Katherine

Me, finishing Iron Flame & texting my book bff “oh my god oh my god oh my god I finished Iron Flame. I have passed away, I am in utter shock.”

Well done Rebecca Yarros, well done. There was so much hype around the release of Iron Flame the month leading up to it that I was a bit skeptical of its greatness and chalked it up to tiktok hype. I am pleased to say it was a fantastic novel and I cannot wait for the rest of the series. Rebecca, I have so many questions!!

Let’s get into it, because there is a lot to unpack here. This review will be spoiler heavy, so heed my warning.

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNLESS YOU WANT THE BOOK TO BE SPOILED.

I really really liked Iron Flame. The character development, themes, plot, spice, and everything else came together to create an immersive world and pull you into the story. Violet continues to be a bad ass while also continuing to learn how to deal with her lesser strength, her relationship with Xaden, and now some huge secrets she has to keep – even when being tortured for the information.

Xaden continues to be sexy, strong, and secretive – much to Violet’s dismay. The progression of their relationship was super good and with that ending??? I CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK 3.

The Iron Squad continues to be friend-group goals, Jesinia comes more into play, and we even meet some new characters that offer an interesting twist into everything (I’m looking at you, Catriona).

I want to dive into a few different themes in the book because I have so much to say that I could write a novella about my thoughts. Instead, I will try to limit myself here.

The big theme we start off with is trust. We start off Iron Flame with Brennan being alive after having been presumed dead for the last 6 years. Not only did he fake his death, but Xaden and the rest of the resistance crew all knew and kept it a secret from Violet. We left off Fourth Wing with Violet realizing Tairn and Andarna kept the resistance a secret from her. Now back at Basgiath War College, Violet has to keep Rhi and the rest of the Iron Squad in the dark about what happened at Athebyne, and Xaden has to work to regain Violets trust. That is a lot of dishonesty, secrets, and strained relationships from all sides. This was such a good theme not only in the beginning of Iron Flame, but through the whole novel. I loved seeing the evolution of the trust worked on and regained between all these different groups, it was interesting and heart wrenching and oh so good.

The evolution of Xaden and Violet’s relationship. This was a really great theme throughout the entire book. Their chemistry is incredible, and it is heart wrenching to see them not be together but want to be. Xaden and Violet are great together, but they really needed to work on their trust and and openness if they were ever going to make it work. “How can I love you when I don’t even know you” was one of the most powerful quotes from Violet related to this, and just really shows how deep both their trust issues and affection for each other went.

Seeing Xaden try so hard to prove himself to Violet time and time again was honestly sexy and I can’t believe she didn’t cave sooner; I would have! As Iron Flame went on, they continued to work on their honesty and openness and their chemistry continued to flame, it was almost unbearable. When Varrish kept preventing them from seeing each other, ughhhhh! It was a great plot point but I was so sad for them each time. When Xaden was fighting to have the night free to see Violet while Sgaeyl and Tairn got to be together? OMG.

There were a lot of great themes and plot lines in this book, too many to break down individually. There was a ton of introspection, relationship issues, communication work, secrets, character development and so much more that went on in Iron Flame that you really can tell Rebecca is setting us up for one hell of a series going forward.

I loved the addition of Cat, her special power, and her history with Xaden and subsequent hatred of Violet. There is nothing like a scorned lover and man she feels scorned hard. I love that her power is to amplify emotions, and she makes Violet super jealous and self conscious. It was a good plot point and great avenue for continued character development of Violet. I even liked that they had to begrudgingly work together as the book went on.

Other themes and things I want to mention/ point out but not get into… maybe I’ll have to do a review post part 2 once I re-read it.

Other themes

• Secrets and the damage/protection they do, and the fine balance
• Insecurity and inner thoughts/emotions you don’t let yourself think about until they are right in your face
• Right and wrong, the choices we make, and why
• Sacrifices for love and the safety of the people

Things I loved – SPOILERS BELOW

• Violet vs Codagh scene
• The relationship and work Rhi and Violet have to do to salvage their friendship and the trust Violet puts into them? UGH YES
• The torture scenes? SO GOOD, it was described really well and I thought Rebecca Yarros did a fantastic job. Varrish is so cruel and terrible, and to have Nolan be there too? NOOOOO
• When Dain comes into the picture….. just wow holy shit, great development.
• THE SPICE SCENE on the throne of Tyrrendor, WHEW.
• I love that almost everyone knows how to speak sign language with Jesinia, that is so awesome. I love Jesinia’s character development too!

The continued world building and history was great, I love that you thought you knew so much in book 1 and then in Iron Flame you realize you actually know nothing and were very sheltered inside the Basgiath War College. You learn about the whole other part of the continent out there, the fliers, the other people, and more about the dreaded venin. There are people being left alone to die without support or saving from Navarre. The venin are running rampant while leadership continues to lead Navarre to believe that they don’t even exist. Then, to top it all off, you learn that the scribes 400 years ago rewrote all of history and hid everything away to keep the people in the dark. It all continued to build to the story and start to set up the rest of the series, and it really drew me in. I hope we continue to learn more, especially about the empyrean.

Also I need to know more about the 7th type of dragon??? Andarna girl can’t wait to learn more about you.

There are SO many other things I want to mention and talk about, but overall I LOVED Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. It was so good and I definitely will be rereading it in the next 30 days.

Worthy of a million re-reads.

I know there is a ton of hype around Fourth Wing, but I gotta admit, I think it is warranted. This book is fantastic, with incredible world building, character development, and a great plot.

Who doesn’t love a fantasy world where you bond with dragons and gain power (also called signets) that manifest as a combination of your power? Where you have to fight for your life every step of the way, and death is just a part of a normal day? Where you can challenge those you have issues with to fight and beat the shit out of them?

Basgiath War College is ruthless for those in the Riders Quadrant, and not for the weak. Which is why, with Violet Sorrengail as our FMC, it gets good right away. Violet is tiny, weak, and extremely smart. She was destined for the Scribe Quadrant and has grown up preparing to be essentially a scholar. So, it gets really interesting when she is thrown into the Riders Quadrant by her mother and expected to survive or die. We learn that Violet’s joints don’t work like everyone else’s, a condition in the real world known as ehlers danlos syndrome. So, you can guess that it won’t be a walk in the park for her to survive.

I love Violet as a FMC, thinks like a scribe and right away begins to come into her own strength and willpower, much to the chagrin of her oldest friend, Dain Aetos. From the moment he sees her cross the Parapet, Dain tries to get Violet to run away and hide from her mother in the scribe quadrant. At first Violet thinks it is sweet of Dain to try, but by the 239577365th time it naturally pisses her off… Who wants their best friend to continuously tell them they aren’t strong enough to be where they are? It really bothered me that her closest friend wouldn’t respect her decision and listen to her when she said she was staying, let alone reminding her that he thinks she doesn’t have what it takes.

Thankfully, Xaden enters the picture and while apparently Violet’s enemy, he seems to be doing a lot of advice giving and help for a person who supposedly wants to kill her. As they continue to interact and their chemistry grows, WHEW!! It is steamy and tense and oh so good.

Fourth Wing can boast a host of villains, all really well entwined in the story. General Sorrengail, Jack Barlowe, Xaden Riorson, Dain Aetos, The Venin, The riders, and a few sprinkled in I am sure I’m forgetting. for a book about your time at school it certainly doesn’t lack danger or death.

Both the villains and the rough-around-the-edges characters were brutal, sharp as a blade and tough as hell, and I appreciated that. There wasn’t a lot of gushy happiness or hiding behind fake smiles. It was all aggression all the time. You run from the dragons? Dead. You have an enemy? They will publicly announce they want to kill you. Someone hates you? You will sure as hell know. Scared? Well the leadership will not be telling you it is fine, that’s for sure.

The plot of Fourth Wing was great! I was interested in the story line the whole time, and was completely invested in everything happening. I love a good story of facing your weaknesses and bettering yourself, pushing your mind and body to the limits, and not letting any of your shortcomings hold you back. With fantasy, betrayal, spice, dragons, and magic sprinkled in? It makes for a great story.

My favorite characters were Tairn, Andarna, Rhi, Ridoc, Imogen, Obviously Xaden and Violet, and Liam. I don’t think I could pick from the crew who I liked best, because they all have a soft spot in my heart.

I loved all the dragons, the folklore, and how the bond works. Tairn and Andarna’s mental conversations with Violet were so interesting, and I loved the personalities they had. When Sgaeyl and Xaden were brought into the mix? it got even better. I loved the aspect of mind talking in ACOTAR, and love it just as much here in Fourth Wing! I think it was totally different but done just as good.

The signets were one of my favorite things in the book. There were so many different ones and we didn’t really see a repeat at all which I loved. With some of them being illegal, and the professor who helps hone your signet skills not appearing until the signets appear, it made for a very intriguing plot line. In general, the whole aspect of the school, classes, and professors was really interesting. Flight class, gauntlet training, challenges/sparing, battle review, signet training, history, etc. It all was interesting and a great way to weave additional world building into the story.

The ending though, WOW. I had no words. I will not spoil it for you, you will have to read it for yourself.

Overall, I LOVED Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. The plot, characters, romance, character development, all of it was fantastic. There were so many twists and turns, it kept me on my toes the entire time! This was my third time re-reading it, so I could prepare for Iron Flame, book 2 in the Empyrean series. I would definitely recommend Fourth Wing to anyone who loves good world building, great sexual tension, and high stakes in a tough world to live in.