Iron Flame is the second book of the Empyrean Duology and my feelings are such a mixed bag. It's very difficult for me to rate this book as I overall enjoyed the plot, but there are just so many little things that irritated me throughout the book. 

This starts off directly after the ending of Fourth Wing and you follow Violet as she battles with her feelings of betrayal and having to hide the knowledge that the fairytale monsters actually exist. 

Quite frankly, I found Violet significantly more irritating in this book. In fact, I was getting dizzy with the amount of times I rolled my eyes at her selfishness when it came to her and Xaden. Xaden is still very much a dreamboat and I don't really see much wrong with his actions for the most part. He is well justified in most things but because Violet doesn't like it cause she has FoMo or something, he's in the wrong and nothing he explains will do anything to change her mind. 

If I ignore those stupid arguments that they have, Violet's character is actually a very good main character. She is headstrong and her growth has shown a lot since the first book. She just loses all sense as soon as it comes to relationships. 

Tairne and Andarna might just be some of my favourite characters though. It is a shame that Andarna wasn't present through pretty much the entire first half but boy does she come back with an attitude. I know she's meant to be adolescent now but it just feels like a teenager that's trying too hard to be edgy at some parts. I do adore her obsession with snacks though, that was both adorable and relatable. 

In this book, you meet loads of new characters and I was getting very confused because I have the memory of a squirrel on crack. Some were good, and some were…. Not so good. 

Cat was predictable and just something to stir the pot. I thought it was a little unnecessary but hey ho. People like the drama I guess. Sloane was an interesting character as you see her grow and learn to understand that Liam’s death was not the fault of Violet. 

Speaking of Liam, that one scene in this book had my heart breaking. Again, it was a little cheesy but who doesn't like cheese. Even the lactose intolerant community likes it. I think that it shows Violet’s growth in learning to accept his death which is nice to see and provided much needed closure. 

The characters were mostly great and I could say the same for the plot of the book. The first half was a little dull in my opinion. Catty fights and just a lot of complaining instead of doing in my opinion. However, the second half picked up and had me more interested in the plot. 

Throughout the book, I would get bored but then something would happen that would make me interested again. However it would then spiral into boredom again and that kept up throughout pretty much the entire book. It's like the small boosts of interest you get if you gamble. You can't stop because something's gonna happen but you'll be bored for a section before you get that. 

In addition to that, the writing was less than amazing. It is very YA and not really to my taste. A lot of cringe and a lot of “OH MY GOD XADEN IS SO HOT” which just got a little tiresome. 

The thing that really got me was the ending. My heart tore from my chest and that was a twist I never expected. I have to applaud Yarros for her ability to write a cliffhanger cause oh my word. After reading those last 30 pages, I knew I had to get my hands on the third book. 

Overall, the characters were mostly okay, even if I wanted to strangle Violet many times.  Theplot was interesting and the ending just heart wrenching. I don't know how I'm going to cope with waiting that long for the next book. Though the writing wasn't great, it didn't deter me from reading since the plot had me interested enough.