I thought this book was an entertaining read, but nothing I would want to follow up on. The world building was amazing and was the character development.

Listen, here is another late review (don’t hate me) but I am so sad I slept on this series/NetGalley read. Almost five years Tiffany. FIVE.

I am obsessed. I literally cannot put this story down. I have the audiobook going in my ear at work. I. Need. It.

The angst, the suspense, the mystery, the drama, the slow burn….

Twists and turns I did not see coming, some ever had me tearing up. At work.

If you are looking for a new series to binge (good news, there’s more coming still, it isn’t complete) I 100% recommend. You’ve got fae, mages, dragons, shape shifters, if you haven’t read you’re missing out. Don’t be like me.

I did not really enjoy this book very much as the writing style felt very juvenile and the plot also felt quite underdeveloped. I thought that the idea for the book definitely had a lot of potential, but it was not completely explained or fledged out. Overall, a good idea with a descent plot, but not good enough writing to fulfill that plot.

A great series starter.! The world-building is fantastic and the characters are well-developed. My only complaint is that the reader still doesn't have an very good idea of what is going on with Elloren by the end of the first book. But, I still loved it!

Originally I felt that I would not review this book because I wouldn’t have time abd it was the second in the series. I should have never said that! This series is addictive. So glad I grabbed book 1 and got to read this one. And then book 3 (separate review).

There was a lot of outrage with book one but I still have it a chance abd throughly enjoyed the story of Elloren. She’s battling with her friends the oppression they all have been dealing with and also crushing hard on Yvan. But to me Lukas came out of nowhere to pull me in. Entertaining and definitely made me pick up book 3.

As far as sequels go, The Iron Flower held up well to The Black Witch. I found myself engrossed in Elloren's story, the world of Verpacia, and all the ways Marcus Vogel is pure evil. Forest's world building runs deep and I felt completely immersed into their society. While at time the love triangle between Elloren Gardener, Lukas Grey, and Yvan Guriel made me want to roll my eyes, the overall story itself completely pulled me in. I could not put the story down and just had to find out what would happen next.

When Laurie Forest’s debut YA fantasy novel The Black Witch was published in 2017, there was a massive explosion of outrage in the Twitterverse and elsewhere online. Accusations of various types of prejudice — racism (albeit based on fantasy races), homophobia, white saviorism, ableism, lookism and more — were hurled against it. In my opinion those charges were unfair and based on a superficial reading of the text, missing the fact that the main character’s prejudices were clearly being shown as unthinking bias and bigotry, and in fact she does very gradually change her thinking over the course of the book. Still, I’m sure it was stressful for the author, so my assumption going into this sequel was that Forest likely probably worked overtime to make sure The Iron Flower (2018) wouldn’t offend anyone. It will come as no surprise to anyone that this assumption was correct. Unfortunately, what remains after the controversial elements have been removed is a run-of-the-mill romantic fantasy.

As The Iron Flower begins, Elloren Gardner and her friends at the University in the country of Verpacia have joined the Resistance, an underground group that seeks to undermine the Gardnerian conquest of neighboring lands and their violent bigotry toward other races. Elloren is one of the privileged Gardnerians, but with one brother who’s gay (forbidden sexual orientation!) and another who’s fallen in love with a werewolf (forbidden mixing of races!), and a set of friends that includes numerous other races, she’s now fully committed to battling Gardnerian oppression in all its forms.

It doesn’t hurt that Elloren is also falling in love with (or at least crushing hard on) Yvan, a Keltic young man who alternates between gazing at Elloren longingly and pushing her away for reasons he refuses to divulge. At the same time, Elloren is still having mixed feelings about Lukas Grey, the hot Gardnerian military commander that her powerful Aunt Vyvian has been pushing her to wandfast with (the Gardnerian version of marriage). Elloran has never had any magical power, but Lukas is certain that locked within her is the tremendous power of the Black Witch of prophecy.

The first half of The Iron Flower is slowish and muddled and I kept bogging down and setting it aside. Every moment that Elloren isn’t being OUTRAGED by the social injustices of her society, she’s obsessing about her feelings for Yvan or dithering about (and kissing) Lukas. Lukas is aware of Elloren’s rebellious leanings but still wants her, even though he “doesn’t believe in love.” Also, unless you remember all of the secondary and minor characters from The Black Witch, you’re going to find the large cast of characters confusing.

In the second half of the book, the plot finally snaps into focus and things get more interesting. The most intriguing character by far was Lukas, who turns out to have some unanticipated depths. However, the ending is, if not exactly a cliffhanger, very much just a mid-story stopping place, with the overarching plot left unresolved. More problematic, Forest’s writing style is basic and she uses first person present tense narration, which tends to come across as amateurish in less-skilled hands.

If you were an enthusiastic fan of The Black Witch, then you’ll likely enjoy The Iron Flower, though you may need to push yourself through the slower-paced first half. If you despised The Black Witch because Elloren was prejudiced in so very many ways, you can at least rest assured that she’s now fully woke.

2.5 stars

"Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs, but their actions have propelled them straight into the ranks of the realm-wide Resistance against Gardnerian encroachment. As the Resistance struggles against the harsh rulings of High Priest Marcus Vogel and the Mage Council, Elloren begins to realize that none of the people she cares about will be safe if Gardneria seizes control of the Western Realm. "

What a twist! What a way to leave a reader hanging! But in a great way! I cannot wait to read the next one! You will love this book! But make sure you read the Black Witch first!

I love witches... like love love love.. and I feel like this was an impressive take on witches!! I really enjoyed it and can't wait to finish the series!

"The Iron Flower", the sequel to "The Black Witch", continues the story of Elloren and the fantasy world introduced in the first novel. It's overall a bit of a let down for me for a few reasons but the most paramount is the overall plot. There's just something about the way this sequel was written that didn't quite work for me. I wish it was a bit more interesting but it just didn't manage to draw me in like the first book did.

I had been waiting for this sequel ever since I read the first one. I love the story that is created. It parallels our world while still remaining unique and interesting. The character development occurs at a pace that is realistic and not a sudden personality change. I am looking forward to further novels from this author.

Alrighty, I had to dive into the sequel mostly because I had it on my shelf, and it was on my TBR so shush. Also this book did not completely sucked like the first book had, and it was a little less frustrating, so maybe I really won’t be cursing so much as the first one. Eh, who am I kidding, it probably will.

I freaking hated the romance. I’m pretty sure I will watch Twilight on repeat, in between watching Marvel movies because this romance in this book was more annoying than Twilight. I was probably gagging because it was sickening, and it screams, LOVE TRIANGLES ARE NOT DEAD, PEOPLE, yeah I’m not kidding.

Most of the time I’m unnerved, or I really get minded about romance because why does everyone have to have a boyfriend/girlfriend. Why can’t people on the aromantic scale (hi, yes people. I’m greymantic) have a turn, and see romance not stuffed in our faces? Sorry, if I wanted to see romance I’d watch everyone literally act fifty times annoying with their partner and explain to people way too much, “I’m NOT interested in people. I’m not going out with Logan. For the last time.”

The whole book could be summarized like this, OMG Yvan looks so interesting and he is so hot, but omg Lucas also looks hot. Omg, what am I supposed to do? I can’t cheat on with each other, because I’ll feel so totally bad. This goes on for about 500 pages and it gets more sickening every page. Why are straight people like this???

Honestly, the last 150 pages were interesting which was probably the reason I rated this book two stars, because it didn’t completely sucked. There was a lot of action going on, and shows that Elloren who is still a special snowflake, though not as bad, could make a difference in her society. A small but meaningful contribution.

Even though the plot developed more in this book, the characters still suffer. They are still flat, uninteresting and quite boring. I couldn’t care less about what happens to them, because I just don’t care. Elloren still freaking sucks in this book, and is less petty. She is willing to make a difference, but her thoughts mostly involve around guys and I don’t understand it.

I had to read the first book before I could read this one but I'm glad I did. This series was amazing. I cant wait for the next book. What a cliffhanger The author created this world that when you are reading you really felt like you were there. I dont normally read magical fantasy like books but I might start. I would recommend this book.

I hadn't read the first book, but eventually got the hang of the story. Forest spins a good yarn and I'm not the biggest fan of magical type stuff.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This book picked right where book one left off. It is a strong continuation of the Black Witch. There were enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting. That is something a lot of book do not have. IT makes me want to continue reading the books to come.

I really enjoyed this sequel to The Black Witch, the controversial YA fantasy book that explores racism by way of a world filled with many races such as Urisks, Lupines, Kelts, Fae, Icarals, etc. who all have their own prejudices against each other. In the first book, we saw a young girl overcome the ignorance she was raised with and learn to be better. In this sequel, we see tensions rise in Verpacia and a need for the Resistance to act. Elloren finds herself torn between Lukas Grey and Yvan. What an adventure!!

I don’t want to dive deep into the plot. This is a 600 page book, like the first, so there is a lot to unpack in these pages. In ways, it reminds me of Harry Potter in that way where the books have so much that happen within them and there is the boarding school setting. It’s a nice similarity to have, while also being completely it’s own story.

As great at the first, I can't wait to see what happens in the third book. A great read for any YA reader who has enjoyed magic, as well as an interesting view on political and social concerns that could be reflective of times today.

Laurie is a plot-thickening mastermind who weaves tales of pure delight, sprinkled with terror and angst! This book was the perfect companion to The Black Witch. It was both a pleasure and an honor to read this in exchange for a review! I cried, then I raged, I sighed with love, and I felt like I lived in the story beside the characters that I adore. I will always recommend this series and the goddess author who wrote it!

Originally, when I first started this book I was so excited. Then, as I read on I was thinking this was just going to be political like so many other sequels. I was so disappointed. But, I read on. I became even more hooked than in the first book. I fell in love with Yvan and so many other characters. I laughed and cried with them. I was sad when some met certain fates. I became overjoyed and yet sad at the end. There isn’t words for The Iron Flower except amazingly well written and will be well loved by many. I want the third book in the series already and it’s not even close to being out yet! How can I possibly wait?! 5 stars all around. Well done! Thank you for allowing me to review this.

Yikes. I adored the first book and this was nowhere near as good.

I received an ARC of this, but ended up reading the finished copy instead. And ... I'm pretty sure a mistake was made because there was no way that what I purchased off Amazon could have been the final version. It felt unfinished, sloppy and repetitive as heck. I mean, the word blessedly was used three times in one paragraph for no reason at all and the word impassioned appeared in almost every single chapter at least once.

In keeping with that, I skimmed quite a bit of it because the descriptions got out of hand. We meet a new character and two pages are spent describing the colour of their skin, eyes, hair, their clothes, etc. etc. etc. It bogged down a story that didn't need to be 600 pages long. I shouldn't want a story to just be over for the sake of it.

I don't quite know what made me dislike this one. I can't quite put my finger on it but it felt ... like it tried too hard this time. Like we have to show you have different Elloren is and how only she can be the one to put this whole world to rights, despite basically being useless magically and still super ignorant of that same world. It worked for the first, but now it's slightly annoying. Every single chapter needed to end with a tug on your heart strings or there was no purpose to it. The writing felt kind of self-serving as well. Like, the author wanted to write certain scenes and she'd be damned if they didn't worm in there. Such classics as a ball dance scene and "But there's only one bed."

Characters I enjoyed in the first I kind of low-key hated here (*cough*Diana*cough*) and it got really annoying how almost every single person needed to be paired up in some kind of forbidden romance. Also, I don't know if I missed this detail in the first book, or it was added to the second due to the backlash the first received, but Gardnerians are green now?!?

I'm surprised to see this is now a series of 4 books, as I thought it was a trilogy. That said, I don't think I'll actively be looking to continue.