Review–Soul of Flame (Imdalind #4) by Rebecca Ethington

 Soul of Flame (Imdalind #4) by Rebecca Ethington Summary: The Time for the final battle has come.
Edmund's armies have surrounded the Rioseco Abbey, trapping the few survivors inside. The sight that Ilyan was given a thousand years ago is about to come to pass.
If only Joclyn was able to fight.
Joclyn is tormented by the hallucinations that Cail’s mind has left her with, her magic an uncontrollable torrent that even Ilyan cannot control. Her moments of lucidity are broken by fears of dripping pipes and bleeding walls, and a desire to kill Ryland that she is having trouble trying to ignore.
The sight has shown her power, shown her success, but it has also shown her death – The end of her life something she is not quite willing to give up on yet.
Even past her death, the sight has shown her love, and that love may be the only key to her sanity, to her strength, and to Edmund's death.
That love may stand in her way, and a single choice may tip the scales and secure their future, or destroy their fate.
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Source: I purchased a copy for Kindle.
Review:
I devoured the first three books in the Imdalind series a few months ago. I loved the series so much, but I was mad (in the good way that us booklovers get mad about waiting) that I had to wait for this book to come out! Especially because book 3 took place along the same timeline as book 2, so I couldn’t wait to finally see the storyline progress.
I really do like the Imdalind series and the overall plot. I think the premise is quite unique with a mixture of elements in fantasy and paranormal stories that works very well. However, Soul of Flame was incredibly disappointing for me.
The first issue I had was that nothing really happened for the majority of the novel. While I was very happy to finally see Joclyn and Ilyan explore their relationship, especially after so many novels where their connection was there but not acted upon, it was actually too much. Honestly, probably about 40% of the book was Joclyn and Ilyan being all romantic towards each other. I love a good romance and connection and I even love that Ilyan makes Joclyn feel stronger and makes her a better person, but the amount of staring into each other eyes got to be too much. It actually got to the point where the awesome and strong Ilyan I once loved is now a bit too sappy and pathetically googly faced for me to even like.
The second issue I had was Joclyn being a stuttering, absolutely ridiculous puddle of goo who was frozen by fear through another 30% of the novel. Seriously, when she wasn’t mixing her magic with Ilyan and feeling so swept up by his love, she was cowering in fear and actually stuttering. I would have to go back and count, but I’m willing to bet a large percentage, likely over half, of her dialog involves stuttering. Move over, Bella Swan, because Joclyn has got you beat on the whole weak and pathetic cowering female lead. And the worst part was that it was always her being scared, then being all googly with Ilyan, then scared, then googly, then scared.
At like 70% of the book I was just over it. Really? I waited all this time for something to move forward in the plot and I’m stuck with this? No series has been that frustrating for me… even Dance with Dragons in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin was a tad more satisfying with the moving of the plot. It was frustrating because not only was book 3 in the Imdalind series the same timeline as book 2, but book 4 barely moved the plot at all.
The ending of Soul of Flame was wonderful, though. Finally, I got to see Joclyn as the strong and magical being that I knew she was. She was fierce and skilled.
I hate to sound like I didn’t enjoy this book, like I think it was bad, or like I hate the series. I really don’t. I love the story. And I do recommend Soul of Flame to most people. If you’re a romantic sap, you love Ilyan, and you’ve been dying to see them together, then you’ll love Soul of Flame. It is satisfying in that regard. And fortunately, the action started to pick up after about the 70% mark in the book. I enjoyed the last bit and I will definitely continue the series.