Scan barcode
A review by jgintrovertedreader
Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
3.0
This was pretty good but it never fully grabbed my attention and I can't say why.
I liked the main characters well enough, though the secondary characters weren't very distinct in my mind. Ana was a bit too stupidly headstrong for my taste but I mostly liked her well enough to overlook it. I'm always a fan of found families and the crew of the ship definitely fits the bill.
There was plenty of action, which should have made the book feel like a fast listen, though I kind of kept waiting to get to the point. It felt too long but I can't point at any section that could easily be removed or shortened.
At the same time, I felt the politics of the planet, which are hugely important to the plot, were never explained, well, at all. I'll be honest--I'm still not even sure if Robb's mother and The Grand Duchess are the same person and if that person rules the Ironbloods and why. I thought they were the same, then she sounded positively ancient so I couldn't understand how she would have two teenage sons.
Maybe my problem is an almost complete lack of exposition. We're just thrown in the deep end at the beginning, with Ana and Robb both trying to get coordinates to locate a ship that disappeared about ten years ago. I understand why Robb was looking for it and I was told Ana's reason but I still don't understand why her mission pointed her at that exact ship.
Maybe it was a book that I would have followed better in print than in audio, though I did like Adenrele Ojo's narration. I process print books better though. I had made up my mind to skip the second book in the duology but this book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. I won't swear that I'll read it (in print this time, just in case that helps me understand things better), but I won't rule it out either.
So I'm obviously conflicted about this one. If you read more science fiction than I do (I typically read more fantasy), you might like it more. I'll also add that I found the Once Upon a Con series by this author to be infinitely better so if you read Heart of Iron and weren't a huge fan, please give Geekerella a chance anyway.
I liked the main characters well enough, though the secondary characters weren't very distinct in my mind. Ana was a bit too stupidly headstrong for my taste but I mostly liked her well enough to overlook it. I'm always a fan of found families and the crew of the ship definitely fits the bill.
There was plenty of action, which should have made the book feel like a fast listen, though I kind of kept waiting to get to the point. It felt too long but I can't point at any section that could easily be removed or shortened.
At the same time, I felt the politics of the planet, which are hugely important to the plot, were never explained, well, at all. I'll be honest--I'm still not even sure if Robb's mother and The Grand Duchess are the same person and if that person rules the Ironbloods and why. I thought they were the same, then she sounded positively ancient so I couldn't understand how she would have two teenage sons.
Maybe my problem is an almost complete lack of exposition. We're just thrown in the deep end at the beginning, with Ana and Robb both trying to get coordinates to locate a ship that disappeared about ten years ago. I understand why Robb was looking for it and I was told Ana's reason but I still don't understand why her mission pointed her at that exact ship.
Maybe it was a book that I would have followed better in print than in audio, though I did like Adenrele Ojo's narration. I process print books better though. I had made up my mind to skip the second book in the duology but this book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. I won't swear that I'll read it (in print this time, just in case that helps me understand things better), but I won't rule it out either.
So I'm obviously conflicted about this one. If you read more science fiction than I do (I typically read more fantasy), you might like it more. I'll also add that I found the Once Upon a Con series by this author to be infinitely better so if you read Heart of Iron and weren't a huge fan, please give Geekerella a chance anyway.