too long to be entirely convincing, especially given all the shit that's already gone down here. Dragon banter claws at least half a star back from the abyss, and the cliffhanger slayed me enough (even on re-read) that we're at 4 stars despite Violet & Xaden's extensively strung out issues.
What I Enjoyed:
Violet discovering more about the history of Navarre and how deeply the truth has been hidden was beautifully paced, and there was none of the unlikley intuition that seems so often to be how the solution is discovered in books like this. The continued emphasis on friendship and found family is amazing, and I actually adore all the secondary characters (even when I loathe them) because of how fleshed-out they feel. Yes there are villains here, but they've got at least 2-dimensions to them! Tairn and Andarna continue to be the greatest. The Liam flashbacks killed me. "My house. My chair. My woman." OMFG.
What I Struggled With:
The fucking relationship drama was toooooooo prolonged okay. Both parties were oddly invested in not being truthful to each other when the issue was that truths needed to be told. Don't even get me started on the jealousy trope because I am not here for it. It didn't feel realistic for the character growth in Fourth Wing that Xaden wouldn't have resolved all of this in about the first 3 chapters.
I actually enjoyed the book more on a re-read, I think because I knew where we were heading this time around. Even though it's straight off a cliff...