Spoiler-Free Review of Iron Flame, Does Contain Spoilers for Fourth Wing

This review is for Iron Flame, book 2 in the Fourth Wing series. For my review of book 1, click here.

What’s Iron Flame about?

Violet returns to Basgiath for her second year, and she has to prove herself trustworthy to the rebels while also staying alive through new and more treacherous situations.

While not as immediately engaging as book 1, I still had a good time.

Even though the beginning was slower (and a little bogged down by recap info, as sequels tend to be), once the plot really started, it took off. I definitely liked the second half more than the first half.

Violet is back at Basgiath for her second year, and her new classes (and some new leadership) bring back all of that delicious turmoil. It was full of the exciting, propulsive action that made Fourth Wing so fun. Characters would die or nearly die, get into wild fights, and have brush-ups with dragons in nearly every chapter.

Violet herself is no longer the untrained newbie. She’s been through battle and acts like it, and everyone else also recognizes her fighting prowess. Now that she knows the truth about the war and the real threats her world faces, there are those who want her out of the picture. Other students are the least of her worries – now she has to defend herself from straight-up assassination attempts.

On the writing side, there were, admittedly, moments where the wording made me cringe or just felt awkward. Particularly in the first 20-25%. I felt Fourth Wing flowed really well; it wasn’t stunning, but it didn’t get in the way of the story. But it definitely got in the way here. There was a lot of internal monologuing, and often the writing felt over-explanatory.

I also wasn’t as compelled by the romance aspects this time around – but that could be a me thing. I’m notorious for finding established couples boring. Even though Violet and Xaden aren’t technically official going into this one, it still felt to me more like an established couple in a prolonged disagreement than two single people in a slow burn. I’m just not into couples who fight or miscommunicate, or spice without the tension and buildup, and that’s all established couples seem to be good for in romance novels.

But that may not be an issue for you as a reader. (This trait of mine is probably part of the reason I gave A Court of Wings and Ruin 2 stars, lol).

And that cliffhanger?! I’m interested to see where the story goes from here. I think my overall feeling is that the author should have taken the full year between publications, as is usual for a fantasy series. There were things I truly did like here, but also a lot that needed polishing. But if the next book isn’t better written, I may struggle to finish the series. Which is unfortunate, because book 1 is easily one of my favorites for the year.

Should you read Iron Flame?

If you read and enjoyed Fourth Wing, you’ll probably like the sequel.