'Iron Flame' is a gripping sequel in 'The Empyrean' series by Rebecca Yarros, filled with unexpected plot twists, dragons, gryphons, riders, and flyers. The book follows the journey of Violet and Xaden, exploring themes of love, betrayal, war, and loss. The writing style is fast-paced, immersive, and filled with beautifully written passages that capture emotional states and intricate relationships between characters.
The plot of 'Iron Flame' delves into the complexities of trust, redemption, sacrifice, and the value of life, all set against a backdrop of intense action, friendship dynamics, and the mystery surrounding the dragons and the wardstones. The story unfolds with a perfect balance of suspense, character development, and world-building, keeping readers engaged and eager to uncover the secrets hidden within the Empyrean world.
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Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Iron Flame include intense violence, psychological and physical torture, betrayal, adult language, and sexual content.
Has Romance?
Romance is a significant aspect of Iron Flame, highlighting the evolving relationship between Violet and Xaden.
From The Publisher:
"The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity." -Xaden Riorson
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.
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.
The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Fourth Wing
Book #2 Iron Flame
Ratings (320)
Incredible (119) | |
Loved It (128) | |
Liked It (42) | |
It Was OK (23) | |
Did Not Like (4) | |
Hated It (4) |
Reader Stats (447):
Read It (334) | |
Currently Reading (12) | |
Want To Read (70) | |
Did Not Finish (5) | |
Not Interested (26) |
13 comment(s)
recensione completa sul blog
Ciao readers!
Scrivo questa recensione subito dopo aver terminato la lettura di
Iron Flame, secondo volume della serie di 5 libri intitolata
The Empyreans di Rebecca Yarros.
Dopo aver letto il primo volume nel giro di 24h, ho lasciato passare un po' di tempo prima di iniziare
Iron Flame perché non avrei voluto finire nel giro di 3 giorni una delle serie fantasy che più mi ha appassionato negli ultimi anni, seconda solo alle mie serie preferite di sempre (
Throne of Glass e
ACOTAR di Sarah J. Maas).
Questa recensione prevederà una parte spoiler free iniziale, seguita da una parte con vari spoiler perché sento proprio il bisogno di parlare nei dettagli di quello che è successo in questo libro con qualcuno!! Quindi, se avete già letto questo libro e volete confrontarvi su determinati eventi e sul finale, vi aspetto alla fine di questa recensione.
io ho letto l'edizione originale inglese, quindi mi scuso se probabilmente alcuni termini specifici tradotti in italiano non corrispondono con quelli del testo originale presenti in questa recensione.
“Less than a minute– that's how long it took for you to fall out of love with me”
Il mio principale timore prima di iniziare
Iron Flame era che non si attenesse agli standard già per me altissimi di
Fourth Wing. L'autrice, Rebecca Yarros, nonostante avesse scritto esclusivamente romanzi romance prima di questa serie, è riuscita a creare un universo fantasy davvero interessante, che temevo, data l'apparente inesperienza, potesse iniziare a vacillare con questo secondo volume. Questo, però, non è stato assolutamente il caso di
Iron Flame, in cui la parte fantasy e quella romance raggiungono un equilibrio perfetto, senza quindi quello sbilanciamento verso il romance presente invece verso la fine di
Fourth Wing. I momenti spicy non mancheranno, ma saranno ben distribuiti nell'arco narrativo.
Iron Flame riparte da quando Violet si risveglia dopo essere stata guarita da Brennan, suo fratello maggiore, che lei credeva morto da ormai 6 anni. Nonostante l'opinione di alcuni su un inizio un po' a rallentatore, io devo ammettere che la Yarros mi ha tenuta sulle spine sin dai primi capitoli: vengono introdotte nuove dinamiche, nuovi personaggi, si iniziano a svelare alcuni segreti e si mettono sempre di più i sentimenti in gioco.
Insomma,
Iron Flame ha superato la "maledizione del secondo libro" a pieni voti.
Ho amato come ci siano state date più informazioni sul mondo di
The Empyreans, sulle varie questioni politiche e sui territori al di là dei confini protetti di Navarra. Il mondo magico viene ampliato con elementi che arricchiscono ancora di più la trama, dandoci delucidazioni su punti del primo libro poco chiari e spunti su probabili dinamiche future.
Le relazioni tra i vari personaggi si fanno sempre più intricate e scopriamo tanti segreti sul loro passato e sulle loro aspirazioni future. I
plot twist sicuramente non mancano e questo non fa che rendere la storia ancora più accattivante.
Direi che posso terminare qui la mia recensione spoiler free per questo secondo volume, che sicuramente soddisferà tutte le aspettative di voi lettori amanti di
Fourth Wing.
Voto: 5⭐️
La migliore serie fantasy degli ultimi anni: un romantasy in cui alla parte romance e fantastica
viene data la stessa importanza
COMMENTI SPOILER:
non leggere se non hai ancora letto Iron Flame
FINALE
Non so se mi conviene iniziare da questo, ma... VOGLIAMO PARLARE DI QUESTO FINALE???? No perché avevo un piccolo presentimento che sarebbe finita così sin dall'inizio di Iron Flame, grazie ai vari sogni di Violet e grazie al fatto che il Sage le avesse detto che sarebbe stata proprio lei a correre da lui in futuro. E infatti, l'unica persona da renderla così tanto reckless non può che essere Xaden. Anche se su questi sogni ci sono varie teorie di cui probabilmente vi parlerò in un post a parte
2.5 ⭐️
Idk about this one. The romance takes a backseat so that the world building and fighting can be the focus. I think SJM pulled this off with ACOWAR but Yarros has (somehow) a worse ability to write actual fantasy elements. My favorite moment of lore dropping was when a character misunderstood a question Violet asked so that she could spend a few paragraphs explaining a completely unrelated topic to set up a reveal for later. Violet even thinks "Oh she misunderstood my question that isn't what I wanted to know." LMAO! What an awful way to convey information to the reader.
I can't help but to compare this to ACOTAR. The romantic interests are practically identical, the protagonists are very similar, they're both BookTok's romantasy stars, and they both struggle with creating engaging world building to set their romantasy in. Iron Flame is just ACOWAR but with dragons. I think the ACOTAR series pulled it off much better. The fantasy world was marginally better but the romance was a lot better. I can't imagine how there are going to be 2+ more books following Violet and Xander. "Yeah, lets make them argue over MORE stupid shit so we can stretch this out a few more books"
The romance is pretty abysmal in this. There is sexual chemistry but I don't get the vibe that Xander and Violet even like each other. It has this weird middle school infatuation vibe to it. I'm not convinced that their dragons aren't just influencing their emotions so that they think they love each other but are actually just horny. Violet is actually so mean to Xander at times and Xander is awful at communication. It doesn't have the "they're flawed but right for each other" vibe. It has the "they are toxic to each other and are probably better off apart" vibe.
Just because you love someone, doesn't mean you need to be with them
I stand by what Violet said here.
The goofy, silly, fun, dark academia, setting is gone for most of this book and I think that was a mistake. That, and the romance, is why I liked the first book so there wasn't much for me to enjoy here.
To me, this felt like a spin-off movie after a TV show stops airing but they want to bring the cast back. The creators completely misunderstood why people liked the TV show in the first place so they change the vibe and it alienates their original audience.
P.S. the amount of books I've seen compared to ACOTAR that I've read and then disliked makes me think that I need to reread ACOTAR again because maybe I am horribly mistaken and it's actually bad.
editing. fun! but editing.
Was the writing good? No. Was excellent writing what I was looking for? Obviously not. This is about entertainment value and my apparently low standards. I definitely liked the first book more, but this one is still good. Iron Flame is repetitive and slower paced. Some of the plot points seemed unnecessary to me? I also had trouble keeping track of all of the names and locations so that took me out of the story several times. I’ll obviously be reading the next one, but I do agree with the general consensus that this was a rush job for the sake of sales and the lack of refinement/editing reflects that.
3.5⭐️ I feel like it took so long for plot to start happening and then once it did it was rushed through??? the ending????? how and why. i feel like we missed a chapter. but ridoc has my heart.
I didn't care for the ending, but I'm intrigued enough to read the next book when it comes out.
This book took so many parts of my heart and soul. Upon completion I questioned my life’s choices and decisions - I stared longingly into the small shred of myself that knows I’m going to be just as hurt, broken and hopeful for the next book.
Here’s hoping it’s only 6 months until the next
*sigh* January 25th is too far away
WHAT IN THE ENDING WAS THAT
4.5⭐️ this book took a bit longer but still an enjoyable read… though not so much of a cliffhanger but ends with a huge uncertainty… can’t wait for the next one to find out
What can you read after
Iron Flame?
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