Everyone is entitled to their opinions but to the horde of people who gave this a 5 star, blink twice if you're okay and need someone to come and rescue you from the hostage situation you're so clearly in.

Iron Flame is incredibly bad. I only gave it the extra star because despite his spiral toward becoming a simpy loser, I still like Xaden. Take him out of it - which RY did for the first 300 pages - and theres nothing much else going on. The writing is terrible, the characterisations are weak and the plot is so horrendously non existent, that after a combined total of over 1000 pages, I still don't really know whats going on or why! This is going to be a long one guys...buckle in!

VIOLET - She's boring, overpowered, immature and extremely ignorant. Everyone panders to her which doesnt allow her to grow but to continuously get away with shit that someone else, anyone else among the fifty million cast members could have done. She thinks she knows everything, she actually gets upset when she doesnt know everything and spent the vast majority of the book moaning at Xaden about not telling her everything when that information did in fact get them all in trouble. For someone who keeps saying how important knowledge is to her, why doesnt she figure things out before jumping in headfirst, like oh, how to wield your magic correctly so you dont get everyone killed!

XADEN - One of the only good things about this book after the dragons for me and even he is walking on thin ice. Why does he keep allowing Violet to do stupid things and not reprimand her about them. I'm all for the 'he lets me make my own choices and doesnt try to coddle me' trope but at this point, she's a fucking liability Xaden! You're not a very good lieutenant/leader if you keep putting this obvious weak link of a person on the frontlines. I hate the choices he's making just because he's in love and while that might be cute in other books, if youre trying to explain how high these stakes are, then this isn't the way to do it.

PLOT/STAKES - There arent any. Im sorry but i dont understand how noone knows whats going on in Aretia. How entire councils of seemingly adults are sitting around listening to a 24 year old just because what, his dad was the rebellion leader before? So, that doesnt mean Xaden has any military expertise. If General Melgren thinks the rebel kids are so dangerous, why recruit them into the college? Why not have someone watching Tyrrendor to make sure they dont, ya know...rebel again.
The whole flight from Basgiath where they just continued going to school for a few hundred pages made no sense. We're fighting a war supposedly but you've got time to go to Battle Brief? Sure...okay. That makes sense.

WARDS/VENIN/JACK - Im sorry but none of this makes sense and she tried too hard to make it complex that she wrote herself into a weird hole of complexity and idiocy that i cant seem to get out of? Nolon was doing what? Mending Jack so he could control him after becoming venin? Why not just kill the guy! The venin i straight up dont get? They're people who took power from others, how? The only reason i know this is because Imogen almost had a fit that she was turning into one but is siphoning even her power? I thought it was Sloane's?? If it is, then why is Sloane not a venin after doing whatever she did to the mum/General Sorrengail?
She's trying to get us to believe that the wards are what keeps everyone ignorant to whats going on outside them but this just does not work for me. Absolutely NOONE sees magical men and wyverns flying around before superhero violet turns up to Basgiath? gtfoh!!!

SMUT/ROMANCE - I liked the smut. Xaden can dick me down any day because at this point, it seems to be the only thing he's good at . i liked the addition of Cat until i didnt because it just felt like another thing RY threw in to make X and V fight when there was no need to be fighting. Their entire argument about the questions etc was pointless. Them being apart for the first half of the book was pointless and infuriating because it was so forced.

DRAGONS - I like Tairn and i actually like Sgaeyl but we dont get enough of her. Im not a fan of Andarna anymore because like so much else in this book, she feels forced after that ending. Of course Violet has not only two dragons but one is a special breed that has been hiding for 600 years -_- Its all just too coincidental and forced and unoriginal.
Can I also point out that Tairn's sizing makes no sense. When we first meet him, Violet says she doesnt come up to his ankle so how does he catch her by her arms in his claws when she falls or whatever because surely his claws would be too big to grip under each arm. Surely he'd impale her on one at some point if not break her neck when she falls at such velocity and he catches her then throws her back into the saddle. Surely her already fragile bones would shatter on impact???

GRYPHONS/FLIERS - .....what?! Like honestly, what?! What is even going on there? Who and what are they? What was that whole random section in the middle about them climbing over some mountain. I dont understand

I could be here forever but this book is terrible. The pacing was ridiculous. It did not need to be that long and the ending was bullshit. She just made it something to do with Xaden because she knows that something happening to the 'couple' will be the draw for more sales.

I despise how publishing is using us, pushing out this same old tropey books that have absolutely no substance. They should be ashamed.