Cozy Reading Room

With the cover reveal of Thorns & Fire coming tomorrow, this felt like the perfect time to post my review of Iron & Embers!

I’m honestly speechless. This book had me smiling, blushing, crying, screaming, all the things. I actually had to sit in silence for a bit and really come to terms with the ending.

I’d been praying for a spin off series about Wren and Torj and this book DELIVERED. The yearning, the stolen sweet moments, the fear, the inner battles, everything was chefs kiss.

Iron & Embers is set 5 years after the events of The Legends of Thezmarr.
We follow Wren and Torj and how they cope with their individual grief and trauma after the war, as well as Wren’s gruelling journey to becoming a master alchemist.

During the war a bond is accidentally set in place linking Wren and Torj. We get an insight into Torj’s inner turmoil over this new connection and what it means for him and his fate. It was honestly really interesting to get a bit more in depth detail about the dangers of magic in this world (beyond it being used as a weapon), and what can happen when things go wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed Torj’s POV chapters and following his research into the curse that bonded him to Wren 5 years ago.

On the flip side we delve deeper into Wrens grief and how she has been using revenge and self isolation as a coping mechanism after her immense losses during the war. She’s built an impenetrable fortress around her heart to protect herself, refusing to allow anyone in.. until a certain warsword starts chipping away at her defences.

At first there’s a strong feeling of resentment between the two. They struggle to get past how each of their individual actions has affected the other and interfered with their plans on numerous occasions. It’s a very slow burn to forgiveness and acceptance and eventually romance, but the wait is so worth it! I love their love, and watching them rebuild their bond and slowly start opening up to each other was so beautiful and had my heart aching for the two of them.

I really LOVED the alchemy academy – Drevenor. The professors and students are ruthless and don’t pull any punches. There’s a series of lethal tests that build up to a deadly gauntlet that will make or break the students. I loved how this book was focused more on a battle of brains rather than brawn and there were so many nice details about the intricacies of alchemy and we really get to see just how knowledgeable and deadly Wren truly is. It was a nice change of pace to have such dangerously intelligent characters take the spotlight this time around.

I’m also a huge fan of the friends Wren makes along the way. Dessa is such a bubbly sweetheart who was the perfect sunshine to Wren’s grumpy. Zavier was a fantastic rival-friend as well and I’m so excited to see more of him, he might be one of my favourite characters that was introduced in this book!