Iron Flame: DISCOVER THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT EVERYONE CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT! (The Empyrean)

I haven’t read the book yet but the quality of the hardcover book is just awesome 😎 oh and the sprayed edges are just mind-blowing. And the book itself is very good, at least that’s what I have heard. And I will be back with my review soon…

*takes a deep breath*I think it’s a little heartbreaking to me that I started my review for Fourth Wing the exact same way, by taking a deep breath. What’s heartbreaking about it is that they’re likely for different reasons. I’m not going into this review thinking to spoil anyone, but I don’t promise that I won’t be speaking about things that you would rather read about in the book than on my blog. Of course, I won’t tell you how it ends, but in the process of explaining how I feel, I might have to give some details. I’ll try my best to—Okay, I changed my mind. This review is going to be spoiler-y. Still won’t tell you how it ends though. Be warned (returns).Let’s begin with the best advice I could give you, which I took myself: do not walk into this book expecting another Fourth Wing. There will never be another Fourth Wing, even Fourth Wing didn’t expect to be a Fourth Wing. That honestly helped me greatly while getting into this book. I had read Fourth Wing many many times before entering this book, knowing that I had to be very sure about the world building and rules that we had been introduced to in book one for me to able to be comfortable about whatever Iron Flame would throw at us. Despite that, I was grappling, but more about that later.As soon as I opened the book, the first thing I noticed was the very helpful breakdown of the structure of the wings, sections, squads and leadership. It’s likely that by now everyone’s fairly understood the workings within BWC (Basgiath War College) but in case you need a quick refresher or have some confusion on the structure or who’s higher up in the leadership, you have a diagrammatic representation of it to check quickly. A big thumbs up from my side for that, thank you! The second thing I noticed which surprised me was that under the contents section there was now a division: Part One and Part Two. I couldn’t fathom why there would be such a division, what could possibly require for a book to be split into two parts unless there is some case of before and after; but what could that be in the current scenario? Third thing I noticed was the page count. It was 600 odd pages on my Kindle and the mini-celebration I did in joy is unrivalled to anything else that I had ever celebrated before.Let’s start off with part one. This book begins minutes after where book one ended. I wouldn’t say book one ended on a cliffhanger, given the answers for the what who how were rather evident. But, it definitely did end on a plot twist. The last few chapters of book one rode the high of the first plot twist that was both revealed and handled with brutal action scenes and emotionally wrecking moments. About four pages into IF we suddenly have five hundred and fifty times the information that we did in about 7 chapters of book one put together. I’m aware that this could be off-putting for many readers because it can come off as an info-dump, but I was here for it. The book begins to delve slowly into the world that has been kept hidden away from us—the world of the MMC—so yes, I was here for it. The difference in our perception of the secrets, the characters hidden in the dark and their world versus the actual reality of what is happening and what the truth is cannot be more vastly different. I was curious to see how Yarros was going to integrate this new truth into the set-up she had weaved in book one—the war college, the leadership and the mission that her squad had successfully failed at. The answer to this is: she did and she didn’t, which also ties into the part one and part two suspense.The first half of the book progresses with some tension, a sort of long distance relationship between the MCs paired with the vast emotional gap that now separated them because of the betrayal and secrets from book one, the new Vice Commandant who really might just be a sadistic psychopath in hiding and the past and secret truths that Violet Sorrengail has to now live with. An additional factor that as readers we had not expected? What being a second year at BWC meant. The rules of year two? Survive, but do not break. Pair all of this with the nail biting tension of Violet as she pushes away anyone close to her, judges who to trust with her newfound secret and tries to help the revolution in her own way. All this is fairly familiar ground with some new twists and turns and shocks and revelations along the way.The progress in the first half of the book is one step forward two steps back on many fronts. Each time there is progress, there is something that takes them a few steps back. There’s pain and betrayal waiting at every turn and the stress and frustration of it all really hits a peak by the time part one ends.As part two begins I could immediately understand why the book was split right down the middle this way. At this point I began feeling like I was reading two completely different books, the set-up changes, the stakes increase infinitely and everything we had come to understand about the world becomes convoluted and many times harder to understand. Violet’s character responding to this subconsciously and the conversation she and Xaden Riorson have about this really hits the nail on the head on that front. That being said, nothing (not even the prep I did understanding all the rules of everything Fourth Wing laid at our feet) could really prepare me for everything that happens in part two. I went through many reads of each page and I’m still iffy on some things, even though Yarros tried her best to add some familiarity to the whiplashing changes.Now let’s address why it’s possible that there are so many gaps in understanding and the world building not being as smooth as it was in book one. Is this because this book was made to release in a rush that everything from the editing to the writing has been rushed as well? Hence the physical copies too are turning up with multiple issues and misprints? Highly possible. While the book is very much binge-able, it is also extremely extensive. The world building takes a hit because the writing hasn’t been trimmed of that which is not required. For example: Xaden’s lifted hand is raised at his chest […]Sure, this is perfectly acceptable, but it’s also a two time explanation of something, to say that it’s both lifted and it’s raised even if the second was to explain location. “Xaden’s arm is lifted to his chest”, or “Xaden’s hand is raised at his chest” are more common, simple ways to phrase that. If you think I’m nitpicking that’s perfectly fine, but now imagine this kind of writing being paired with new world building that’s poured through almost every page of this 600+ book. It makes everything 100 times harder to understand which means we gloss over meaning and glean understanding only through the results of something. For example, I may not know why something works or doesn’t but I know if it has worked or not. Which is the kind of surface level comprehension that my reader heart will never be happy with. I can understand now why books are released nearly one year apart. Just half that time and I can see the steep price it exacts. Though I’m very thankful for such an early release and know it couldn’t have been easy to get this Godzilla of a book out.However, the book, you can tell has a lot going for it. There’s lots of tension between the MCs that’s so frustrating it makes you feel everything. The depth to which their emotions are felt pour off the page and like all characters caught in the middle of an almost-war, they don’t always have the luxury of time to deal with their differences. I loved that they try anyway and that their relationship is so new that they’re both growing, understanding how this works and stumbling many times along the way. Them calling one another out, taking criticism, rolling with it, finding even and balanced ground is surprisingly the most powerful scenes in the book. Surprising, because book one had more powerful scenes other than the emotional ones (perhaps the writing dampens our understanding of the world which reduces the effect of the other scenes, I’m not sure. Or maybe it’s me, who knows?). After they finally achieve that state of balance and peace—with a lot of frustration and pain on the readers’ end—I’m not ready to see that being shaken. But just my luck, I bet something is going to happen. We have three more books to go and my anxiety is not feeling settled.I loved the relationships in this book. Loved it. In Fourth Wing, Violet’s squad is one of the best things about it. In this book, the squad expands, both in the way you’re thinking and not in the way you’re thinking and I loved seeing that happen. I love female friendships and I especially love how Yarros writes how these relationships evolve. There are some characters that dislike Violet immensely and watching both the effect of that and the slow evolution of it into something else was my favourite part of it. I love Yarros’ ability to work into her writing the nature of people, how there’s dark and light. Does that mean redemption arcs work 100%? Well, the answer is yes and no. The book has a many act now, feel and think later scenarios and oftentimes it’s more important to be able to trust someone now rather than focus on how they were in the past. It’s a heartbreaking and heartwarming element when it plays out.Part one’s pace was stable, going at the perfect speed, but part two kicks it out of the park and I was just flying through it. There are many fantastic things about the book which is what makes it a four star read for me. However, I essentially plotted out most of the happenings in this book, because they’re the absolute typical writing strategies that are used to escalate and maintain tension. (bombastic side eye) I have to say, I didn’t expect to be so right. I pretty much nailed it on the head, to be honest and after how unpredictable Fourth Wing was for me, I did not expect to be so right about so many things. Especially that ending… *sighs* which is what makes it a four star read for me.That ending I know would have hit the mark on breaking a lot of people’s hearts, but for me, it was a little…disappointing. I suddenly feared it was a angst amping strategy, before remembering that the author has plotted out this whole series and I will have faith before I have doubt. So will I read the next book? Absolutely. But am I worried, but for very different reasons than a reader typical is? 100%. But again, faith first.My rating is four stars and that’s not something I predicted. There were also some formatting errors in the Kindle edition that I purchased, so do be open to the possibility of that when you start reading. Please check trigger warnings. This is not a book that you go into without being aware. The book offers trigger warnings inside, so that’s something I’d really like to thank them for.

I cannot set this book aside. I am addicted. The story is Riveting and beautiful. I absolutely am in love with the characters and the story.

I haven’t read it. Purely rating it and judging it based on the cover. Packaging can be good as it has damaged the book

Só leiam. Meu Deus. Que livro.Eu tô destruída. Ansiosa. Chorei. Ri. E agora preciso aguardar ansiosamente, no mínimo, 6 meses até a continuação da história.