Review
of “Iron Flame” by Rebecca Yarros
Coming out of “Fourth Wing” I was super excited and
thrilled for this series, which the author has said will consist of five books.
I loved the main characters, and I really enjoyed spending time in this world.
When I started “Iron Flame” my expectations were high. However, after the first
third of the book, I began to lose interest. Halfway through the book, which is
longer than the first book, I began to get bored. While there are interesting
aspects in the sequel “Iron Flame”, overall, it gets weighed down by its
multiple story plots.
The beginning of this book starts with the main character Violet returning to her second year at Basgiath War College. We get a sense of what is expected of second year students, and how Violet and Xadan’s relationship changes now that he has graduated. Everything that takes place at the college is great and engaging. However, about a third of the way through the book, the story shifts and we are removed from the college until the very end.
The main plot of this book is restarting the magic
shield wards to fight off the enemy. However, I feel that some scenes are
repetitive and the story meanders around the plot, introducing points that
don’t focus on the main story. I feel that this book should have either been
condensed or split into two books. It simply takes too long to get to the last
act of the story. It becomes too drawn out and the side plots could either be
saved for the next book or scrapped altogether. It took me a long time to
finish this book, because I had just lost interest in reading it.
There are a few good things about this book. The
opening at the college is wonderful, the reveals and twists are shocking and
well done. I like continuing to build the relationship between Violet and
Xadan, as well as her family. Unfortunately, most of the book was less
interesting and I can’t recommend reading this one. That said, I will still
look forward to reading the third book in the series.
