Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

196 reviews

nina_bookkura's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cayde_starkiller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

aukohler's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

shayna_hadassah's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If I have to continue to be subjected to Gen Z slang I'm going to actually lose it.

"You're more important to me than this revolution and everyone here."
"Same."
SAME????? Are you kidding????? S A M E. Fucking SAME???????????

Listen. I use this slang. If it were used in a joking context, or when the characters were goofing around, sure. I could let it slide. But you're going to just drop it on me out of nowhere? I'm immediately drop-kicked out of the narrative.

The characters and relationships were stronger in this book than in the previous one, which was nice. We had some depth and nice world-building. Certain parts felt like more of the focus was on being complex just for the sake of it than for adding anything meaningful.

I think the biggest offender of this was when Violet had the opportunity to actually ask Xaden the questions she had, and then didn't. You built up to so much being hidden and then just. didn't ask most of the questions that Violet had. She literally said, "I'm going to ask you all the questions." and then didn't!

I very much did enjoy the reveal about Xaden! That felt like Violet being the intelligent heroine we keep being told she is. She figured out his secret, and then figured out what the secret actually was, on her own. That had foreshadowing! We were given clues! But they were subtle enough that she figured it out without the narrative holding her hand about it. Excellent set up.

Seeing them have the same fight over and over again got old really quickly. That argument happened just about the same way three or four times. Violet even said they kept having the same argument. Finally they got through it but boy was that painful.

I really enjoyed how Violet's mother was fleshed out! She had a very small part but it really built her up and made her much more complex. I felt like throwing Xaden's ex in there as bait for Violet was incredibly cheap, but her power is cool, so half a point. Can we make a decision about Dain though?

He was a friend, then he was a love interest, then just a friend, then an antagonist, then an enemy, then an ally, then a friend again? It isn't even that he's moving between categories, it's that he isn't really being fleshed out in any of those roles. Of all of the characters, he's the one who feels most like a character, i.e., he's just being moved to where he's most convenient for the narrative without enough depth to make me really care about his motivations. He needs to be there, so he's there, and we'll build the reasoning later.

The dragon lore continues to be the coolest part of the story.

The bit about the ward stone really bothered me with Violet's character though. She's supposed to be so intelligent, but not reading "the six and one" as "seven" really made me question why she gets to be the main character. Obviously no one else put it together either but to read "the six and the one" and not bother to question the "one" at all until another translation literally has the number seven in it was ridiculous.

The interactions between the dragons and how they fight feel real in the world and have rules that they follow. I appreciate that the rules of the universe stay consistent and the struggles of the characters don't get hand-waved away because of magic.

The fact that the characters have to train and plan and take time to come to decisions is a huge selling point for me; magic just changes their world, it doesn't automatically make it easier. Different languages being something they have to learn is nice too, instead of having them magicked into a lesser problem.

Fight scenes are still punchy and fast-paced. Descriptions are vibrant without being overwhelming. The explicit scenes were a little cringy and exhibitionist, which I did not appreciate, but that could very well just be a me thing. I did find some of the phrasing to be pretty repetitive, which just sounded like lazy writing to my ears; there are plenty of ways to describe the fact that things are happening quickly without using the phrase "in the span of two heartbeats" three times in the same scene.

I do want to know more about this world. The conflict itself is interesting and I enjoy having this hidden information that needs to be sussed out.

The twist at the end was less enjoyable than in the last book and, I thought, felt too much like having a twist for the sake of having a twist. There wasn't any build up. There was one line that could clue you in that something might happen, but no indication that something like that would happen. Honestly I think it's Andarna that will make me read the next installment more than the twist with Xaden. I thought his decision was unnecessary. Maybe kinda stupid. I think she's cool as hell. 

And if I have to listen to some kind of intense declaration followed by "same" again I'm going to blow a gasket.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Sexual content and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

dkamada's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kellyyy_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

So in this sequel, Violet and Xaden are preparing to set up their rebel base and start their new year training. Violet struggles to control her signet and emotions following Xadens new assignment. After the trauma in Fourth Wing, Violet struggles to cope with Liams death and the revelation of her brother. To start on a positive note, I love that this was more like a spy novel with all the sneaking around and secrets. The increase in communication between Violet and Xaden is so needed and well handled. Onto the negatives, giving Xaden a crazy ex is so incredibly unnecessary emotionally that it makes me mad. This has almost no combat or actual training in it despite being a book set in a war college where soldiers train to fight. The lack of raw emotion that emanated from the first book is also pretty disappointing. I just feel like this was good conceptually but so rushed and under edited it loses all the charm that was present in book 1. Overall it was fine and I will read the next book but for me this is trending towards From Blood and Ash (great first book and terrible sequels). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rchulin1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow such an amazing book loved it just didn’t flow as much as I’d like and it wasn’t as lighthearted and funny as the first book understandably so since this book has a lot more tense moments 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chanlo1994's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

The relationships in this book are so realistic, where communication and trust must be the foundation for any relationship to thrive, whether its for friendships or love. And that feeling of failing for the first time and then feeling like everything you do is also a failure.... *chef's kiss. The fact the author wrote these emotions so accurately makes me feel SEEN. 

Also, the level of dragon sass is through the roof and I'm here for it lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Child death