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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
This was great!
I did like this it was very different and something new to read. In a world of books where a lot are almost the same thing.
I liked the humor but it does have a lot of these in it "...". I had my kindle read it to me which makes those parts sound funny.
I like Ionicus and I think I will keep reading the rest of the books.
I like the elements and the world.
I'm not very good at giving detailed reviews.
I did like this it was very different and something new to read. In a world of books where a lot are almost the same thing.
I liked the humor but it does have a lot of these in it "...". I had my kindle read it to me which makes those parts sound funny.
I like Ionicus and I think I will keep reading the rest of the books.
I like the elements and the world.
I'm not very good at giving detailed reviews.
This book blew me away. I wasn't expecting to be so enthralled in the novel. I loved the character development and the world. It reminded me of the Percy Jackson series, but with it's own flavor. It was a lot more intense and creative than Percy Jackson. Five out of five!!!!
Pretty good overall! A little cheesy at times, but easily overlooked by the fact that it has a good, easy to follow story line.
This is really an exceptional first novel! The world building was fantastic and one of my very favorite things was the authors ability to paint a vivid image for me. I hate getting lost in vague descriptions of places and action scenes, but this story is clear and wonderfully described.
I thought this story was very fresh- yes it had some similarities to a Harry Potter world but I cannot blame the author for that choice because Harry Potter is fucking awesome. Still, this is clearly it's own story and each of the twists were very surprising. I can usually figure out what's going to happen but expected almost none of them.
The only thing I'd say negatively is the characterization of Oceanus. She was mostly just a pre Sorcerers Stone troll in the dungeon Halloween Hermione. All uptight and know it all with nothing else behind her character. If I have anything I'd hope was improved, it would be development of her character.
Other than that, this was a really good read and I definitely want to get my hands on the next one! I hope Gods and Guts is still going to be played because that was just freaking awesome!
I thought this story was very fresh- yes it had some similarities to a Harry Potter world but I cannot blame the author for that choice because Harry Potter is fucking awesome. Still, this is clearly it's own story and each of the twists were very surprising. I can usually figure out what's going to happen but expected almost none of them.
The only thing I'd say negatively is the characterization of Oceanus. She was mostly just a pre Sorcerers Stone troll in the dungeon Halloween Hermione. All uptight and know it all with nothing else behind her character. If I have anything I'd hope was improved, it would be development of her character.
Other than that, this was a really good read and I definitely want to get my hands on the next one! I hope Gods and Guts is still going to be played because that was just freaking awesome!
I was given an ebook by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this!
I was completely hooked from the beginning. The character development was amazing and the story itself it was exciting and fast paced. And that ending! Wow! Completely took me by surprise! I would definitely recommend it and can't wait to read the next book!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this!
I was completely hooked from the beginning. The character development was amazing and the story itself it was exciting and fast paced. And that ending! Wow! Completely took me by surprise! I would definitely recommend it and can't wait to read the next book!
I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. And I'm glad I did because this book was so good. It's too good, guys. I need the book in the series.
I understand why The Iron-Jawed Boy is being compare to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but this book does stand out on its own. The characters are fun and easy to connect with. I really do think any age group could enjoy it, for its fun and excitement
Bravo, Mr. Lee. Well done, you got me intrigued to read the next book; especially, from the cliffhanger in the end.
I understand why The Iron-Jawed Boy is being compare to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but this book does stand out on its own. The characters are fun and easy to connect with. I really do think any age group could enjoy it, for its fun and excitement
Bravo, Mr. Lee. Well done, you got me intrigued to read the next book; especially, from the cliffhanger in the end.
Although I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, I wound up purchasing it beforehand from Amazon because I was that interested in reading it.
The Iron-Jawed Boy is a mix of Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson. It takes place in the future, in a world where gods and magical creatures have overtaken humans and humans fight desperately to reclaim the world that they destroyed through various vices. Our intrepid hero, Ion, harbors a grudge against the gods and their subjects for ripping apart his family. Much to his dismay, he discovers that he possesses powers designed to protect the gods and that he must learn how to control these powers so that he can serve his enemies.
Along the way, he fights against his loyalties and ends up committing a tremendous injustice based on fear and a longing for normalcy.
Ion is not a particularly strong character in terms of morality. Yes, he has great powers, but his ability to stand up for himself and to make decisions is impaired. This makes him more likable, however, because he is not the stereotypical hero. It also serves to remind the reader how young he is. A twelve year old that has suffered six months of slavery, lost his parents, and discovers that his sister is also a Guardian that serves his enemies might be conflicted at best. Ion wants to belong, wants to feel like he has a home, when war has stolen this from him.
Oceanus, his sister, suffers from an obvious name trait. We were prepared to believe she had water powers because of her name. She resembles Hermione, particularly in her "know it all" response to things and her bookworm tendencies. However, her blind obedience and unlikelihood of questioning authority separate her from Hermione. Possibly the reason Oceanus feels so strongly about the gods and accepts them so handily is because, like Ion, she needs to feel like she belongs.
Ion and Oceanus are well developed characters, for such a short book, although other characters seem rough around the edges. From the beginning, I believed that Oceanus and Spike were friends, although this proved to be wrong later. Solara was established to be an antagonist early on, yet she also seemed to be younger than Ion previously believed. One wonders what particularly draws Spike and Solara to champion their mother's cause so strongly--is it merely family loyalty?
Family loyalty could be a strong connection, nonetheless. When we learn that Ion's mother is Vinya, we can understand why she protected him so fiercely and even let him hug her. (As a hopeful teacher, I'm not allowed to hug my students, so one would deduce this was a special case). However, the reader also has to wonder how the heck Vinya knew what Ion had done and when to come to his rescue. This was the only moment in the book that felt like a deus ex machina scenario.
It raises further questions, too. The Hand of Fear states that he used Ion's mother's ghost to manipulate him into releasing him by pulling through her memories. She declares Vinya to be a deadbeat that stayed on the couch for a year. Is this really what she thinks? Or is it what the Hand of Fear wants Ion to think of her? Was this part of the manipulation? If it was what she thought...then how is Ion her son?
Conjecturing aside, this book had a relatively fast pace. I didn't notice any particularly draggy moments and I had to force myself to finish, because I didn't want the book to end. One thing I will comment on, however, is the author's tendency to skip time. The way he wrote it reminded me in particular of Harry Potter. Rowling as well as Lee gloss over periods in time rather than embellishing on them and I think, had he done this, it would have been a longer, possibly meatier book.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Harry Potter and/or Percy Jackson. Overall, I was rather impressed by it.
The Iron-Jawed Boy is a mix of Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson. It takes place in the future, in a world where gods and magical creatures have overtaken humans and humans fight desperately to reclaim the world that they destroyed through various vices. Our intrepid hero, Ion, harbors a grudge against the gods and their subjects for ripping apart his family. Much to his dismay, he discovers that he possesses powers designed to protect the gods and that he must learn how to control these powers so that he can serve his enemies.
Along the way, he fights against his loyalties and ends up committing a tremendous injustice based on fear and a longing for normalcy.
Ion is not a particularly strong character in terms of morality. Yes, he has great powers, but his ability to stand up for himself and to make decisions is impaired. This makes him more likable, however, because he is not the stereotypical hero. It also serves to remind the reader how young he is. A twelve year old that has suffered six months of slavery, lost his parents, and discovers that his sister is also a Guardian that serves his enemies might be conflicted at best. Ion wants to belong, wants to feel like he has a home, when war has stolen this from him.
Oceanus, his sister, suffers from an obvious name trait. We were prepared to believe she had water powers because of her name. She resembles Hermione, particularly in her "know it all" response to things and her bookworm tendencies. However, her blind obedience and unlikelihood of questioning authority separate her from Hermione. Possibly the reason Oceanus feels so strongly about the gods and accepts them so handily is because, like Ion, she needs to feel like she belongs.
Ion and Oceanus are well developed characters, for such a short book, although other characters seem rough around the edges. From the beginning, I believed that Oceanus and Spike were friends, although this proved to be wrong later. Solara was established to be an antagonist early on, yet she also seemed to be younger than Ion previously believed. One wonders what particularly draws Spike and Solara to champion their mother's cause so strongly--is it merely family loyalty?
Family loyalty could be a strong connection, nonetheless. When we learn that Ion's mother is Vinya, we can understand why she protected him so fiercely and even let him hug her. (As a hopeful teacher, I'm not allowed to hug my students, so one would deduce this was a special case). However, the reader also has to wonder how the heck Vinya knew what Ion had done and when to come to his rescue. This was the only moment in the book that felt like a deus ex machina scenario.
It raises further questions, too. The Hand of Fear states that he used Ion's mother's ghost to manipulate him into releasing him by pulling through her memories. She declares Vinya to be a deadbeat that stayed on the couch for a year. Is this really what she thinks? Or is it what the Hand of Fear wants Ion to think of her? Was this part of the manipulation? If it was what she thought...then how is Ion her son?
Conjecturing aside, this book had a relatively fast pace. I didn't notice any particularly draggy moments and I had to force myself to finish, because I didn't want the book to end. One thing I will comment on, however, is the author's tendency to skip time. The way he wrote it reminded me in particular of Harry Potter. Rowling as well as Lee gloss over periods in time rather than embellishing on them and I think, had he done this, it would have been a longer, possibly meatier book.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Harry Potter and/or Percy Jackson. Overall, I was rather impressed by it.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review
It's hard to believe this is the first book Lee has written. The characters and plot are decently developed, although at times quite predictable. Definitely has a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson vibe going on, but still stands out. Not really sure I'm the right demographic. It felt insanely childish at times, especially where Othum was concerned, so I'd recommend it for anyone in the middle school age range.
Ion definitely acts like a twelve-year old boy. The author got that spot on. The same can be said about Ion's relationship with his sister. They banter and bicker back and forth, but in the end they still do care for each other. The fight scenes were action packed and well written, but I think my problem with this novel just stemmed from it's childish writing. Don't get me wrong, it is well written and well thought out, it's just written for a much younger audience. While normally that doesn't bother me, something here just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think it's the author's fault, really, I think it's just my personal taste.
It's hard to believe this is the first book Lee has written. The characters and plot are decently developed, although at times quite predictable. Definitely has a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson vibe going on, but still stands out. Not really sure I'm the right demographic. It felt insanely childish at times, especially where Othum was concerned, so I'd recommend it for anyone in the middle school age range.
Ion definitely acts like a twelve-year old boy. The author got that spot on. The same can be said about Ion's relationship with his sister. They banter and bicker back and forth, but in the end they still do care for each other. The fight scenes were action packed and well written, but I think my problem with this novel just stemmed from it's childish writing. Don't get me wrong, it is well written and well thought out, it's just written for a much younger audience. While normally that doesn't bother me, something here just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think it's the author's fault, really, I think it's just my personal taste.
Apparently when I first saw the title before the synopsis, I thought it was either a) a boy by the name of Ionikus Reaves has so strong of a jaw, it's like Iron! Or b) the same boy was apparently born with an oddity. Obviously I was wrong, but the cover doesn't seem to have a guy with a jaw nor did the synopsis said anything about iron jaws, so I had to make my own assumptions. *shrugs*
The Iron-Jawed Boy reminds me so much of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, or more accurately speaking, Hogwarts for reincarnated gods ("little" gods probably doesn't work out so well, although technically the characters are "little"). Of course, The Iron-Jawed Boy does have its own moments as well that sets it apart, thus presenting the not so complicated graphical equations of The Iron-Jawed Boy. Warning: Lots of Potter and Jackson references.
The Achaean Academy, which is more similar to Hogwarts than Camp Half-Blood, is where the majority of the book takes place. The CVEs are similar to the OWLs in HP, and the races – giants, elves, dwarves, Guardians, etc – are similar to the Houses in HP but more like the different kids in PJ (I don't mean pajamas). On the bright side, they're not called BATs or CATs or some other three letter animal (PETs?). Ion does start out working for a judge by the name of Sir Dread, which I have to say is very well named, before actually finding out he's a reincarnated god and starts at the Academy.
As other reviewers have mentioned, Ion has the naivety of a young Harry and the age of Percy. Possibly his naivety as well, but what twelve year old hasn't done anything really stupid (though if you're saying you were a perfect angel child, well, I'm dubious)? Although in my case, it was blurting out my opinions, which not everyone appreciated. Sorry? But it's not like I can actually turn back time (I wish)... and I tend to stay in a turtle shell most of the time most of the time... unless you're one of my close friends.
There's not exactly one Hermione, there's 2. Or maybe I should just say Annabeth was really depressed about Percy being missing and ran away, thus running into the Achaean Academy. It was all an unfortunate accident. ;) Being Ion's sister, she's quite the bookworm, and she raises her hand... A LOT (Hermione does it too in the first HP). What makes her really similar to Annabeth is her nickname for Ion: Oinker (Seaweed Brain?). As for Lillian – another Guardian – I can't really say if she is exactly like Hermione, but her words of wisdom for Ion made it seem so.
Probably what I really didn't like was how the gods just didn't seem very... mature. Othum is like Dumbledore in some cases, but most of the time he's just... bubbly, like Dionysus. What an extremely odd combo. Really cheery, and that's usually what you don't expect from a god, who apparently has an entire world to take care of. I suppose the dude is taking YOLO seriously, but he's immortal. There's no YOLO. There's YOLF – You Only Live Forever.
In a nutshell, well written debut novel, lots of similarities to Percy Jackson and Harry Potter but certainly not too much. Definitely a good read for avid middle grade and mythology readers out there to try!
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Review copy provided by the author
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This review and more can be found over at Bookwyrming Thoughts
The Iron-Jawed Boy reminds me so much of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, or more accurately speaking, Hogwarts for reincarnated gods ("little" gods probably doesn't work out so well, although technically the characters are "little"). Of course, The Iron-Jawed Boy does have its own moments as well that sets it apart, thus presenting the not so complicated graphical equations of The Iron-Jawed Boy. Warning: Lots of Potter and Jackson references.
The Achaean Academy, which is more similar to Hogwarts than Camp Half-Blood, is where the majority of the book takes place. The CVEs are similar to the OWLs in HP, and the races – giants, elves, dwarves, Guardians, etc – are similar to the Houses in HP but more like the different kids in PJ (I don't mean pajamas). On the bright side, they're not called BATs or CATs or some other three letter animal (PETs?). Ion does start out working for a judge by the name of Sir Dread, which I have to say is very well named, before actually finding out he's a reincarnated god and starts at the Academy.
As other reviewers have mentioned, Ion has the naivety of a young Harry and the age of Percy. Possibly his naivety as well, but what twelve year old hasn't done anything really stupid (though if you're saying you were a perfect angel child, well, I'm dubious)? Although in my case, it was blurting out my opinions, which not everyone appreciated. Sorry? But it's not like I can actually turn back time (I wish)... and I tend to stay in a turtle shell most of the time most of the time... unless you're one of my close friends.
There's not exactly one Hermione, there's 2. Or maybe I should just say Annabeth was really depressed about Percy being missing and ran away, thus running into the Achaean Academy. It was all an unfortunate accident. ;) Being Ion's sister, she's quite the bookworm, and she raises her hand... A LOT (Hermione does it too in the first HP). What makes her really similar to Annabeth is her nickname for Ion: Oinker (Seaweed Brain?). As for Lillian – another Guardian – I can't really say if she is exactly like Hermione, but her words of wisdom for Ion made it seem so.
Probably what I really didn't like was how the gods just didn't seem very... mature. Othum is like Dumbledore in some cases, but most of the time he's just... bubbly, like Dionysus. What an extremely odd combo. Really cheery, and that's usually what you don't expect from a god, who apparently has an entire world to take care of. I suppose the dude is taking YOLO seriously, but he's immortal. There's no YOLO. There's YOLF – You Only Live Forever.
In a nutshell, well written debut novel, lots of similarities to Percy Jackson and Harry Potter but certainly not too much. Definitely a good read for avid middle grade and mythology readers out there to try!
------------------
Review copy provided by the author
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This review and more can be found over at Bookwyrming Thoughts
I was happy to receive an ebook copy of The Iron-Jawed Boy from the author, Nikolas Lee, in exchange for an honest review. To see the review on my blog please click here: http://sarahthomasbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/book-review-iron-jawed-boy-sky-guardian.html
I wasn't entirely sure what to think of the book when I first started it but I have to say the concept of the story drew me in straight away. The idea of Gods fighting a war with people who can use the elements, whilst simultaneously being set in the future, was definitely enticing.
The concept did remind of the Percy Jackson series but the storyline was nothing like it. I really liked the characters in the book; Solara was positively terrifying and Ion was a very likeable and believable character. I also enjoyed the back-story given the world. The setting was interesting and I hope to find out more about the world later in the series.
I do think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had read it at a younger age as I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief at certain things. I also found a couple of the concepts (such as the sweets) quite childish; however, I'm aware this was written for a much younger audience so, putting that aside, I found the rest of the book very good.
I loved the fight scenes, they were written incredibly, and many writers can't do that as well as Nikolas Lee can. I enjoyed the book and would continue the series if given the opportunity. I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy a good middle-grade adventure story and who wanted something fun and light to read.
I wasn't entirely sure what to think of the book when I first started it but I have to say the concept of the story drew me in straight away. The idea of Gods fighting a war with people who can use the elements, whilst simultaneously being set in the future, was definitely enticing.
The concept did remind of the Percy Jackson series but the storyline was nothing like it. I really liked the characters in the book; Solara was positively terrifying and Ion was a very likeable and believable character. I also enjoyed the back-story given the world. The setting was interesting and I hope to find out more about the world later in the series.
I do think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had read it at a younger age as I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief at certain things. I also found a couple of the concepts (such as the sweets) quite childish; however, I'm aware this was written for a much younger audience so, putting that aside, I found the rest of the book very good.
I loved the fight scenes, they were written incredibly, and many writers can't do that as well as Nikolas Lee can. I enjoyed the book and would continue the series if given the opportunity. I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy a good middle-grade adventure story and who wanted something fun and light to read.