Saturday, January 22, 2011

Review: The Iron Witch (The Iron Witch Saga #1) by Karen Mahoney

Synopsis (via Goodreads):
Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.
My Thoughts: This book was very, very good.  I started it with the idea that I'd read a few chapters and kick back over to one of my grown up books (the ones with lots of S-E-X in them) but once I started I really couldn't put it down.

I loved, loved, loved Xan.  Yes, my weakness for tortured bad boys continues.  From the very first time that Donna finds him hiding out on his roof to his total willingness to help her out at the drop of a hat, he had me.  He's just kinda awesome.  As for Donna, I like that the thing that saved her life comes with such a price.  It wasn't an easy fix.  She lives with the pain of her iron hands, but she does live.

Although the main arc in this story was wrapped up, there were a lot of plot threads that were laid out and left dangling.  This isn't a bad thing because I assume they'll be addressed in later books but it did leave me wanting more.  A lot more.

All in all, it was a very good book with fun characters (Oh, hi, Xan!) and well laid out mythology.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

4 comments:

  1. Great review! This book has been on my wishlist since I found it on Goodreads....now I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy!

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  2. This book satisfies the Free Reading Challenge, but where did you get your free copy. I bought mine on Amazon.com. Was this offered at one time for free? I was able to pick of Fixing Delilah for free, so I know occasionally one get really lucky. Look like you did here! :-)

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  3. Hey, Gina. I picked it up from the Reader Store. It showed up as free the day I bought it and when I went back to link it up for my In My Mailbox post I couldn't find it in their catalog at all. Weird. I felt like I won the lottery or something. :)

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  4. Kelly! You totally won the lottery by scoring this one for free! Freaking awesome, I can't wait to read it. Especially because of MY weakness for tortured bad boys! I want to met Xan.

    So glad it was the type of book you couldn't put down.

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