The Iron Flower

By: Laurie Forest

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dark forces are on the rise in this sweeping sequel to The Black Witch by critically acclaimed author Laurie Forest. 

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs when they rescued a Selkie and freed a military dragon. The last thing they expected was to be thrust into a realm-wide underground resistance against Gardnerian conquest. 

While the Resistance struggles to fight back against the harsh rulings of the Mage Council, more and more Gardnerian soldiers descend upon the University…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the nearby military base. Though Elloren tries to keep him at arm's length, Lukas is determined to tie himself to her, still convinced that she is the heir to the power of the Black Witch, a legacy of magic that will decide the future of all Erthia. As his own magic calls out to her, seeking to awaken a dark force within, Elloren finds it more and more difficult to believe that she's truly powerless, as her uncle always claimed. 

As she navigates the dangerous line of insurgency, Elloren must find a way to stay true to what she knows is right and protect everyone she loves...even if that means protecting them from herself. 

©2018 Laurie Forest (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

There’s hope for the next one

I love The Black Witch and the other two ebooks but I found this one lacking. I thought the story dragged in a few places and the whole Elloren and Yvan back and forth drama was repetitive and well over played (major 🙄 with their scenes). I think this whole story could of been done in the first half of the book and left the second half to Elloren coming into her powers and finally training as the Black Witch. We all know she is the prophesied Black Witch so why draw it out for the whole 19hrs???
The book did have some good parts to it but I found myself speeding up the narration and wanting to fast forward during the tedious parts that seemed like fillers for the story.
Needless to say, the narrator did a fantastic job and I will be looking forward to the next installment. I will not give up with this series and hopefully it will be faster paced.

Narrative unravels

I enjoyed Black Witch, although it could be slow. Situations were often melodramatic to the point of frustration.

The Iron Flower also suffers from this, but to a larger degree. For example, an entire chapter is dedicated to walking from a dorm room to a dance hall. No new information is given that I can recall, and I found myself wondering what the point of it was. It really shouldn't have made it past the cutting floor.

The purple prose and repetitive descriptions increase significantly this time around, too. Everything is dark, or blazing, or fiery, or flaming, or about lines and longing. Over and over and over. This book is about 6 hours longer than the previous, and it seems like that's 6 hours of content that should have been removed.

It becomes blatantly obvious that this is a harlequin publication–there is too much focus on who's dating whom. And oy, everyone just wants to talk and stare intently at each other ALL THE TIME. A little less conversation, a little more action, please!

Plus, there's a very shallow attempt to address some extreme social problems with the idea that if only people talked, they'd immediately come to see reason. Talking is important, but it is only the beginning. The reality of clashing cultures is that they differ in foundational truths. Some outsider coming in to show them the light? People hate that crap. It's like missionaries showing up on an athiest's doorstep–nobody's interested in the message, please move along now and never come back. Social change is slow, and almost DEFINITELY does not happen during times of war.

The social etiquette also doesn't quite match up with the values attributed to a society. For example, if Gardenaria is really so chaste, there's no way a young teenaged girl would be allowed to spend loads of time with her male professor behind a closed door in his office.

Overall, the story feels like one big, bloated, and biased piece of writing that has lost its ability to portray a believable world. What a shame!

I really wanted to like this book

I hoped that after the first book the pace would pick up and the main characters would progress. But no. Honestly, I forwarded/skimmed through the last two hours because I was so sick of the same thing over and over.

Not much good news in this book.

I could have easily skipped this book and gone straight to the next one in the series. It was Frustrating. The story advanced very little. It got Depressing. The main character and her friends were powerless to help themselves throughout most of the story. I liked it though.

I NEED the next book!!!

I sincerely hope I don’t have to wait long for the next book. I’m dying to know what happens next!!

Better than the first one

The Iron Flower picks up right where the Black Witch left off. Unlike the first book, it doesn't take half of the story to get up to speed. Eloren is involved in a LOT of plans working to rescue people from the Mage Council's resolutions. The same characters from the first book appear, and you see a lot more of the world the series takes place in. It does get a bit depressing at times because they go from one imminent threat to the next, and it looks pretty bleak for the protagonists at times. There are some tragedies, some easily foreseeable, others pretty shocking. Same goes for the suprises, as the big suprise (or one of) at the end is pretty obvious from book 1 if you've been paying attention.

In terms of plot progression (without going into details), there are some pretty big changes in the military situation through the book. Same goes for the romance. It feels like more of a setup in other ways, but there's enough going on to be pretty satisfying. Problems you think won't get addressed until much later get taken care of in this book, which is nice. All and all, a fairly enjoyable listen, which is hard to maintain considering the length of the audiobook.

predictable and trite

While the writing is (very) marginally improved from the first book, the storyline is predictable and the characters shallow and undeveloped. Some how different characters magicall say they exact same phrases with no changes despite their different backgrounds and personalities. There are also major plot holes, such as her need to take care of an uncle she never actually takes care of. The constant teen love angst is exhausting, and not in a good way. Finally, while a small point, it also drives me nuts she gave the selkies gills. Mythical animals or not, seals and humans are mammals. It makes no sense either one would have gills. If the author was going to depart from classic mythology, why not just create a new type of creature? It's just lazy, much like the rest of the writing.

Fabulously rendered fantasy world

A fabulously rendered world--races, dogma, geography, magic, creatures, characters--really well-written. Very talented writer. I love the story, despite the intense darkness. But some of the settings in the book are completely glorious. Perfectly narrated.

Initially I was thinking this marvelous story was a 4-star, but realized that, because of a personal upheaval in my life, I had to read this book in fits and starts. Not the author's fault. I was perplexed how our heroine is able to slip off campus so much, but in the end, didn't let that bother me.

Excellent story!!

I loved the second book!! It made me cry at so many parts!! I can’t wait for the next audio boo!!

Ugh... got through the second book thinking something would

Be resolved!

Nothing was resolved!

The main character is so unsure of herself and you assume she’ll get strong by the end of the first book? No..
end of the second book? No.

She is so annoying and there is little to like about her even when she starts doing some thoughtful non-racist things.

You think that there will be resolution about the awful race relation stuff..nope.

You’d think we’d finally learn what wand fasting even was... nope.

She finally realizes “she has had her power all along but just didn’t believe it... like “I just woke from a dream” yet... she still doesn’t do anything with all this power.. she just talks a lot about how she will want to use it if she really had it...

There’s no big climax... there’s no battle scene.. there’s a massacre where essentially everyone gets killed... and you want as a reader for the werewolf children to get revenge... nope. They just cry.

It makes sense that there’s so much magic but no one uses it in every day life... only “mages” use magic but we never learn what they do with it.. or how... two books in and I don’t feel like any of my joy was satiated

Amazing

I love the characters and the story. Really fun to read. Cannot wait for the next book in the series

ironflower love this book

Magical, wonderful and enthralling the story unfolds twists and turns as our heroine and hero work together against the black hearted power hungry leader of magedome.

As for the 1st book, I loved it !

I really enjoy the story and the characters. Not is all black or white. Their is magic but not too much, it's not all about love and sex, their is political intrigue but not too hard to follow... it's just a book well balanced. I recommand it.

Fantastic narrator!

A fab sequel to The Black Witch Chronicles... it’s a slow burn for sure but it does mean you get plenty more hours for your audible credits! The narrator is one of the best I have ever listened to, she’s incredible with accents and differentiating between characters. She’s really succeeded in bringing the book to life and even when I’m reading these books I can now hear her accents in my mind. Highly recommended!

fantastic

loved every minute, listened to all 3 of this trilogy so many times...please write more.

Amazing

This is a brilliantly intricate and gripping story that leaves you wanting more. The narrator is very talented and keeps the voices consistently individual. I look forward to see what the next book brings.

An enjoyable listen

A good and entertaining story leaving you wanting more. The narrator has a pleasant and descriptive voice which adds to the atmospheree but the American pronunciation of some words can be somewhat irritating.

Brilliant !

Loved this and the first book. It took a while to peak but was worth the wait.Hurry up with the third book please! Story, characters and narration were all excellent.

An epic to rival Lord of the rings.

Brilliant series. Enthralling, entertaining and exciting. loving it. Can't wait until the next instalment.

A true epic - develops a whole new world and heritage. Genuinely rivals Tolkien.

The narration is the best I have heard. I now look for Julia Whelan narration, and not disappointed. it's how I found this book.

Breath taking and fabulous.

I worried that this book wouldn’t be as good as The Black Witch but it was just as fantastic. The way the stories fit together is superb. Kept me gripped throughout. I was devastated when it was over as it left so many unanswered questions, hurry up with book 3 Laurie.
The narration is brilliant all of the characters distinctive.
I can’t recommend this highly enough.