Iron Flame: 2 (Empyrean) Hardcover – 7 Nov. 2023

✶✶✶✶✶ / 5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ꔫDare I say this was better than Fourth Wing? I dare.⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹"𝔐𝔶 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢. 𝔐𝔶 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔯. 𝔐𝔶 𝔴𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫."⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹I was so late to picking up this book because of all the mixed reviews I was hearing. Everyone I know kept saying it was boring, or that it started off too chaotic and then just dropped off. Well, I’m honestly regretting listening to them because they were completely wrong! I’m never taking their word for it again—clearly, they just don’t get this series like I do. I did an immersive read with the graphic audio, and it made the whole experience ten times better.This book had everything you'd want in a second installment—new relationships, new characters, plot twists, and so much growth. I have to admit, I really appreciated Dain's redemption arc. He’s not my favorite character, but you can see he’s deeply flawed, and it’s really refreshing to watch him grow and change. He’s not completely off the hook yet, but he’s definitely on his way. The Iron Squad’s friendship is also amazing, and I loved how the book really highlights Violet’s struggle with not being able to be fully honest. It’s so clear that the squad consistently proves they’re there for her, trustworthy, and reliable.જ⁀➴ᡣ𐭩 𝔙𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔱I absolutely love Violet—she’s such a relatable character, and she means so much to me. I’m so glad Rebecca continues to do her justice. It was amazing to see her relationships with both Tairn and Andarna grow, and she really gets the chance to shine in this book. She definitely deserves all the spotlight. Watching her grieve Liam was so tough, especially while carrying so many secrets. It nearly broke me seeing her pull away from her friends, all while dealing with the pain of Xaden being away longer than expected. And on top of that, she’s feeling Tairn’s grief for Sgaeyl. Even though she had so much growth in this book, I have a feeling by the end of the series, Violet will be completely unrecognisable in the best possible way.“𝔙𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢, 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔢. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢.”“ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲’𝔡 𝔭𝔲𝔱 𝔛𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯, ℑ’𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢 ℑ 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩.”“𝔗𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔡𝔰, ℑ’𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔲𝔠𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔬𝔣𝔣 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔰, 𝔇𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔄𝔢𝔱𝔬𝔰.”જ⁀➴ᡣ𐭩 𝔛𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔫Xaden just keeps getting better and better, and my obsession with him is honestly becoming unhealthy. Why isn’t he real? I absolutely loved seeing him get jealous over Halden—exactly what we needed. And. You. Delivered. I was devouring that scene like a starved beast. But also, small f you (though honestly, I can’t stay mad at you even if I tried) for not giving Violet the heads-up about Cat. Rule number one: never let the love of your life find out about your past from a JEALOUS ex. Anyway, “My house. My chair. My woman.” I might just have to tattoo that on my forehead because I literally couldn’t breathe after reading it. And the end? I get it, Xaden—you did what you had to do to buy the woman you love some time. But I’m not mentally prepared for the next book. At all. If you betray Violet we will be having words.“𝔜𝔬𝔲’𝔯𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔶. 𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔨𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲.” “𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔶,” 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔞 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴, 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔰𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥. “𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔢,” ℑ 𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢.”“𝔐𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔢, ℑ’𝔩𝔩 𝔪𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔨 𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢.”˚ ⋆୨୧― 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔫 & 𝔄𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔞 ―୨୧⋆ ˚What’s better than Violet and Xaden? Tairn and Andarna, honestly. They’re some of the best characters I’ve come across. It feels like I’m bonded to them too because I’m right there, feeling everything they’re putting down—it’s crazy. Andarna is the sassy teenager, and Tairn is the tired dad who always knows best. Their interactions had me laughing out loud. I do have to say, though, my heart broke more for Tairn than for Violet when we found out about that certain (HUGE) secret that both Xaden AND Sgaeyl kept. My jaw hit the floor. It wasn’t surprising that Xaden kept Violet in the dark (that’s pretty much standard behavior for him at this point), but Sgaeyl keeping it from Tairn too? Wow. EXCELLENT WRITING. MIND BLOWN.“𝔖𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔱,” 𝔄𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔞 𝔰𝔲𝔤𝔤𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔰. “ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔲𝔢. 𝔍𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔧𝔞𝔟 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢—”“𝔄𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔞! 𝔘𝔰𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔢,” 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔫 𝔰𝔫𝔞𝔭𝔰. “𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔞 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔦𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱.”“𝔊𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔞. ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔞 𝔰𝔫𝔞𝔠𝔨.” 𝔄𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔞’𝔰 𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡. “𝔚𝔢 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰,” 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔫 𝔩𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔰. “𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔣𝔲𝔫.”“ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔥 𝔥𝔦𝔪 𝔦𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢,” 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔫 𝔬𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔰. “𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔪 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔞𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡.”“𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣," 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰. "ℑ 𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔶 𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔶 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴.”“ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔲𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤." 𝔖𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔲𝔣𝔣𝔰."ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔦𝔵 𝔥𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔶 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥. 𝔚𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔥 𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔯, 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔢𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔨𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔡𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔢𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔴. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔯𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔯. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔢." 𝔖𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔮𝔲𝔢 𝔞𝔰 ℑ 𝔞𝔪. 𝔚𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰."Oh and the end? Yeah I will be billing Rebecca and her team for my therapy sessions.PS. As much as I was late to picking this masterpiece up, I am glad Onyx Storms release is a stones throw away.

'There's nothing outside this kiss. No war. No lies. No secrets. There's only his mouth, his hands sweeping up my side, his desire matching the first of mine. This is where I want to live, where nothing else matters but the way he makes me feel.'We knew the feelings we experienced reading Fourth Wing were something incredibly special. That book hit us like a meteor and showcased another side to Rebecca Yarros' magnificent storytelling - her fabulous creativity and imagination with romantic fantasy. We forged an immediate emotional connection with some unforgettable characters, and, as you can imagine, our hopes were very high for Iron Flame."How long do you think it takes for someone to fall out of love? A day? A month? I'm asking because I don't have any experience with it."Iron Flame picks up immediately where Fourth Wing left off, and we loved it! So much! Xaden being all romantic…YES PLEASE! Violet becoming more kick a**e than ever! And our dragons! We love Tairn and Andarna, who is quite the mystery! Rebecca Yarros provides so much humour through her dragons - they certainly don’t mince their words (or rather thoughts), and they always put a smile on our faces. The secrets, the mystery, the romance…we loved it all.'Love doesn't even have the decency to die. It just transforms into abject misery.'Iron Flame had our heads swivelling with plot twists we didn't see coming, and an ending that left us SPEECHLESS! We've been madly discussing theories since closing that last page. We were consumed by Violet, Xaden, and the characters in Iron Flame. We experienced what was to become both a frenetically adventurous, and yet sometimes slow-moving story all in one. How is that possible? Whilst parts of the story moved at breakneck speed, others were a little slow moving and didn't really advance the story, however, that meant we could catch a much-needed breath here and there."I would rather lose this entire war than live without you."Whilst it didn't quite hit the dizzying heights of book one, there's no question we absolutely LOVED Iron Flame, and can't wait for more! We need answers!! Another brilliant story by a truly brilliant author!'I don't miss the woman I was, the one who didn't know her strength.'

First Impressions:I bought Iron Flame for my sister, and she absolutely loved it. The book is full of intensity, and it draws you in from the very first page. The action, the twists, and the depth of the characters make this a hard-to-put-down read!Story and Characters:The plot is riveting, with complex characters who go through amazing arcs. There are moments of intense emotion and suspense, and the author does a fantastic job of keeping you hooked. The story keeps you on your toes, and the relationships between characters are just as thrilling as the external conflicts.Pacing and Writing Style:The pacing is spot on—there’s never a dull moment. The author blends action, mystery, and character development seamlessly. The writing is rich and engaging, with just the right amount of detail to pull you into the world without overwhelming you.Themes and Impact:Iron Flame explores themes of courage, sacrifice, and betrayal, making it emotionally impactful while still delivering plenty of exciting action. The book really makes you think about the choices the characters make and the consequences of their actions.Final Thoughts:If you’re a fan of action-packed novels with rich characters and twists you didn’t see coming, Iron Flame is a must-read. My sister couldn’t stop talking about it after she finished, and now I’m considering reading it myself!Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5 stars) – A gripping and emotional ride that keeps you hooked until the end!

Great follow on from book one . Characters well described , very addictive storyline with original twists . Can’t wait to read book three .