It has been a bit of a while since my last blog post because although Uni has finished for the summer, life has been busy! With my free time I’ve been really enjoying reading some chunkier books. I love fantasy books and started the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros a little while ago and would definitely recommend them. I finished Iron Flame yesterday and so thought I would write a review, letting people know whether they should be on your TBR. I would say as a warning, they are not a good series for someone looking to get started in fantasy as the world building, length of the books and knowledge of the genre required is quite a lot. But for people who already love fantasy: YOU HAVE TO READ THEM!!!

Fourth Wing

I LOVED this book so much, although it’s pretty long it flew by. I loved the intricate worldbuilding, how much agency dragons have in this universe, the complex relationships and familial bonds developed and of course Violet and Xaden. I loved the magic systems and Andarna especially was a favourite of mine. I truly didn’t see the twists coming and I was really excited to read the next one in the series: Iron flame.

Iron Flame

I did enjoy this book, but it didn’t quite live up to its hype. I found it incredibly long (at nearly 800 pages) and felt large swathes of the novel could have been reduced or cut out entirely. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy the storyline, I did! And I enjoyed the different settings, getting out of Basgiath and into Aretia. It does have some crazy twists of its own and some seriously gripping scenes, such as the torture ones with Varrish and Violet, but I was annoyed at how slow her mum was to act, how so much of the novel had Violet refusing to forgive Xaden, even though it was of course inevitable and so it felt laboured, and the ridiculousness that was Jack Barlowe resurfacing. I will definitely continue this series as now I am seriously hooked, but I hope Onyx storm is less infuriating!

What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments!

Yours, justjaslettering xxx