"When I like something, there is no “keeping it cool” or nonchalance. In my eyes, that thing is the greatest thing to ever exist and I will not stop raving about it. Case in point: my screaming-from-the-mountaintops praise of Fourth Wing that has dominated 90 percent of my conversations since May. That book seriously made me rethink every other five-star review I’ve ever given. It’s one of my favorite books of all time.
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When you spend so much time hyping something up, though, there’s a risk that others won’t think it’s nearly as great as you do. Fourth Wing’s popularity speaks for itself, and though not everyone loves it as much as I do, everyone I’ve recommended the book to has enjoyed it. But with the release of Iron Flame, I worried I turned so many people onto the first book only for it to be a one-hit wonder. However unrealistic, I put the weight of everyone’s enjoyment of Iron Flame on my shoulders. What if it didn’t live up to the hype of the first book? This was my most-anticipated book of the year, and if I didn’t like it, how would I move on? It may sound dramatic, but I truly loved Fourth Wing so much that enjoying Iron Flame was a necessity, rather than something that would just be nice and fun. Iron Flame not meeting my expectations would have crushed me.
Luckily, Iron Flame’s ending was so insanely compelling that it reaffirmed that we struck gold with this series. Ahead, my review of Iron Flame:
Warning: There are light spoilers ahead.
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 grueling 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.
My Review
Fourth Wing was nonstop fun from the very first page, and I loved every minute of it. And yes, I’ve read and dissected all of the criticisms. I hear them—but nothing anyone has brought up has changed my mind about the first installment of Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series. However, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t struggle through parts of Iron Flame. Did I love it? Absolutely. Even though it wasn’t love at first sight for me and Iron Flame, it was still a great story that expanded the world Fourth Wing introduced us to and left me wanting so much more.
My problem with Part One
For the first 30 percent of this book, I really thought it was going to let me down. My love of Fourth Wing and my anticipation of Iron Flame created unrealistic expectations that were always going to be difficult to live up to. And when I didn’t love it after page one, the way I did with Fourth Wing, I truly believed I was in trouble. That said, about a third into the book, my excitement and anticipation had settled enough so that I could slow down and sink into the story. But even after reflection, I can’t help but feel that Iron Flame just didn’t hook me the way Fourth Wing did. Some of my initial reactions to the book are entirely on me, yes, but I also can’t deny that Iron Flame had a much slower start.
Fourth Wing immediately throws us into the action with Violet entering the riders’ quadrant and fighting for her life. The weight of my own expectations aside, it took a little bit longer for the action to start building in Iron Flame. As a result, I paid more attention to things like Violet making dumb decisions or awkward tension between Violet and Xaden or Violet and her friends. All of this contributed to the fact that for the first good portion of this book, I found myself facing down disappointment. If you felt similarly with the start of this book, I’d recommend taking a beat and rereading the beginning. I know I’m not the only one who hyped Iron Flame up so much that they’d be disappointed no matter what.
That said, the story did ramp up to the point where I could not put my Kindle down. By the time I reached the last page, I was completely enmeshed in the story. However, the fact that it took me a bit longer to get there is the tiniest mark against it. I’m sure in the grand scheme of the series, I’ll look back fondly on this part of Iron Flame… especially if what I think is going to happen happens. No spoilers, but things don’t look good for our girl Vi.
More dragons, please
The dragons were the shining stars for me in Fourth Wing, and that continued in Iron Flame. The lore and dynamics Yarros has crafted are so fascinating. Iron Flame slowly gives us more and more insight into the dragons’ society. I love that the dragons have their own stories and that Yarros lets us in on them. They’re not merely tools for the riders. The dragons are complex creatures with distinct personalities and relationships. Not only that, but their political conflicts are just as compelling as the human ones.
The dragon lore is well and good, but I’d be remiss not to mention their best trait: their sass. Yarros has said she based Tairn on her grumpy old bulldog, and ever since learning that, I can’t shake the image from my head. If you loved Tairn and Andarna’s wit and sass in the first book, rest assured it carries through book two.
Violet’s friendships steal the show
The side characters were a huge highlight in Fourth Wing. In the first part of Iron Flame, they were disappointingly put on the back burner in favor of other storylines. Now that I’ve finished the book, their lack of presence in those first chapters makes total sense. During that period, Violet is purposely cutting herself off from her closest friends. So we see less of Rhiannon, Sawyer, and Ridoc for a good portion of the book. That said, when the conflict within the group is resolved, we get more of them, and their dynamic remains top-tier.
While Fourth Wing turned the group into allies and later friends, in Iron Flame we see them become a real family. Watching the group become ride-or-die (lol) for each other was incredibly heartwarming. Violet, Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Sawyer consistently show up for each other. They help Violet research something crucial for the war effort, teach Sawyer sign language so he can better communicate with his crush, and save each other from certain death time and time again. They made a promise that they’d each make it to graduation. Watching them work together to make sure that promise becomes reality is something special. If anything ever happens to any of them I fear I will never recover.
Violet takes one step forward and two steps back
Listen, I was pretty firmly anti-Violet for the first chunk of Iron Flame. In Fourth Wing, we’re introduced to this strong, smart, independent woman who doesn’t let her differences hold her back. In fact, she learns to embrace them as she comes into her own as a dragon rider. However, the events at the end of Fourth Wing understandably messed her up. For the first third or so of Iron Flame, it felt like Violet’s character did a huge backslide. I actually ranted to a friend about how upset I was at the direction the book was taking with her.
In retrospect, I realize that Violet’s character did suffer, but not without reason. Her early interactions with her friends felt stilted and inauthentic because they were supposed to. Violet distanced herself from them in an effort to protect them from what she knows, yes, but also because she didn’t know how to be around them anymore given what she experienced at Athebyne.
Not only did Violet’s friendships suffer, but she also made questionable choices and judgments for the entire first part of the book—costing people their lives in the process. I loved Violet’s intelligence so much in the first book so seeing this regression was upsetting in the moment. When I took a step back, however, it made sense, and Xaden put it very eloquently later in the book. Of course, Violet is messing up right now. Everything she’s ever known about her world was shattered before her eyes. The expectations she placed on herself—and that I placed on her—to carry on outsmarting and outwitting everyone and every obstacle in front of her were always going to be impossible.
By the end of Iron Flame, Violet has learned how to better cope with her trauma, has let her friends back in, and re-established her self-confidence, making her insights and decisions wicked-sharp once again. In the thick of it, I was endlessly frustrated, but with the full story behind me, I now see that every wrong step Violet took in the first part of the book was necessary for her overall growth. She still has quite a long way to go, however, and things are only going to get harder.
Violet and Xaden need to get it together
This might be divisive, but Violet and Xaden’s relationship didn’t steal the show for me this time around. Instead, I found myself as frustrated with these two as they were with each other throughout the entire book. They’re working through extreme betrayal and a lack of trust, but in the grand scheme of everything that happens in this book, I wanted them to snap out of it. Violet and Xaden live in a world where death is at their doorstep every single day, making their personal issues seem so much smaller in comparison. Almost each time they see each other they rehash the same argument and never seem to find common ground. It’s wasted time when every visit could be the last time they ever see each other.
I’m not typically a fan of miscommunication as an obstacle in romance books, and Iron Flame is no exception. All of Violet and Xaden’s problems could be solved if they simply stopped hiding the truth from one another. Unfortunately for us romance readers, this isn’t a stand-alone, so we don’t get a neat resolution to their story. (If you’ve made it to the end you know that’s the understatement of the year.) While their relationship frustrated me in this installment, I’m taking solace in the fact that Yarros has said she believes in happily ever afters. So even if Iron Flame was rough for Violet and Xaden, there’s plenty of time for redemption.
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 grueling 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.
Final Thoughts
Somehow, Iron Flame takes the already Everest-level high stakes of Fourth Wing and raises them even higher. There were several moments while reading this book when my heart could not stop racing. I have physical proof, too. While sitting on the couch frantically trying to reach the end, I glanced down at my Fitbit. My heart rate was a shockingly high 99 BPM. Despite some early trepidation, Iron Flame did the impossible task of successfully following one of the most popular books of the year. Needless to say, I won’t get in my own way when it comes to enjoying this series anymore. Whatever happens next, I’m fully ready for it.