Book #9: The Iron Witch, by Karen Mahoney
Mar. 27th, 2011 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityevil faeries, vaguely evil alchemists, fighting your destiny, girls are awesome, wow this is a great idea, listen while I myth at you, quasi-coming of age, that is a beautiful cover.
I feel like I have been waiting FOREVER to read this book. It's probably been about six months.
And I think it was well worth the wait, actually, because the story was really good and written really well, and with the exception of one tiny detail, I don't really have a lot to complain about. Heck, there isn't even a love triangle, which is something of an accomplishment in YA these days.
Let me get the one thing I didn't like out of the way first: this book wasn't set in England. Which is weird, I think, because the author is British, and the town sounded British, and the book was full of Britishisms, but there was just one comment in the middle about how they were actually in New England, and I was confuzzled. It was just weird. Maybe it will be explained in the sequel.
But aside from that, I really loved it. It was very much an "old" faerie book, Perilous Gard style, and as much I love happy faeries, every once in a while I like it when they're evil. ;) I also really liked setting them against alchemists, because I have a weakness for secret societies, and alchemy is usually fun, if smelly.
I also really liked how well adjusted Navin and Xan were, all things considered. I mean, yes, one of them is "The Normal Best Friend" and the other one is "The Strange, Alluring Boy With A Past", but neither of them are mopey or approaching "the bad boy", which I find genuinely refreshing. I really don't think Navin is in love with Donna at all, and even if the thing with Xan is doomed...I kind of don't care, because they're not acting like annoying teenagers, and it's just SO NICE TO SEE.
And Donna! Oh, I love Donna Underwood. I love how she grows through the story, from someone who is totally afraid of herself (with good reason) to someone who will not only stand up to the bully, but also shred the creature that's haunted her nightmares for ten years and then feel a little bit bad for it, because she's a decent human being. Oh, and also she uses her brain a lot. And saves the boys. And takes ownership of her "disability" (I'm not sure if it's actually a disability...). And fights the power. And so on. Plus, the whole Iron Witch thing is just COOL.
The myth that Mahoney ending up tying her story too is a well established one, except in her version Donna has a lot more agency, which I am of course a fan of. But it's still a good story, and not an often used one, so it kept the book interesting and the momentum was really well paced. I also appreciated the slow shift from the "normal" world at the beginning of the book in to faerie, and then back out again (but not all the way, of course, because that's not how faerie works...). It's not a long book, but it has just the right amount of stuff in it, and the pacing is good.
8.5 out of 10 for a really great heroine, not at all annoying boys, and for being a story good enough that it's making me crazy with impatience that I have to wait until NEXT FEBRUARY for the sequel.
I feel like I have been waiting FOREVER to read this book. It's probably been about six months.
And I think it was well worth the wait, actually, because the story was really good and written really well, and with the exception of one tiny detail, I don't really have a lot to complain about. Heck, there isn't even a love triangle, which is something of an accomplishment in YA these days.
Let me get the one thing I didn't like out of the way first: this book wasn't set in England. Which is weird, I think, because the author is British, and the town sounded British, and the book was full of Britishisms, but there was just one comment in the middle about how they were actually in New England, and I was confuzzled. It was just weird. Maybe it will be explained in the sequel.
But aside from that, I really loved it. It was very much an "old" faerie book, Perilous Gard style, and as much I love happy faeries, every once in a while I like it when they're evil. ;) I also really liked setting them against alchemists, because I have a weakness for secret societies, and alchemy is usually fun, if smelly.
I also really liked how well adjusted Navin and Xan were, all things considered. I mean, yes, one of them is "The Normal Best Friend" and the other one is "The Strange, Alluring Boy With A Past", but neither of them are mopey or approaching "the bad boy", which I find genuinely refreshing. I really don't think Navin is in love with Donna at all, and even if the thing with Xan is doomed...I kind of don't care, because they're not acting like annoying teenagers, and it's just SO NICE TO SEE.
And Donna! Oh, I love Donna Underwood. I love how she grows through the story, from someone who is totally afraid of herself (with good reason) to someone who will not only stand up to the bully, but also shred the creature that's haunted her nightmares for ten years and then feel a little bit bad for it, because she's a decent human being. Oh, and also she uses her brain a lot. And saves the boys. And takes ownership of her "disability" (I'm not sure if it's actually a disability...). And fights the power. And so on. Plus, the whole Iron Witch thing is just COOL.
The myth that Mahoney ending up tying her story too is a well established one, except in her version Donna has a lot more agency, which I am of course a fan of. But it's still a good story, and not an often used one, so it kept the book interesting and the momentum was really well paced. I also appreciated the slow shift from the "normal" world at the beginning of the book in to faerie, and then back out again (but not all the way, of course, because that's not how faerie works...). It's not a long book, but it has just the right amount of stuff in it, and the pacing is good.
8.5 out of 10 for a really great heroine, not at all annoying boys, and for being a story good enough that it's making me crazy with impatience that I have to wait until NEXT FEBRUARY for the sequel.
