About the Book
-
Author:
- Rebecca Yarros
- Genres:
- Fantasy
- Man-Man Romance
- New Adult
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Add Fire And Burn
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Modern Dragonriders of Pern
Bonus Factors: Dain Aetos Cancellation, Research
Anti-Bonus Factor: Bridge Book Blues
Relationship Status: Bonded
Red alert! Iron Flame is the second book in the Empyrean series. If you have not read the first book in the series (Fourth Wing), man your battle stations turn away now, as there might be spoilers in this review. If you’re caught up, however, feel free to continue below.
Cover Story: Add Fire And Burn
This cover doesn’t stray from the cover of Fourth Wing, but does look—literally—a lot hotter.
The Deal:
After the explosive revelations at the end of Fourth Wing, Violet Sorrengail heads back to Basgiath War College a changed woman. She does her best to keep the secrets of the marked ones to herself, but quickly finds it harder than she ever expected. That’s not the only thing she has on her mind; she’s trying to figure out how the wards that protect Navarre work and were created so that she can extend that protection beyond the country’s borders.
Because the venin are coming. And they don’t care that the Navarran powers that be want to keep their existence—and the existence of their wyverns—secret, too.
BFF Charm: Yay
Violet continues to be a total badass, proving everyone’s expectations of the limitations of her abilities wrong at every turn. But she’s a very young 21-year-old, and for much of this book, I found myself frustrated with her childish pouting about Xaden’s “lies” and her tendency to leap before looking, both literally and figuratively. I saw more of the person I admired from Fourth Wing toward the end of the novel, but the book is more than 600 pages, so there was more frustration than admiration.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
While there’s still some very hot on-page spice between Violet and Xaden in Iron Flame, their back-and-forth, “Do you trust me? Do you still love me? I want you to prove it.” antics definitely detracted from the overall swoon. I kept forgetting this book wasn’t a YA; their fight felt like something teenagers would experience, not full-grown adults.
Talky Talk: Modern Dragonriders of Pern
Iron Flame continues to highlight Yarros’s wit and quippy dialogue, which is most apparent in Tairn’s conversations with Violet:
Hmm. “I’ll tell you if my punishment includes death or inconvenience.”
“I will already know, as I am continuously with you,” he grumbles. “Forced to bear witness to the awkwardness that is twenty-one-year-old humans.“
“I’ll strive to make it less awkward.”
“Could you do so, I would think you would have done it already.”
I want a dragon like Tairn so badly.
Bonus Factor: Dain Aetos Cancellation
The suggested love triangle of Fourth Wing has gone away completely in Iron Flame, much to my delight:
“Touch me and I swear to the gods, I’ll cut your fucking hands off and let the quadrant sort you out in the next round of challenges, Dain Aetos.” My words earn more than a couple of gasps, but I don’t give a shit who hears me.
Bonus Factor: Research
Violet and her crew spend a lot of time in The Archives, researching wards and trying to discover the truth about Navarre’s history. I actually wanted more of this—because book nerd—but I get that spending time in a library is not nearly as exciting as fighting on the back of a dragon flying through high altitude.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Bridge Book Blues
At more than 600 pages, Iron Flame should have moved the plot of The Empyrean along a lot more. This book focused more on the spat between Violet and Xaden than it did the looming war with the venin, and because of that, it dragged quite a bit.
Relationship Status: Bonded
We didn’t have a great time this time, Book, but our relationship isn’t going away because of a few bumps in the road. I’m in it for the long haul, and—unlike Violet—I can forgive and forget.
Literary Matchmaking
Moniquill Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is another book about a dragon school and also features an MC who has to circumvent people’s judgment.
Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series involves a very different sort of dragon, but they’re just as quippy as Tairn and Andarna.
Tracy Wolff’s Crave series features a third type of dragon and all the elder teenager angst you could want (and definitely more than you need).
