Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros: A Spoiler Free Review for Romantasy Writers
Working Title: Iron Flame struggles to balance the romance and fantasy elements, but is nonetheless entertaining as hell
Romance and fantasy writers, would you like to work with me? Head over to Book Bound Coaching. Folks that subscribe to this Substack get 10% off their first service. Spots in my calendar are limited, as I’m also writing book two of my romantasy series.
Before I jump into Iron Flame, I want to say congrats to Rebecca Yarros and Fourth Wing for winning the first ever Romantasy Goodreads Choice Award with 397,565 votes! The second runner up received 33K votes. I knew Yarros was going to win, but I didn’t think it would be dragon-sized blood bath.
Please note: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FOURTH WING. If you have NOT read the first book of the series, you have been warned!
Trigger Warnings for Iron Flame include:
Imprisonment
Torture
Death (by swords, magic, and dragon fire)
Dismemberment
Overview
Welcome to the Revolution, where the trials of year one at Basgiath War College pale in comparison to Violet Sorrengail’s new reality. Iron Flame opens with the Assembly of the Revolution voting to send the cadets back to Basgiath after their fight at Athebyne, forcing Violet to lie about the existence of wyvern and venin to her entire squad. This secrecy, compounded by Xaden’s promotion and subsequent deployment, takes a toll on Violet’s mental health and overall character growth. Much of the conflict in part one of Iron Flame is a result of the disconnect between Violet and everyone important in her life.
In order to keep the story fresh in the dragon riders’ second year of study, new antagonists are introduced. The most important new villain on the fantasy front is Vice Commandant Varrish. On a rating scale of asshole to Joffrey Baratheon, he’s what Joffery would be all grown up. Prepare to actively hate this guy. The threat of the venin is always in the background, as well as the added danger of being caught and executed as a traitor.
Speaking of antagonists: Violet and Xaden’s relationship is rocked by another secret—his former love interest Catriona. Since this is a spoiler free review, I can’t go into much detail, other than to say she puts the “cat” in catty.
The ending was powerful, featuring a death that had me crying my eyes out. There are enough questions about the magic system and signets that remain unanswered, and it will be extremely hard to wait to learn those secrets. In a situation where it feels like all is lost, I am beyond excited to see how bad ass Violet Sorrengail is going to triumph in both love and power.
The Romance: Hot or Not?
The internet is divided over this one, and rightfully so. Anyone who loves to read enemies-to-lovers has to deal with the fact that, in Iron Flame, Violet and Xaden are an established couple. The source of conflict between them is not fighting off their desires, but rather, communication. One could argue this is how the enemies-to-lover trope fails in a series when the love is established in book one.
Xaden’s inability to be truly honest with Violet, even after his revolutionary status was revealed at Athebyne—NOT SEXY. As a woman of a certain age, I’m not sure if I would tolerate this kind of behavior from my partner, no matter how muscled his pecs. What makes it worse is that Violet is no better, refusing to admit her love to Xaden because—why? Youth? Insecurity? Both/And?
Reviewer Anum on Goodreads joked this should be the cover blurb:
“You didn’t tell.”
“You didn’t ask.”
There are tender moments though, which redeem them as a “couple to root for” in my opinion. Violet gets over her lusty brain fog and starts to use the mind she’s known for, allowing her to truly see Xaden for who he is. And when he finally admits his feelings? OH MY GOD. I wish this was not a spoiler free review so I could quote the entire passage.
Romantasy Writers: make a note of that scene. You’ll know it when you read it.
The sex scenes are comparable to those in the first book. If you thought they were well done, you will enjoy what is offered here. If you thought it was cringe? Sorry. That wasn’t my take. And this book has a throne. Can’t say much else—spoilers 😉
The Fantasy World: Better than Before
I like big books, but at 623 pages for the hardback and 28 hours and 17 minutes of audio, this is a hard sell for the average reader. Without the audio, I would still be somewhere around chapter seven.
Despite this, I think Yarros used the pages to truly expand on the worldbuilding. There are new locations to explore, mythical creatures to meet, and battles to survive. The politics have bite, and Andarna’s transformation into adolescence allows for some very fun, snarky dialogue. Stepping outside of the war college to explore Navarre as a whole was the right choice for this volume.
Some reviewers have noted that several plot points have an episodic feel. Indeed, there are a number of instances in which a conflict is introduced at the opening of a scene, and it concludes by the end of the very same scene. On the one hand, that can make the pacing feel fast and exciting. However, this can also lead folks to feel a bit of a disconnect from the larger, overarching narrative that should be driving the internal arc. While I like reading more, as a book coach I would have encouraged Yarros to trim down some of the scenes that stall the progression of Violet and Xaden’s growth.
As in Fourth Wing, each chapter opens with a snippet of an in-world document. These take on a number of forms, including historical texts, excerpts from the rule book for the Rider’s Quadrant called the Codex, and love letters from Xaden to Violet. Perhaps its my training as an art historian, but there is one plot point that centers around translating a text that was poorly done. It was painfully clear that Violet was using the wrong word and the correct translation was easy to discern. The clue is literally spelled out on every single copy of Iron Flame.
Conclusion
I love Romantasy, and Iron Flame delivers. Like Fourth Wing, I had a really hard time putting this book down until I got towards the end. At that point I had the internal fight of wanting to know what happens, while simultaneously not wanting the story to be over. For me, that’s a sign the author has truly succeeded.
There are three more books planned in the series, and Yarros has done an excellent job setting up the conflict while also leaving us questioning when, where, and how the next volume will open.
What did you think of Iron Flame? Let me know in the comments!
I won't repeat the points we already discussed on our call, haha. And I won't mention any spoilers, either. But I thought it was interesting what you wrote here about scenes with conflicts resolved by the end of the scene. I clearly wasn't paying enough attention, since I already forgot about them, LOL. But it's interesting since I like to end every scene on a cliffhanger. XD So I delay the conflict resolutions!