141 reviews for:

Ironskin

Tina Connolly

3.21 AVERAGE


Oh, such a disappointment. Jane Eyre's one of my favorite classics, and Tina Connolly's short stories have always been a delight, so I was perhaps too enthusiastic upon starting. Alas, it didn't live up to my (admittedly high) expectations.

First, the good: the worldbuilding here is well done, and the Fae lore is feels well-placed within that world. Post-WWI is a pretty refreshing setting for a story involving fairies, and the way Connolly has integrated Fae technology into every facet of this world is impressive. A few of the characters are interesting as well; Jane is a stubborn woman who has coped with being ostracized for years, and Poule and Nikolai are both memorable.

Unfortunately, that's about where my praise ends. Plotwise, the story seriously drags through the middle; the central mystery of the novel, that of the Fae's supposed disappearance and Rochart's suspicious and undefined "work", is continually put aside in lieu of talking about the very forced romance between Jane and Rochart. Unlike the other relationships Jane has in the book, which all build naturally, her affection for Rochart just...happens. It's not a good sign when the central relationship in your book is LESS believable than fairies. On top of that, the book as a whole is brought down by occasional patches of language that seem almost purposefully obtuse. It read to me as an effort to make the language sound archaic or even just deep, but it only came off as confusing.

On a final note: by the end of the book, we learn some things that call the whole war between humans and the Fae into question. Without delving into spoilers, I will simply say that the last 10 pages have some unfortunate implications about war and (without saying it directly) colonialism that I'm uncomfortable with.

Darn shame. I really do like Tina Connolly's other work and I believe she can do better, so I may bring myself to read the sequel...but it's a long shot.

Reread comments: While I don't disagree with my original four-star review, I was bored stiff the second time through Ironskin. The retelling is clever, but the characters lack sufficient depth to keep me interested. At least this time.

Originally posted on A Reader of Fictions.

An alternate history set in the era around WWI plus paranormal elements? Umm, yes! At least, that's my first thought, though The Sweetest Dark made me cautious, as it totally failed the wonderful premise. Ironskin has those things plus Jane Eyre. Be still my heart, I think I'm in love. Of course, these things can be a let down, not coming close to living up to possibility. Not this one, though. Ironskin is masterfully crafted, a truly impressive retelling with a sublimely unique paranormal twist.

As a retelling, I found Ironskin incredibly powerful. Though there are many things that are quite different from Jane Eyre, even some of the major, integral moments, the story and the characters maintain the precise feel and mood that I've always felt on readings of Jane Eyre. I do find it curious, though, that Connolly apparently didn't originally think this was a retelling at all. Or so Unabridged Chick said. Assuming that's true, and I don't think Audra would lie to me, I wonder whether the story was changed greatly by an editor who saw possibility or if the author just did not see the influence.

Jane Eliot has much in common with Jane Eyre, though they are not one hundred percent the same. Both are intelligent, artistic, snarky and unimpressed with high society. And, like her classic counterpart, Jane Eliot does not care for her visage. Not only is she plain, but she also wears Ironskin, a mask of iron which keeps the fairy curse of rage on her cheek from leaking out and infecting others. This mask marks her as damaged, lesser, cursed.

You see, in this world, WWI was fought against the fey. Though the fey lack physical bodies, they had the power to infect humans and then take over the bodies when the person was killed. Yup, they basically made themselves into a zombie army. They created bombs that would curse people to this fate. Those that survived wear iron over the infected area, like Jane does, to prevent the leaking of whatever terrible emotion they bear. The fey are weak only to iron, thus the iron for dampening. This whole conflict is so completely mind-bogglingly cool that I just can't even.

The humans won WWI, but they struggle now, having grown used to using fey technology for pretty much everything: lights, cars, etc. Now, without the fey, they have to start back over from scratch. There remains a deep-seated fear of the fey, of their possible return, and a mistrust of the ironskin. Also, this right here is totally how you make a statement about something without being preachy. Connolly totally used this as a metaphor for first world countries getting everything from overseas, and it's so much more effective than the book I'm reading now that just tells you this and that are bad.

Back to Jane. Her sister, Helen (a change!), has gotten engaged and Jane, unwilling to sit around and live off her brother-in-law's kindness, finds herself a position at Silver Birch Hall as a governess. Immediately, the oddness of Silver Birch Hall becomes apparent. Mr. Rochart has an odd sense of humor and is oft-absent and the servants are strange. The Hall itself is half-destroyed, wreckage from the war unfixed. Weirdest of all, though, is Dorie, Edward Rochart's daughter. She has a touch of the fey, to such an extent that she can move things with her mind. This would likely see her killed were it known, which is why Mr. Rochart has trouble finding non-kooky servants and why he needs a governess. Jane's job is to try to convince Dorie to act normally, to use her hands, clumsy and awkward though they are from disuse, rather than her fey talents.

While most of Ironskin feels like Jane Eyre, deliciously moody and mysterious, Connolly adds some straight up horror. There's a scene at the end that literally makes me twitch to think about. I wish I could say more about that, because it is so COOL and GROSS and AHHHH, but I will leave you to be horrified when you read this yourselves.

Much as I completely adored the writing and the storyline, I never really connected with the characters. They were well done, in that they fit the retelling perfectly, but I just didn't get particularly caught up in them. Jane was the only one I really cared about, and, though I suppose I like this guy better than Rochester, it's not by much. The one character I really did not like was Helen. She completely lacked depth, and just didn't feel right, since Jane supposedly loves her so. I didn't get any of that affection spilling over to me at all. This wasn't a huge drawback, since everything else kept me highly engaged, but kept the book from being perfect for me.

Ironskin has a gorgeous, somewhat creepy, cover and I can tell you right now that it perfectly matches the book's contents. Jane does even wear a dress like that at one point in the book. I am so excited to find out what the next book will be like! Go forth and procure this book, you lovely fans of gothic and retellings, for it is not a trap.

As you all probably know, I'm a girl that's easily impressed by a pretty cover. Don't know why, I just love a cover that catches my eye and makes me want to read the book without even checking the blurb. So it shouldn't surprise you that the moment I saw the cover for Ironskin I wanted to read that book right away. There was someone that pointed out the fact that the cover model looks like Natalie Portman. I can see the resemblance, can you?

Anyway, back to the book. The first thing I noticed was that in Ironskin fey are bad, evil creatures. I liked that. It is certainly fresh and untouched territory. Or at least it is for me. Of course, I read fey and my mind processes fairies. Bad fairies sound interesting. Bad fey attracted to anything beautiful are even more interesting. I enjoyed reading about that, but I wanted to know more. Where do the fey come from? Why are they evil and how did they get in touch with humans? I wanted to know their history and their reasons for being bad. Yes, we get some details in the end, but I felt like it wasn't enough.

The pacing was a little bit too slow for my taste. Now, I know a lot of people said that Ironskin is sort of a retelling of Jane Eyre. I might have told you that I hate classic literature, so I didn't read Jane Eyre. Sorry to disappoint. I'm used to fast pacing books. Yes, I might enjoy some slow motion from time to time, but I kind of felt that the supernatural theme of Ironskin, the fey, needed a more faster plot.

The characters were interesting. I can see why Jane would be attracted to Mr. Rochart, what with her being an outcast because of her curse and all that. There were moments where both pissed me off a little bit, but I can't mention them or else I'd be giving away spoilers. And I hate spoilers.

I wanted to like this book more, I really did. It wasn't that bad, you know, the kind of bad that makes you want to put this book in the DNF pile. But I can't say that I fell off my chair I liked it so much. It was a good read, but I felt it could've been better.

Cross Beauty and Beast with Jane Eyre and toss in a war with the Fey and you have the setting for this book. The Fey parts keep it interesting and the history of the war with the Fey slowly unfolds during the course of the book and how society became dependent on them before the war and how they are dealing with the loss of Fey magic. What I liked as well was a peek into the Dwarven culture and I hope this gets expanded more in the next book.

Enjoyable revision of Jane Eyre, with a fey child instead of a wife in the attic. Charming.

Three and a half stars. This has many good points - it's emminently readable and there are some great ideas. A vaguely dystopian steam punk faery tale with elements of Tam Lin and beauty and the beast, as well as more than a passing nod to Jane Eyre, it pulls its disparate element together admirably.

I feel that Connolly's Editor let her down - it definitely needed at least one more edit and not just because the structure is little unwieldy in places. Some of the phrases are so truncated that they actually don't make sense - you're left working out what was being said. If this was a demonstration of voice it might eventually have bedded in but it wasn't and the effect was to make the narrative look sloppy in places. Similarly, the first three or four chapters are choppy and the voice wobbles. The further you go in the book the more assured the writing becomes so I have to assume that the first few chapters weren't really looked at enough during edit.

On the whole though, this is a fun read. Not too heavy and with just the right amount of jeopardy to keep you page turning. As a homage to Jane Eyre (there are several parallels but this is very much its own book) this is satisfying and inoffensive - I've seen far too many people try to ape that classic with cringeworthy results. The characters are fairly well drawn despite a slightly borrowed feel to some of them. Perhaps the books greatest strength is the world building - it's raw and well imagined and manages to be fey and industrial, modern and period at the same time.

I'd definitely recommend it for people looking for a different slant on fantasy that isn't too dense. Despite any irritation at editorial details, I will be picking up the second book - Copperhead.

This book has been on my to-read shelf for a while now, so I was ecstatic to find it at my local library because it’s an unlikely find at a mainstream bookstore.

I’ve seen Ironskin promoted a few different ways. It’s a reverse Beauty and the Beast where the girl is “disfigured,” forced to wear an iron mask to hold back a fey curse of anger. It’s steampunk. It’s Jane Eyre but with fey. Some of these are only half-right while others are completely wrong.

For instance, I wouldn’t call this steampunk at all but rather a gothic romance. (I’m worried now that that genre’s becoming obscure if more people haven’t picked up on that.) It has a dash of Jane Eyre in that the main character’s name is Jane Eliot, and she comes to work as a governess for Edward Rochart’s daughter Dorie, who is also fey cursed. Edward has his own secret in the attic, but it isn’t a madwoman for a wife. Rather, women come to him and his studio, and when they leave, they are as beautiful as the fey. Finally, like the Beast, Jane similarly struggles with accepting her own appearance and the anger she still harbors that flares up with her curse.

Ultimately, though, this was a haunting, beautiful, gothic story at its core. From the eeriness of the fey and Dorie’s mumblings of “Mother,” from the secrets Edward Rochart is hiding to the “so wistful it feels doomed” romance between him and Jane, it felt dream-like to read, like I was wandering among ghosts but content to be there. Plus, what the fey were attempting to do was incredibly creepy.

Ironskin sounds basic at first, but I loved how this was a story about harnessing one’s defects instead of just managing them and tapering them down. I loved that this was about healing as well as being brave enough to take the final step toward something better, if unknown. It was about making your own destiny instead of having it make you.

There are other books that follow, but I must confess I prefer Ironskin as a standalone. I felt complete once the book ended, despite that the fey conspiracy wasn’t yet wrapped up. For me, the book was more about Jane, Dorie, and Edward than it was about the fey, which is why I’m happy ending their story where I did. Should I wish to continue, I can, but I don’t know.

I left off on a good note. Why ruin it?
mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Edward "Crazypants" Rochester--I mean, Rochart:

"All of the things that I've done
Terrible things you would never believe
Things that I've done
Oh, how you'll run
If you knew a single one
All of the things that I've done!"

Jane: Hot.
Jane: *Swoons*

Seriously. I don't know what I just read.

3.5/5
Don't take a 3 as meaning I thought the book was bad!!! I totally liked it. It just wasn't one that super wowed me. Anyway, I thought this book was good, k. Little bit of steampunk, little bit of love stuff, a woman and a girl both at the center of the story (kind of). Yes, totally. (But what if there were more girls? And girls into girls?
edit: oh lol, I didn't know this was loosely based off of Jane Eyre? In any case, I haven't read that anyway so idc. My review isn't based on any comparison, bc of my lack of knowledge of the original text.