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A review by coffiend
Iron & Embers by Helen Scheuerer
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I didn't like Ren as much as I liked Thea, and it made the book a little harder to get through. I know she's the younger sister, but at this point she's older than Thea was in the Legends books, so her immaturity was just annoying. Lots of stupid and selfish decisions that just made me roll my eyes. I wanted to spend more time in Torj's POV, but not just him brooding over Ren. Having some of the other established characters involved was fun, too.
I love the larger world and seeing how things are changing after the events in the Legends of Thezmarr series. But I do think that if this were the first book I read in this world, I'd be less likely to continue the series. I like the author's writing style and the twists-and-turns that kept me on my toes, this book just felt a little more trope-heavy with an annoying FMC who thinks she knows better than literally everyone. And since it didn't feel like she grew much by the end, it'll probably continue in the next book.
I love the larger world and seeing how things are changing after the events in the Legends of Thezmarr series. But I do think that if this were the first book I read in this world, I'd be less likely to continue the series. I like the author's writing style and the twists-and-turns that kept me on my toes, this book just felt a little more trope-heavy with an annoying FMC who thinks she knows better than literally everyone. And since it didn't feel like she grew much by the end, it'll probably continue in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
[child abuse] and [domestic abuse] are historical, discussed in one of two scenes with not a lot of detail. Similarly, [suicide] / [suicide attempts] is historical, discussed without any detail (as far as method), some relation to what might be seen as [mental illness]. FMC is experiencing some PTSD-like symptoms after the events of previous books, including [panic attacks]. [animal death] and [animal cruelty] in the form of lab rats including poisoning, experimenting, and using hungry rats as a threatened torture technique . [fire injury] in the form of a threatened branding in a [torture] scene.