Review: Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

• Pub. Date: October 2, 2012
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Pages: 304
• Series: Iron Skin #1

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. 

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin. 

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. 

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey. 

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

First Line: The moor was grey, battlefield grey.


Review: I had such high hopes for this book, the cover the blurb everything screamed this has to be a 5 star book but no not the case. I was a little disappointed the book had so much potential especially with that blurb but in the end it didn't live up to it entirely. Also if you have read Jane Eyre this is a retelling... a very loose retelling.

The book starts off letting us know that the Fey war has been over for the past five years. We are introduced to Jane who has to wear an iron mask since she was struck with the shrapnel's of a fey bomb and in turn she is cursed with rage and the iron mask keeps her curse in check. The people who wear ironskin are looked down upon and Jane has a hard time keeping a job until she gets the chance to work in the home of Edward Rochart who has a fey cursed child. 

I was expecting a fast paced thrilling read, what I wasn't expecting was to be bored for the first half of the book. The majority of the book was Jane trying to teach the child (Dorie) how to stop using her powers and use her hands to do things. I was tempted to mark this as dnf but I was stubborn, I was determined to see this one to the end and I'm actually glad I did, it got a lot better in the second half. It was more fast paced and we finally had other interesting characters to read about. I was expecting romance but there wasn't much and what did develop did not seem believable. Jane and Edward barely saw each other, didn't have much interaction but somehow fell in love.

I did like the world building it was done very well, I was able to really picture it all with vivid detail. I really liked the fantasy aspect of the world. I also actually really liked Jane. She is half the reason I continued reading when I normally would have put this one aside, she wasn't a damsel in distress when things got tough and chaotic she took action. 

Overall this book  was not for me, There were a few things I liked but not enough to where I want to pick up the second book when it comes out. 

Early Review: Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

• Pub. Date: July 3, 2012
• Publisher: Tor/Forge
• Pages: 368

When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member. 

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever?

 Review: 

Dark Companion had a Gothic dark vibe to it, which was able to capture my attention instantly. We are introduced to Jane who lives in a shady very violent type neighborhood called Helmsdale. She applies her self in school and is offered a scholarship to Birch Grove Academy an elite school for girls. She couldn't be more thrilled about her change of luck but she has this feeling that there is something very off about the school.

I wasn't able to really connect to any of the characters but I still liked Jane for the most part. She has lived a hard life but is determined to succeed in life. What made me annoyed with her character was how she let Lucky who is abusive and very possessive to treat her so cruelly and kept making up excuses for him. We are told from the beginning how tough she is and she doesn't take crap from no one but then she lets Lucky walk all over her, it just didn't make sense. I was actually contemplating to stop reading the book at that point. There was one character I did like a hundred percent and that was Mary-Violet. She is Jane's friend and the girl has such a big personality it's hard to forget her. She made things fun and very lively.

Also another surprising but pleasant surprise was this wasn't really a paranormal read like I thought it would be. There was a logical explanation on everything that was going on. I really thought they were vampires but there was scientific reasoning behind it all. I did like the mystery surrounding the school, nothing was revealed too quickly which kept me interested and turning the pages. The ending wrapped up nicely although it felt a little too perfect.

Overall I have a feeling this will be a hit and miss type of book. Either you will love it or not. I'm glad I stuck with it because Acosta did a great job of keeping up with the mystery and Gothic vibe that you could feel throughout the entire novel.