1,388 e-book pages. 1,388 pages. Those 2.75 stars are generous.
(also, this review may have spoilers for Fourth Wing, so proceed at your own risk)

Look, I didn't have high hopes going into this book. I didn't really like Fourth Wing, but I figured Iron Flame couldn't be much worse, right? It's supposed to focus on a rebellion, right?
Wrong.
There were only three (3) scenes that I found interesting in the entire book, and one of them was the climax. The other two were the only semblance of important plot points that I could find in this book. Because. It. Dragged.
I can deal with some drama in my "fantasy" books, but if I wanted to watch Violet and Xaden bicker like children for 1100 pages, I would've become a couples' therapist. I won't go into too much detail, but they literally picked fights over the dumbest and most hypocritical reasons. And then the introduction of ex-lovers? I was tempted to return the e-book right then and there.
So what's the plot of the book, you might ask?
Bickering, some "Violet is so cool" moments where she gets her butt saved by someone else and then praised for it, more bickering, an occasional spicy scene, very brief "action" scenes, and (you'll never guess) even more bickering!
And now you might be saying, "Well, Abby, you've done a whole lot of complaining" to which I would say "Trust me, I've given you the bare minimum and there's a lot more hatred pent up inside me." But then you'd ask why I rated the book 2.75 stars if I hated the plot so much and I'll answer with: of the few interesting scenes, I did enjoy them and also I tolerated, like, three of the characters.
Violet got on my nerves the entire time for various reasons and I couldn't care less about Xaden and the rest of the main cast, but there were a few characters that stood out to me. This feels like an episode of Dance Moms and I'm revealing the pyramid.
The three characters I liked: Sloane, Aaric, and Brennan. Sloane was good because she's full of hatred for Violet just like me. Aaric's backstory is the only reason I like him; I find it interesting and I hope the future books focus on him. Similarly, I don't have a reason for liking Brennan but I just do. I also didn't hate Bodhi but I think it's just because I like the name.
Overall, was I disappointed in this series? Quite a bit. But will I continue to read it? Probably, if only to complain about it. Judge me all you want, but I'm hate-reading and it's amazing. For some reason, a small part of me finds it enjoyable to read books only to judge them.
So I'm sorry for the rant. It was actually pretty tame compared to what I wanted to say. The book gets 2.75 stars for the implications of the ending.
And also, I 100% am a Dain apologist now. Do I like his character? No. But do I think he gets too much crap? Also yes.
Link to Libby Annotations