Title: Iron Flame
Author: Rebecca Yarros
ISBN: 9781649374172
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Pages: 640
Source: Review copy from Johnathan Ball Publishers
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 gruelling 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.
Official Summary
25 October 2024
I have been thinking a lot recently about how we as an audience rush authors to finish books. I mean Fourth Wing was published in May 2023, and Iron Flame was published in November 2023. That is six months between the two books. I know exactly what happened, Fourth Wing blew up on the internet and the author, as well as the publisher, wanted to grasp at the success while they could, which is why this book felt rushed and it doesn’t feel like it was edited as well.
Sadly, this is starting to happen to so many authors just because we cannot wait. An author will work on a book for so long, we read it in a couple of days and then as soon as we are done the whole internet starts to put pressure on the author to have the next book as soon as possible. I truly believe this causes books to not be the best that they can be. Don’t get me wrong, I am the first person to be impatient and want the next book immediately, but I think going forward I’m going to try to be more patient and let the author do their thing. I will read the book when it eventually gets released. Anyway, end of my TedTalk back to Iron Flame…
Thank you, Johnathan Ball, for this book. I got this book from them and that encouraged me to start this series in the first place and I have loved it.
This book was good, I rated it five stars. However, it does not live up to the hype of the first book. I think it is because everyone knows the rules of a fantasy series, the first book is always supposed to be the worst because it is supposed to be the more boring book, as you have all the character and world-building to get through.
Yet, somehow this book had a lot of world-building, even more than the first one. Fourth Wing was light, and the world-building was easy to understand, while Iron Flame just felt like the author was trying to prove she was smart with this book. There were times when my head was spinning from the amount of info dumping, we got.
Iron Flames picks up right where Fourth Wing ended. It then follows as Violet and the rest of her wing must go back to Basgiath War College and complete her second year. However, she also must watch her back as she now become a target of both other students and professors.
Violet was a very questionable character in this book, I loved her in the first book but her whole thing with Xaden was just annoying. She was so annoyed that Xaden had kept things from her, but then she would go and keep things for Xaden. Girl? Really? I mean she was such a hypocrite in this book. Although she was still a badass you still cannot help but love and root for her. We also did not have nearly enough Xaden in this book, and I get it, he was off doing his thing, saving the world but still, it would be nice to see him more.
I loved the new characters in this book; they were all great. Is it bad that I kind of loved Catriona? I know she was supposed to be one of the antagonists of this book, but I felt like she spiced things up a bit, she is so different from Violet while still somehow so much like her. I hope we get more of her in the next book. As well as Aaric, I am looking forward to his character development in this series.
The ending of this book was such a shock. I expected it to end on a cliffhanger because the first one ended on one, but oh my gosh talk about a massive cliffhanger.
Overall, my hopes are high for the next book, Onyx Storm, which comes out in January 2025. I have high hopes for this book as it has taken Yarros a lot longer to write this one. I recommend anyone looking for a good Fantasy to give this series a go.
Also by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
About The Author
Author Bio from the Author’s Site
Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.
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