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A review by drey72
Ironskin by Tina Connolly
4.0
Tina Connolly’s Ironskin is set in a world where man met fey, loved fey (and fey technology), then (eventually) fought fey. Some of the survivors still carry the scars of that war, and Jane is one of them. Her bit of embedded fey, her fey curse, brings out rage – in her, and in others – so she wears a mask of iron to dampen its effect. A mask that reminds everyone she’s ironskin, that she’s not wholly human, and they treat her accordingly.
After losing yet another job to a non-ironskin, Jane takes a job as governess to five-year-old fey-cursed Dorie – and finds that not everything is as she thought. Dorie doesn’t have any scars, yet she can do things no human can. How can Jane curb Dorie’s use of her fey skills when there’s nowhere to mask? How do you persuade a five-year-old that she should be doing things the hard way?
Then there’s Dorie’s father, Edward. A skilled artist, Edward makes masks… and so much more. When Jane learns what Edward’s been using his skills for, she considers that even she could be beautiful again. Then she realizes how it plays into the fey’s plan, and Jane must decide if beauty is worth the destruction of everything she wants, of everyone she loves. Because this time, the fey are playing to win.
Jane is brave and stubborn and determined. She isn’t about to let the world tell her how to live, she’s going to make it on her own. She is wistful, remembering the life she had before the war. Hopeful that her sister has made a happy marriage. And longing for a chance for the same for herself, though she knows that will most likely never happen. I like Jane.
Edward is reclusive, and for a good reason – one of which we don’t really find out until close to the end. He’s broody and aloof, and has his reasons for that, too. We see more of Jane than Edward, so I don’t really have an opinion of him – other than I don’t dislike him.
Ironskin is a story about survival, about yearning for what’s lost, and about wanting more than you should. It’s a story about regrets. And it’s a story about love. All in all, it’s a pretty darn good first novel from Connolly. Check it out!
drey’s rating: Excellent!
After losing yet another job to a non-ironskin, Jane takes a job as governess to five-year-old fey-cursed Dorie – and finds that not everything is as she thought. Dorie doesn’t have any scars, yet she can do things no human can. How can Jane curb Dorie’s use of her fey skills when there’s nowhere to mask? How do you persuade a five-year-old that she should be doing things the hard way?
Then there’s Dorie’s father, Edward. A skilled artist, Edward makes masks… and so much more. When Jane learns what Edward’s been using his skills for, she considers that even she could be beautiful again. Then she realizes how it plays into the fey’s plan, and Jane must decide if beauty is worth the destruction of everything she wants, of everyone she loves. Because this time, the fey are playing to win.
Jane is brave and stubborn and determined. She isn’t about to let the world tell her how to live, she’s going to make it on her own. She is wistful, remembering the life she had before the war. Hopeful that her sister has made a happy marriage. And longing for a chance for the same for herself, though she knows that will most likely never happen. I like Jane.
Edward is reclusive, and for a good reason – one of which we don’t really find out until close to the end. He’s broody and aloof, and has his reasons for that, too. We see more of Jane than Edward, so I don’t really have an opinion of him – other than I don’t dislike him.
Ironskin is a story about survival, about yearning for what’s lost, and about wanting more than you should. It’s a story about regrets. And it’s a story about love. All in all, it’s a pretty darn good first novel from Connolly. Check it out!
drey’s rating: Excellent!