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A review by fairybadattitude
Ironskin by Tina Connolly
4.0
I am a firm believer that there are some stories that just shouldn't be messed with. It's why I'm still dragging my feet on reading [b:Pride and Prejudice and Zombies|5899779|Pride and Prejudice and Zombies|Seth Grahame-Smith|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320449653s/5899779.jpg|6072122]. And, to me, [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is one of THE great literary love stories. So, when a book compares itself to that one, I go in skeptical.
At first, I was certain I wasn't going to like [b:Ironskin|9860837|Ironskin (Ironskin, #1)|Tina Connolly|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333049212s/9860837.jpg|14752133]. The first several chapters seemed much too heavy-handed in bringing out the comparisons to [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639]. It so obviously seemed that Connolly was trying to rewrite it, that when she thanked someone in her acknowledgements for telling her the story was trying to be [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639], I was surprised. I thought that had been her intent all along.
Thankfully, once the book got over trying to be something else, I found that I enjoyed it immensely. It's fast-paced and interesting, although I didn't find the chemistry to be as palpable between this Jane and her employer as in the original. The romance felt one-sided most of the time.
What I really enjoyed was that it was a new take on the world of the fae. Although many stories feature fae that are violent and twisted, the focus is still on their beauty.
Visit my blog at Bums & Bellybuttons.
At first, I was certain I wasn't going to like [b:Ironskin|9860837|Ironskin (Ironskin, #1)|Tina Connolly|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333049212s/9860837.jpg|14752133]. The first several chapters seemed much too heavy-handed in bringing out the comparisons to [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639]. It so obviously seemed that Connolly was trying to rewrite it, that when she thanked someone in her acknowledgements for telling her the story was trying to be [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639], I was surprised. I thought that had been her intent all along.
Thankfully, once the book got over trying to be something else, I found that I enjoyed it immensely. It's fast-paced and interesting, although I didn't find the chemistry to be as palpable between this Jane and her employer as in the original. The romance felt one-sided most of the time.
What I really enjoyed was that it was a new take on the world of the fae. Although many stories feature fae that are violent and twisted, the focus is still on their beauty.
Spoiler
In [b:Ironskin|9860837|Ironskin (Ironskin, #1)|Tina Connolly|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333049212s/9860837.jpg|14752133], the fae are portrayed as violent, malevolent creatures, whose beauty is not just unnatural, but fake. It is an interesting perspective, as is the fact of their having no bodies of their own, so they take over human corpses. Usually we hear of the fae manipulating humans to act as their puppets, but [b:Ironskin|9860837|Ironskin (Ironskin, #1)|Tina Connolly|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333049212s/9860837.jpg|14752133] takes that idea much further.Visit my blog at Bums & Bellybuttons.