noriboo's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's good. I can see why a lot of people love this story so much. But there were a few things that made this not the most enjoyable read for me.
This book made me realise that military academia is not for me.
The story starts off strong, but after 10 chapters, it starts to drag. Chapters were too long, and the book could've been 200 pages shorter imo.
My favourite parts were anytime we got interaction with the dragons, and I was surprised to see that even after threshing, they spend more time with theorie than actual dragon riding.
I loved Xaden's character, but the nickname he came up with, "Violence," was cringy to me. Everybody talking about how frail Violet is was grating on my soul. Even after, she definitely bulked up and SURVIVED multiple challenges that killed other cadets. But sure, let's keep holding on to the narrative that she's the weakest link . BFFR🙄
My other hangup was that I didn't find Violet or most of the other cadets inquisitive enough. There were multiple times when Violet noticed that the math ain't mathing, but she didn't investigate. She let's it go until another thing pops up and rinse, repeat.
I was happy when we finally reached the point where Violet at least started kicking ass, taking names and telling Dain to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
Xaden and the other descendants of the old rebellion were the saving grace of this story, as they seemed to be the only ones with critical thinking skills and not just blindly following codex.
Will I continue reading this series? Yes, probably, because I dislike starting and not finishing one. But I won't be picking up Iron Flame anytime soon.
This book made me realise that military academia is not for me.
The story starts off strong, but after 10 chapters, it starts to drag. Chapters were too long, and the book could've been 200 pages shorter imo.
My favourite parts were anytime we got interaction with the dragons, and I was surprised to see that even after threshing, they spend more time with theorie than actual dragon riding.
I loved Xaden's character, but the nickname he came up with, "Violence," was cringy to me. Everybody talking about how frail Violet is was grating on my soul. Even after, she definitely bulked up and SURVIVED multiple challenges that killed other cadets. But sure, let's keep holding on to the narrative that she's the weakest link . BFFR🙄
My other hangup was that I didn't find Violet or most of the other cadets inquisitive enough. There were multiple times when Violet noticed that the math ain't mathing, but she didn't investigate. She let's it go until another thing pops up and rinse, repeat.
I was happy when we finally reached the point where Violet at least started kicking ass, taking names and telling Dain to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
Xaden and the other descendants of the old rebellion were the saving grace of this story, as they seemed to be the only ones with critical thinking skills and not just blindly following codex.
Will I continue reading this series? Yes, probably, because I dislike starting and not finishing one. But I won't be picking up Iron Flame anytime soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Violence, Death of parent, and Child death
thebookaddict's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
🇳🇱: Wat een emotionele rollercoaster. Ik heb alle emoties gevoeld in dit boek! Ik heb van elke seconde genoten. Ten eerste de land building is echt top! Ik kreeg gelijk een beeld bij alles zonder dat het overbodig voelde. En dan de karakters... stuk voor stuk een goede aanvulling in het boek (ook al kon ik sommige karakters niet uitstaan). Alle persoonlijkheden zijn zo verschillend en passen toch zo goed in het verhaal. Alle gebeurtenissen vallen hierdoor gelijk op zijn plek, je krijgt echt van die "ohwww daarom deed hij dit" momenten. Echt chefs kisses. Ik snap de hype helemaal... ik kan niet wachten om iron flame te lezen! Ik moet weten hoe dit verhaal verder gaat.
🇬🇧: What an emotional rollercoaster. I felt all the emotions in this book! First of all, the land building is really great! I immediately got a picture of everything and then the characters... each one is a good addition to the book. All the personalities are so different and yet fit so well into the story. This makes everything fall into place immediately, you really get those "ohwww that's why he did this" moments. Real chef's kisses. I totally get the hype... I can't wait to read iron flame! I need to know where this story continues.
🇬🇧: What an emotional rollercoaster. I felt all the emotions in this book! First of all, the land building is really great! I immediately got a picture of everything and then the characters... each one is a good addition to the book. All the personalities are so different and yet fit so well into the story. This makes everything fall into place immediately, you really get those "ohwww that's why he did this" moments. Real chef's kisses. I totally get the hype... I can't wait to read iron flame! I need to know where this story continues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
tootoo96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Bullying, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma
lizsurber's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
tguccione's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, Blood, Death, Gore, Ableism, Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Medical content
wattamclare's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The first third was great. I was super interested in the world, the characters, and the plot being built. That all fell apart in the second third when we took a break from doing any actual plot/worldbuilding and tossed in a bunch of smut and insta-love. Back into some plot for the final third but it was incredibly irritating to watch the over the top instalove romance and the now over-powered protagonist.
Basically a bunch of popular YA tropes with dragons tossed in for vibes. Probably good for people who like Sarah J Maas or Twilight but otherwise, not worth the read.
Basically a bunch of popular YA tropes with dragons tossed in for vibes. Probably good for people who like Sarah J Maas or Twilight but otherwise, not worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
kmsander4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I literally just finished this book and I'm not sure I'm ready to review it yet or that I'll truly do it justice.
I saw this book explode online and simply decided I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't read a summary, didn't watch a single review video, nothing. I was honestly surprised when I saw the dragons on the cover and pages when I picked it up.
But I could not shut up about this book as I read it. There was a dystopian feel that reminded me of books I read when I was much younger, but then there was spice that was definitelt not from the books of my childhood. I just couldn't put it down AND I couldn't stop picturing it as a movie or tv show at every turn.
And then, and then you get to that ending. The final battle. The twists. The turns. The betrayal. And then the FINAL REVEAL?!? That had me truly gobsmacked. While I did see the creatures they battled at the end coming, I did not see the final scene unfolding like that at all and hooooooly crap was I surprised!
Cannot wait to get my hands on book 2!!
I saw this book explode online and simply decided I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't read a summary, didn't watch a single review video, nothing. I was honestly surprised when I saw the dragons on the cover and pages when I picked it up.
But I could not shut up about this book as I read it. There was a dystopian feel that reminded me of books I read when I was much younger, but then there was spice that was definitelt not from the books of my childhood. I just couldn't put it down AND I couldn't stop picturing it as a movie or tv show at every turn.
And then, and then you get to that ending. The final battle. The twists. The turns. The betrayal. And then the FINAL REVEAL?!? That had me truly gobsmacked. While I did see the creatures they battled at the end coming, I did not see the final scene unfolding like that at all and hooooooly crap was I surprised!
Cannot wait to get my hands on book 2!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder
barocap001's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Chronic illness, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief, Child death, Ableism, and Death of parent
laurenleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If I did quarter stars, this might be a 4.25! I’m not quite sure if I understand the extreme amount of hype, but I did enjoy this. I can see why it’s often grouped with ACOTAR (fantasy romance with some definite spice), but I liked this way more than that. There seems to be a greater acceptance and mainstreaming of more explicit sex scenes in fiction these days, and I’m all for sex positivity! I also LOVE how this is the second spicy book I’ve read recently that talks about consent, even if briefly. It felt like if you removed dragons and magic from this, you’d just have a modern day enemies to lovers romance in a military school. Personally, I could have used more fantasy, more diving into the magic systems.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Child death, and Sexual content
mattiedancer's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Writing: 3⭐️/5
The writing was there. I’m a big quote person. Generally, I write down at least one quote from every novel I read, one line that just felt so beautiful and powerful I can’t resist putting it in my notes app to look back on it later. I don’t have a single one for this book. And that’s not to say it’s poorly written. It’s more of the opposite: it was well-written, but unremarkable. It existed to serve both the plot and the characters and, while that means there was nothing terribly wrong with the writing, it was not the book’s strong point either.
Beyond that, I believe the novel started at maybe the worst possible start. I either needed more of Violet’s life before joining the Riders or less. I had a sliver of it, and it served only to push back the action without doing any concrete service to the characters or the plot.
Characters: 4⭐️/5
Alright. Xader is amazing. Love him. Perfection, don’t change a thing. Our main character, Violet or Violence: she’s very awesome, but I felt like her inconsistencies as a character were pushed off as ‘character growth.’ I saw no scribe here, despite everyone’s insistence that there was one. I saw a nerdy girl with a love of reading, but not a scribe, and it bothered me for the first half of the novel, despite loving the strengthening and self-improvement of our MC. The side characters felt forgotten at times and well-fleshed out at others. And Dain. He’s believable to a point, but I really had a hard time taking him seriously after a while because he was too easy to hate. I wanted a bit more out of him. But also, I had fun with the characters, and I’m pretty sure most fantasy-novel lovers would, too.
Plot: 3.5⭐️/5
A world with a strict government that is allowing the death of many innocents. A girl who is exceptional in her powers, despite looking small and weak. A rebellion alliance that is gaining traction. A love interest who is forced upon our main character. It’s a lot of things I’ve seen before, and a lot of things I’ve seen before together. That’s not to say I didn’t have fun reading the plot, but I found myself often a bit bored with the tropes and overused plot points. At one point I found myself wondering why we can’t have a functional government in fantasy novels. After all, it is fantasy. And the fact that I spent a portion of the novel daydreaming is probably not the best evidence for a fully engaging and exciting plot.
World: 4.5⭐️/5
Can’t help but add a whole category to my review process in order to tell you about this world. I was intrigued and enthralled by this world. I loved the dragons and, even more, I loved that the dragons rule this world. I enjoyed the powers, the explanation of the academy, and the vibrancy of the processes the dragon riders had to undergo. I tired a bit of the exceptionalism of the world – I don’t need an explanation of fertility suppressants, personally. We can just call birth control, birth control – but otherwise, I found it fun, exciting, and intriguing.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Fans of ACOTAR & TOG
- Fans of dragon-centered books
- Readers not deterred by a few tropes and predictable plots
- Someone looking for a fast and fun fantasy read
Content Warnings?
- Death, sexual content, death of parent, grief, torture, murder, fire/fire injury, blood, ableism, violence, war, bullying
Post-Reading Rating: 4.25⭐️/5
Will read the next book; however, I am not excited for us to pretend to be mad at the main love interest for the first bit.
Final Rating: 4⭐️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, and Gaslighting