Hello lovelies,
I have previously reviewed Fourth Wing, the first book in the series, on this blog, and over my Christmas break, I read the second book in the series. Iron Flame is the second book by Rebecca Yarros. I love this series!
The book itself is spicy, with romance between the two main characters while staying true to its fantasy roots. Overall, it has a good world and magic system that is easily understood and not too complex for those who don't always read fantasy. If you're looking for a series to help you get into fantasy or reading, I recommend it. They are easy-to-read books, although they are long.
Now, getting into the spoiler section of the review, for those of you who haven't read the second book, I would not recommend you continue reading this post. I am only doing a spoiler-filled review as it is part of a series, and I already reviewed the first one. In the second book, we get more information about the dynamics and building of the world. Starting off, we have a diagram of the 4th wing and the wing structure, giving us a more in-depth understanding of how many students there are per wing and just how big the college is. I enjoyed this as I had difficulty visualizing the war college and how many students were there. The book starts right where we left off in the first one. We have Violet's perspective, and in this book, she irritated me a bit because she so desperately wanted Xaden to open up in a way he wasn't comfortable with while also holding him to a standard that she had in the past hadn't met herself. He also annoyed me for the same reason: it felt like the author took the trope of the first book and spun it on its head to repeat with the opposite characters. You'd think that for a couple who are madly in love, they'd have better communication and fewer trust issues..... however I love their dynamic and the romance between them. The tension is well-written, and the way it's written does lend itself to that. I liked their romance more in the first book than in the second, but the second book made up for that aspect with great character development. It was also amazing in terms of world-building; we learned so much more about all the different provinces on the continent. We learn about different rulers and groups of people on the continent; we also get more history of the world.
I was surprised at how long they stayed at the war college. After the events in the first book, I expected them to be exiled or to have to leave quickly, but I'd say they stayed at the college for at least 2/3 of the book. Much of the tension between Carr and Violet helped create clear sides in an argument that could be very muddled. I loved the friend group, which expanded and provided us with more character development of side characters. One thing that upset me was that Jack got to come back to life. I feel like out of everybody who could have been brought back, it was frustrating to me for it to be him. In the next book, I hope we get more information on the dark wielders; for some reason, I don't feel like they are the bad guys; I feel like we're missing something or something's being hidden from us, and I want to know what it is. I thoroughly enjoyed the competition aspect of the second year. I think the first book did well in creating such a high-stakes environment, and honestly, it's what made me want to read the second one. At the same time, the revolution is interesting, and I want to know more about the world.
For me, the most interesting part was the dragon riders' courses. I feel like it adds so much depth to the book that it has this main plot of becoming a dragon rider, a subplot of the revolution, and an additional subplot of enemies to lovers romance. I think some things could have been cut from Iron Flame to make it less dense; I think some of that could have been Violet and Xaden’s back and forth; I think simple communication could have fixed the issues they had during this novel. Miscommunication tropes are my least favorite trope in a book, and I am disappointed that it was used a second time in the second novel as it was in the first. In the first novel, I feel like it was used well as Violet is notoriously an unreliable narrator as she doesn't know everything going on in the world. Due to her circumstances, I think the miscommunication trope worked well for that storyline; however, in the second book, we know that she and Xaden have a well-established relationship and have set clear boundaries on communication, so to see the trope used a second time was a bit of a disappointment however I understand how flipping it could be an interesting take. Still, I would have preferred it not to be in the book and it felt like lazy writing to me. Overall, I ate this book up. I still recommend this series to people. There are supposed to be five books in the series; the third one hasn't even been written yet so that it will be a bit of a wait for the next novel, but I'm here for it. I would wait for the next book, no matter how long it took. I enjoyed the storyline and the world-building, but I liked it better than the characters. While I find the characters enjoyable to read and have nothing against them, I find the world incredibly interesting. I find the college and the country of Navarre fascinating; the history of the two factions and the leadership are all fascinating. I enjoy learning about the veil, the Dragons, the magic system, and the rune system. I find it all complex and want to know more about it. I also find the other countries or cities on the continent fascinating, and in the second book, we learned more about rulers and heirs to the throne that we didn't know about before. I want to know more about the world. I want more information, so I would read the third book for that reason alone. However, I also find the characters themselves enjoyable to read, so that's a bonus. I hope you enjoy reading this book and the series; let me know your thoughts. I love hearing feedback from others. Any predictions for the next book?
Happy reading.
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