Book Review: "Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros

Title: Iron Flame

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Series: "Empyrean" #2

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Page Length: 623 pages

Publication Date: November 7, 2023

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

*No spoilers for Iron Flame but potential spoilers for Fourth Wing*

Like many, Fourth Wing completely took me by surprise and pulled me into its net. I devoured it, loved it, couldn't stop thinking about it. I eagerly anticipated this sequel that was coming just six months later. Iron Flame arrived in the mail on the same day I finished work for the week. It was a sign. 

I dedicated the weekend to first rereading Fourth Wing and then tearing through the beast that is Iron Flame. Despite the initially medium-length page count, this sequel clocks in with a word-count longer than books like House of Earth and Blood, an 800-page behemoth. It's no wonder that it took me two days of straight reading to finish it. 

While there has been criticism for Fourth Wing, overwhelmingly people love it. However, Iron Flame seems to have my fellow book lovers split. People who loved FW hated IF's pacing and plot. I can understand and see everyone's criticisms for Iron Flame. Thankfully, though, I am in the camp of those who loved Iron Flame and my criticisms are far shorter. 

Once again, this series is by no means revolutionary or the incredibly written. They're not inherently complex or overwhelmingly beautiful. But what they are is fun and addicting. Fourth Wing pulls you in, has you flipping the pages until the sun has set and your eyesight as gone blurry because you just can't stop. The first book is just fun (until the end of course). It makes you fall for these characters and gets you emotionally invested.

Personally, Iron Flame felt much darker than Fourth Wing. Things are still fun at times but it's different. Tensions are higher, there's more to lose, and even more people are being killed off left and right. Rebecca is ruthless with her body count--no character is safe, which is particularly terrifying when there are so many lovable ones. 

Iron Flame is split into two parts. While they comprise the book that is Iron Flame, each part felt like it's own book. The pacing, conflicts, and plot focus are different (though still connected). I think this is an issue for a lot of readers as they felt the pacing was all over the place and the plot was confusing. To me, it makes the most sense to think of it with that separation between two parts rather than as a single book. 

There were a lot of tears spilled in this book. I cry easily at books and movies and this one got me right in the feels. There were also a lot of laughs, a lot of gasps, a lot of exclamations at various reveals or moments. While not entirely original, this series manages to evoke emotional responses which is why I've grown to love it. 

The ending completely threw me. I had various possibilities going through my mind of what kind of cliffhanger or situation we could end up in. What we got, though, was something I'd never even considered. I was absolutely shocked and I am nervous to see how we're going to sort through this situation moving forward (as we still have three more books to go). 

I will say, one of my few issues with this book was the miscommunication and the characters having the same argument over and over. Of course it provides tension to a relationship and something to keep the plot behind the relationship going. But I found it frustrating at times, like many others I've seen discussing it. I don't mind arguments, I don't mind a little miscommunication and tension, but it went above and beyond a lot of the time. However, I also recognize that even though these characters love each other, they are still in the very early stages of their relationship and haven't actually had that much time to truly get to know and experience each other without the stresses of the outside world. 

In an effort to avoid spoilers, it's hard to talk about certain reasons I loved this book. What it mainly boils down to, though, is that I connected hard to these characters in the first book and getting to experience new adventures with them was simply exciting. I am eagerly looking forward to the third book coming next year and I can only hope that Rebecca is somewhat nice to the characters moving forward (though I doubt it).  

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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May 2023 Wrap-Up

May was an interesting reading month for me. I didn't get to read as many books as I wanted due to lots of overtime but everything I did read was amazing. I read a total of five books (and got through 400+ pages of another) and every book was 4 stars or above. So while I didn't read very many books this month, the quality of the books were great. Let's dive in! 

Book Review: "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros

Title: Fourth Wing

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Series: "The Empryean" #1

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads 

Let me just start off this review by saying that the hype for this book is totally justified and I am 100% the target market for it. Like if you could take a bunch of the things I love plus my desire for dragons and mash it all together, this is it. It honestly feels a bit like this book was tailor-made for me. 

I'll get into the nitty gritty of the review in a minute but I also just want to mention my experience since finishing this book. I read it in one sitting, though I did take my time and savored it so it was a longer sitting than usual. I just didn't want to put it down or do anything else. And then I went to bed not long after and literally dreamt about this book. I dreamt about the story and it was like I was there. I've not had that ever happen (or if it has, I can't remember). Just another reason for me to be obsessed with this book.

Alright so let's actually dive into why I loved this book so much. First things first, I'm a big mood reader lately. I have to be really interested/excited for a book in order to read it nowadays because I'm so exhausted from work/life otherwise. I was gearing up all week to read Fourth Wing over the weekend when I finally finished work. So I did have the buildup of a week of being excited to read it. The hype online is real for this book, which I think also helped along my desire to read it. And because I was super excited to read it, it meant that I was loving every moment when I started.

The main reason I loved this book was the characters and then the setting and plot. I'm a big character-driven reader and this book has a lot to root for. Of course I love our main character Violet but I also loved the entire cast of characters (and dragons) we get to know. My top favorites are definitely Rhiannon, Liam, Tairn, Mira, and, of course, Xaden. 

Violet was a really intriguing main character in my opinion. She's got chronic illness/pain so she's not as equal in the physical department when it comes to the other cadets at Basgaith. It sets her back a lot and it's something she consistently struggles with. However, she's badass in so many other ways and still tries her best at the physical stuff even though it takes her 125% more effort than anyone else. She's witty and smart and passionate and I just loved her. Is she perfect? No. But is anybody in real life perfect?

I loved the setting. A war college training them to be dragon riders? Yes please. The moment I heard that I was intrigued and wanted to know all about it. The way it was described and the inclusion of the map of the college allowed me to very vividly picture what it all looked like while I was reading it. I would love to actually go to a place that looks like how I imagine this war college to look like. 

Then we have the plot. Now, as a fantasy romance, the plot and the romance can't be separated from each other too much as the romance is such a big part of the plot. So as I talk about the plot, the romance will naturally worm its way in, kind of how it happened in the book. 

This world is only a few years past a major rebellion that ended with a lot of executions and the surviving children of these rebellious people being forcibly conscripted into being dragon riders (with the unspoken hope that as many die out as possible). Xaden is one of these children. And Violet's mother is a General, one who is responsible for a lot of what happened after the rebellion ended. Naturally, this leads to a lot of resentment between Xaden and Violet. 

That's only the backstory, though, as the actual plot starts with Violet entering this war college to become a dragon rider (in an initiation that almost kills her). It takes place over the span of a year as Violet trains to bond with a dragon and be a rider. It was so fascinating to read about. I'm a sucker for stories set in boarding schools/universities/etc and this was no exception. 

While the main plot is Violet learning to become a rider, there's also a sneaky bit of mystery woven in that I won't discuss so as to not give away any spoilers. However, this added a lot of depth through this first book and heavily contributed to the ending and what I suspect the plot of the second book will be about. 

 

The last element of the plot was, of course, the romance. It was deliciously slow burning and I loved reading about it. I don't want to give away too much so that everyone can experience it for themselves without expectation but it was so good. I am very much looking forward to how this continues in the next book because DAMN. 

Yes there were some tears at the end when you-know-what happened. Yes I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it, even while reading other books. And yes I am obsessively counting down the days until the sequel comes out later this year. And let me just say, I'm so glad the sequel is only six months away instead of a full year. 

Overall, I loved this book so much. It's definitely in my top two of the year so far, if not my number one read. I had so much fun, didn't want to put it down, and never wanted it to end. It was recently announced that it's plotted to be five books long and I am so incredibly excited for each and every one of those books. I can only imagine the fun we're going to get into as it goes along.

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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