Review: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Alright... here is the review we've all been waiting for. Before proceeding, please note that I will avoid major spoilers of the book but if you have not yet read or finished reading it, some of my thoughts may give you insight to the books content and even spoilers for book 1 (Fourth Wing). Proceed at your own risk.

I absolutely LOVED Fourth Wing (book one). I fell into the Instagram/TikTok hype and was instantly sold. If you haven't yet seen my review for that one, you can find it here:

Needless to say, I had high expectations for Iron Flame.

I was SO excited when the book showed up at my door on publication day. I planned a whole night in around reading it. When it came down to it though, I was terrified to read it. I was so nervous that I was going to be let down. It actually took me a while to really get into the book because I was just not ready. Even when I did get into it, I was SLOW at reading it (but more on that later).

Even though it took me a long time to get through the book, here we are on the other side. I have many thoughts that I want to share... so here we go!

Synopsis:

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

General first thoughts:

This book is for the fantasy girlies for sure! There is not as much romance as book one, but a lot more technical world building/story telling, and a lot of learning!

What I liked:

- I actually really liked the more in depth fantasy side of things. It is not normally my cup of tea, but this one was very interesting. I enjoyed the history unravelling and the world beyond the wards.

- I also really loved the squad. All of Violets friends were so fun to read about, but I did have some trouble remembering who was who.

- The dragons and the scenery were both thrilling and totally fun.

- It is action packed!

- Call me crazy, but I LOVED the cliffhanger ending. I didn't necessarily love what happened, but I love the feeling of a book leaving me with my jaw on the floor.

What I didn't like:

- This book felt too long. I had such a hard time getting through it. It is a thick book just by looking at it, but the small font and thin pages were not helping either. I personally felt like this book could have been split into 2 books or that some chapters could have been taken out.

- I might get some hate for this one, but... *sigh* Xaden. I feel like I missed something because I am seeing all of these reviews from people just loving the book and loving Xaden, but I had such a hard time with him. Violets main concern was that he was not being honest or at least that he was keeping things from her. His response was that she just 'didn't ask' and if she asked he would tell her... i'm sorry, what? If my partner kept life changing information from me because I simply didn't quiz them about any possibility under the sun, i'd be furious. I get some things were to keep her safe, sure, but Xaden then didn't seem to try to earn back her trust in any way, he just seemed to get it by sticking around and pushing.

- And on that note, Violet drove me nuts too. She kept things from him, and often used her lust for him as an excuse to over see the red flags. 'He does all these things I don't like, but I love him, so I'm sure i'll forget about the bad eventually' is what I feel her outlook was near the end. I am beginning to wonder if their relationship is mostly physical attraction and forced connection?

- Again, I prefaced this review with this book being for the fantasy fans over romance fans so I get that the emotions took a bit of a back seat - but some emotional components felt completely left out that I felt could have still been touched on. The cliffhanger from book one about her brother... she just got over it? she just had one moment of upset and then was like 'okay cool'. That would be traumatizing and I would expect a bit of aftermath?

- It felt like a lot was just glossed over. Why wasn't Violet practicing controlling her signet? Did I miss that? With keeping her mental shields up - she was apparently so bad at something so important, they mentioned her practicing/learning once at the start of the book, and then she was an expert?

-Catriona's character... was this necessary? It felt like it added unnecessary drama with little resolution.

Overall thoughts:

I felt like a lot was left unexplained, especially when it came to characters motivations. I didn't want to include that as a dislike because maybe it is just meant to be spoken about in later books - we shall see.

My true and honest opinion is that I personally would have liked to see a book that focused on her training and learning, and working through her emotions and trauma just a little bit. Too much just felt ignored for a book of this many pages and words. Fantasy isn't my favorite genre but I do read it a bit, so take my opinions on the books structure with a grain of salt i guess.

Overall I didn't love this one, it was just lukewarm for me, and I am sad. I am upset that I didn't enjoy it as much as the majority, but I am not giving up on it. I will probably continue the series with hope for better, and might even try a re-read to see if my opinions change when there is less pressure of it being a new and popular release.

I want to know - what are your thoughts on the book? Without being rude please... is there anything I missed that might change my opinions? Do you have a different outlook on the things I discussed? Please kindly share if you do, because I would LOVE to work through my feelings and try and see another side.