Book Review- The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Title: The Iron Witch

 Author: Karen Mahoney

Series:  The Iron Witch #1

Published:  February 2011 by Flux. January 2011 by Corgi

Length: 312 pages

Warnings: fantasy violence, 12+

Source: Library

Other info: The sequel,  The Wood Queen, came out recently. The Stone Demon should come next year.

Summary :  Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

Review: Donna Underwood has iron tattoos over her hands and arms. Because of some magical thing has been performed, these give her supernatural strength. And now Wood Elves from the Land of Faerie are coming and Donna has to make a big, big choice.

We first find out that Donna’s father is dcead, and that Donna suffers from nightmares that may or may not shed light on how he died. It then switches perspective, to third person, and a party which her friend Navin forces Donna to. There she meets Xan, a mysterious boy with something not quite right about him. Then various things happen, involving alchemy, and faeries, and Donna has to choice between saving her best friend, or handing over something priceless.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was given this to read. So I just read it with an open mind.

Donna was your typical outcast heroine, with the very untypical tattoos that mark her as different, make her inhumanely strong and have given her many many questions. Xan, well, he wasn’t the normal love interest, taking into account the fact that he is, er, not entirely human,  but he didn’t really capture my attention.

The plot developed at a nice pace, but the third person narrative didn’t work as well as it does in some books. I just didn’t connect at all with Donna, which would have been nice. It definitely picked up the more it went on, so if you can get past the first third, you’ll be alright.

The mix of paranormal things in this was great. Faeries and alchemists, well, they’re only the start of it.  It’s also an unusal mix, but I loved it, because it’s different and new. I can’t wait to see if there’ll be any more creatures cropping up in later books. I also wish that the alchemy had gotten a little bit more prominence.

I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but the thing I lilked most was the author’s note. Seeing where Karen Mahoney got her inspiration from was fascinating, and it made me think about different mythologies that I’ve not really read or heard of.  It’s added a lot to the list of things I should look up some day.

Overall: Strength 3 tea to a nice blend of magic and alchemy that you should read if you’re a fan of this kind of stuff.   

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Title: This Dark Endeavour

 Author: Kenneth Oppel

Series:  The Dark Endeavour #1

Published:  23 August 2011 by Simon and Schuster

Length: 304 pages

Warnings: Slight romance, gory/disturbing scene near end 13+

Source: Library

Other info: The sequel, Such Wicked Intent, will be out this August.  Oppel has also written the Silverwing series.

Summary : The purest intentions can stir up the darkest obsessions.
In this prequel to Mary Shelley’s gothic classic, Frankenstein, 16-year-old Victor Frankenstein begins a dark journey that will change his life forever. Victor’s twin, Konrad, has fallen ill, and no doctor is able to cure him. Unwilling give up on his brother, Victor, his beautiful cousin Elizabeth, and best friend Henry begin a treacherous search for the ingredients to create the forbidden Elixir of Life. Impossible odds, dangerous alchemy, and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn. Victor knows he must not fail. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science and, love -- and how much he is willing to sacrifice.

Review: Victor Frankenstein's twin brother Konrad has become ill and none of the doctors can think of anything to cure him. But Victor has found a book in the secret library detailing instructions on making the Elixir of Life. He, his cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry all go on a quest to find the ingredients. It's a quest he can't afford to fail, but many things get in his way-impossible tasks, alchemy, and a love triangle involving himself, his cousin, and his brother.

When I saw the summary, I was interested. Young Frankenstein? Heck yes. And a random twin and a love triangle? High hopes.

We start with a lighthearted intro to all the protagonists, which quickly moves on and keeps moving throughout.

The adventure kept me turning the pages wanting to know more at every turn.

I loved the romance in this. We get our fair share of love triangles in young adult literature, but none of them ever come from the boy's perspective. It was interesting seeing something we're used to from a different pov, and the fact the two boys in this look identical, leading to midnight deception, added a bit to the normal love triangle template.

The alchemy in this was thought out with clear rules. Our antagonist Polidori has a lot more to him than we first think, leading to a climactic showdown at the end.

The characters all developed in huge ways, with  Elizabeth coming more into her own and Konrad developing in a big way. Victor himself gains depth and complexity, and I can't decide if he's  a better or worse character by the end of the book.

By the very end, we're left on something in the middle of closure and a cliffhanger; This Dark Endeavour is clearly finished, but we have a clear motive for what will happen later in Victor's life-the part that Mary Shelley wrote about.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a prequel/retelling done excellently. I  can't wait to see  what Victor and co do next.

Links: Goodreads | Author website

Book Review- Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

Title: Skeleton Creek
Author: Patrick Carman
Series: Skeleton Creek #1 and 2
Published: April 5th 2010 by Scholastic
Length: 358 pages
Warnings: ghosts, alchemy, some things may be scary depending on how easily sacred you are
Other info: This edition is actually the first two books in the series merged into one.
Summary : There was a moment not long ago when I thought: “this is it. I’m dead.”
Something sinister is happening in Skeleton Creek. Ryan and Sarah are determined to find out what. After a disturbing incident leaves Ryan housebound, Sarah makes films of what she finds, then sends him the links. And when Ryan gets up the courage to watch them, he can hardly believe his eyes…
Review: Ryan and Sarah were investigating Skeleton Creek, an abandoned gold dredge, when he broke his leg. Obviously after that, the parents wanted them seperated. Which obviously doesn't happen for the purposes of plot development. Because Ryan saw the ghost of Old Joe Bush, a worker who died on the dredge. And Sarah and Ryan are determined to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on concerning Skeleton Creek.
I must admit now that I only got half the experience that I should have done. The reason is that half the story is in video form, and you go onto the website and enter the passwords in the book into the site and it will play the appropriate video. This has both good and bad points- its very original and adds interest to the experience. The bad point is that when reading, say on the bus or in bed, you suddenly come across a password and think I can not be bothered to go to my computer and look at the video right now. Or, if you're on the bus, you can't. And when you DO go on a computer, you think 'I have much more important things I need to be getting on with.' But anything important is hinted in the text so you can vaguely work out what's going on.
The writing flows very well, its very easy to understand. Its all written in diary format, apart from the occasional email/snippet of info/password that gets added in.
The action was quite slow. It was also fairly predictable and in my opinion, not too interesting. The edition I read is actually two books merged into one, Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine, I think that if I'd read just book 1 without continuing onto Book 2, despite the cliffhanger ending, I wouldn't want to read on. As it is, I still won't worry about hunting down the next.
My edition marked it as seriously scary, the main reason I noticed this book and picked it up in the library. For me at least, it wasn't at all.
My edition also had lines printed in it to imitate a diary, which was interesting. But the font the majority of the book was set in was italic and really hard to read. Which, when read before bed at the end of a long day, isn't very good owing to the fact that you're tired and don't want to dechiper fairly hard to read writing to read a book. Maybe it's just my edition...US readers care to comment on the formatting of their edition?
Good things, the mystery worked well and the characters were easy to imagine. But thats about it.
Overall: Strength 2 tea to something that has a good idea but doesn't quite work
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Author website | The videos