removed a star because at times it felt like there were too many characters and I had to back track to remember who was who. I think a glossary would’ve helped this book. Other than that I loved it. It leaves off on a cliffhanger which I didn’t see coming until the very end. I loved the political aspect of this book and can’t wait to continue the series. On a side note why would Liam be killed off 😭😭😭

Love all of this!

In December 2023 a friend of mine told me I -needed- to read Fourth Wing. Desperate to break out of my reading slump, but not really believing any book could do it, I went ahead and borrowed it from my library.

It changed my life.

Not only did this book break me out of my reading slump, it encouraged me to get back into writing. Yarros is an absolute master of her craft. The romance, the intrigue, the world-building, the INSANE amount of subtle foreshadowing is all done to perfection. This story is so much more than a smutty romance. Honestly, the smut is pretty mild and there are only a couple explicit scenes and they aren't even that graphic. The news headlines focusing on the fact that there's sex in this series are seriously missing the point. This is an epic fantasy driven by the choices of our romantic heroes. It's exciting, tension filled, emotional, and constantly leaves the reader saying, "What else could possibly happen to this girl?!" I -love- this book.

In January 2025 I did a re-read in preparation for the launch of Onyx Storm. It was just as good the second time and I had a fantastic time tabbing all the foreshadowing and little hints I knew Yarros had left us due to my knowledge of Iron Flame, but also all the little things I thought might be important in the other books going forward. I used almost 100 tabs. Yarros is brilliant.

This book dragged me back into the world of reading in a way that I was not expecting but will be forever grateful for.