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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
For the past five years, Jane Eliot has worn an iron mask over half of her face. She was scarred by fae shrapnel in the Great War, and as such has a terrible curse running through her. Jane feels inexplicable rage, and when she is not wearing her mask, those around her feel that rage too. She takes a post as a governess for a child whom she believes has similar issues to her, but the child is a whole different breed and Jane soon realizes that she has been addressing everything wrong.
I went back and forth on what to rate this, I think it really only barely made a three-star rating. The plot was better than the story, which is always unfortunate. I liked the idea of fae shrapnel and people having curses like Jane's that stem from such wartime scars, but I feel like the acceptance part of all of that was lost to other elements of the story. There were too many things all going on at once and ultimately, it didn't feel like anything was resolved.
The romance was eh. It had a very cliche swing to it from the start but the socialization and chemistry just wasn't there. Like I don't even know if this could be considered a romance, I suppose it is since romance was a centerpiece of Jane's journey, but it felt so random and out of place in her whole quest for enlightenment.
The whole face masks thing confused me. I thought it was cool, it was another interesting plot point, but then the whole situation with Jane's switched face? I didn't really follow why that was happening and it kind of made me dislike Jane and Edward as characters. I feel like the first half of the book was significantly better than the last half and that's always a sad thing.
I don't think I'd recommend it, it was just too confusing and muddled to make a very compelling story. I don't think I'll go on in the series, but I do like the setting and the universe which Connolly created.
This review and all my others can be found at: https://aworldshapedbybooks.blogspot.com/
It will be very interesting to see where the author takes this story. I hope it doesn't take too long for the next one to come out.
What I liked.
The examination of beauty as something we define by others, something other than ourselves
The worldbuilding. Fey. Bombs. Shrapnel. Hunger and rage curses. A war. Lost technology. Ti was enough to be intriguing as well as helping you to understand what was going on.
The secondary characters. Dorie, Niklas, Poule- they are all interesting and lively and real.
The danger. I like the idea of living with that danger all the time, and wearing iron to ward it off.
What I didn't Like
The lack of characterisation. Jane kept making all these dramatic statements about being strong and self sufficient but she didn't feel real- I couldn't emphasize with her.
Jane and Mr. Rochart/'Edward'. The love comes out of nowhere, there is no build up or plot that is involved in this. And the end of it doesn't really make sense.. Also, can I just mention [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639]. It feels a lot like the relationshi betweenJane and Mr. Rochester.
The conflict. A lot of the book felt awkward, scenes on top of each other with no clear destination in mind. Then cam the fey just to create some conflict at the end.
Janes understanding of the iron. Years of seeing it as the only hope shouldn't wear away so fast though I think that it was true.
Look, just read it if you like that kind of thing, senseless heroines who love unconditionally, heroes who are evil and the heroines forgive them , fancy dances and dresses.
I'm a little speechless right now. This is Jane Eyre, re-imagined steampunk style. It's just amazing. Confident, clever prose. A ferocious heroine. A broken, tragic hero, who needs her.
The worldbuilding is just fascinating. The writing is fabulous. I devoured this book and now I'm hungry for the sequel. When it comes out, get it.
Needless to say, Jane has had trouble getting work, until she meets the handsome, elusive Mr. Edward Rochart, who lives in a secluded manor house with his young daughter, Dorie. Dorie's mother is dead - her body was taken over by a fey while she was still pregnant with Dorie. As a result, Dorie is able to manipulate objects with her mind, and refuses to touch objects with her hands. Rochart wants a governess to teach Dorie to use her hands, and to keep her from displaying her fey-like tendencies. (In the wake of the Great War, fey paranoia has taken over, and Rochart is trying to protect Dorie).
Unsurprisingly, the lonely Jane begins to have feelings for her artist employer. Until she becomes suspicious about the "art" that Rochart practices - art that requires ugly women to enter his studio, and leave, fey-beautiful.
I loved the initial set up of Ironskin . I was excited to find out exactly who/what the fey were, and I really liked the creativity of the fey technology (blue-packs) which were just being replaced in the wake of the Great War by coal and other primitive human technologies. The setting was very vivid too - and was recognizably turn-of-the-century England, although it never said that in so many words. And although Jane was a little too myopic for my taste, I really liked a couple of the side characters - particularly the butler and cook.
But, I was frustrated by the unexplained. Ironically I can't really explain that to you, without spoiling the end of the book, but let's just say that I have a feeling this may turn out to be a series, or at least a trilogy. And, I felt like Tina Connolly went a wee bit overboard with the Jane Eyre references. Oh well. At least it wasn't Jane Feyre.
Read the rest of my review at Quirky Bookworm.
