Iron Flame

If you loved this book, I am truly happy that you enjoyed it. 

If you loved this book, this review is not for you.

Iron Flame is the talk of the town and after reading and loving Fourth Wing this past summer, I jumped back on the dragon bandwagon. But unlike many other readers, I thought this was a very disappointing read. 

Compared to Fourth Wing, Iron Flame was a mere fizzle. It is a slow burn read that for me, dragged most of the way through. This massive 640-page tome was rushed to the printers to ride the Fourth Wing wave and it shows. Not only in the sad quality of my hardcover** but in the obvious neglect of proper editing. 

I have no issue DNFing a book and I should have done that here, but there was so much buzz about this book, and admittedly some good twists to keep me reading, that I was hopeful that, through all the filler and whiny melodrama, there would be a great twist just around the corner. But this book needed some serious editing. The superfluous descriptions, info dumping, and underused secondary characters (Sloane, Aaric, Imogen and Cat) and the large number of tertiary characters were frustrating. I feel all these factors wasted page time that Yarros could have used to strengthen and propel her story. 

Violet and Xaden seemed like different people. Their insufferable secrets from each other and the "You didn't tell me!/You didn't ask me!" ongoing argument was immature and frustrated me so much. Tairn, the highlight of the book, brought his awesome curmudgeonly humour once again, but I had hoped he and moody teenage Andarna would be more central to the story.

Fourth Wing was an amazing ride, but Iron Flame was a different experience for me entirely. Please know that I am in the vast minority. Many people adored this second installment of the series, I'm just not one of them. Yarros' convoluted storytelling, bouts of useless filler, unnecessary melodrama and poor pacing made this a frustrating read for me. Some of the twists and Tairn in all his grumpy glory bumped my rating up to 3 stars, but it's the marketing team that should get five stars for their ability to create such a fervor around this series. If only the writing and editing had that much attention.

** Several greyed out, illegible pages and the plain black (no dragon) edging had already started to flake off. The quality of the printing of this book did not influence my review of the story.

My Rating: a very generous 3 stars

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Genre: Fantasy

Series: #2 in the Empyrean series

Type and Source: Hardcover, personal copy

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books

First Published: November 7, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

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.