“I can’t live afraid of what might happen. All I can do is live.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: portals, anxiety, warlords, kingdoms and healers.

In Master of Iron, the conclusion to Tricia Levenseller’s exciting Bladesmith YA fantasy duology, a magically gifted blacksmith with social anxiety must race against the clock to save her beloved sister and stop a devastating war.

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.

It was a nice conclusion to the duology! I think I ended up liking the first book better because of the adventure, but this was good too. Instead of adventure, this book is more focused on politics and on the kingdoms, so I wasn’t super interested like I was with the first book. It’s not an out of pocket change of focus and it makes sense, so I’m not mad about it – I just didn’t think this second book was as engaging as the first one.

I felt bad that the group separated for a while because I loved how they were together and their banter! Their interactions were always very fun to read, and they made a very special group.

My opinion on Ziva changed a little bit. Not because of her struggles, but because of the way she behaved at times. Sometimes she had a very immature behavior and I had a hard time connecting with her. 

The romance definitely develops in this one, and since I’m a sucker for a good romance, I was loving to see their romantic relationship blossom. It took some time for Ziva to trust him, but eventually things got easier.

This was a very unique and fun series, and I don’t think I’ve read anything like this before. It’s still an easy book to read and follow and I had fun reading it. Definitely worth binging on!