Giveaway and Review: "Ironskin"

 "Ironskin"

by Tina Connolly

Publisher: Tor
Release Date: Oct 2, 2012
Source: sent by publisher/publicist

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:  

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

 

My Review:

This book has received some lukewarm reviews, but I felt differently. Yes, there are flaws, but overall, I enjoyed this retelling of Jane Eyre. Honestly, I have not read the original, but I do know the basic story. For that reason, I could see similarities, but I can't comment on how closely this tale follows the original.

The author sets up a real fantasy world filled with fey, and people with extraordinary abilities as well. The gloomy, gothic house feels like it's own character, it's just so spooky. There is just a bad energy there it seems. I felt like the slowness of the storytelling fit in with the gothic, gloomy feel, but some readers may have found it slow or boring. I thought this style fit the book well, though.

The storyline of Jane taking care of Dorie seemed to overtake the story at first, and I thought it dragged a bit. But finally, I was able to see it come full circle and see how Dorie was able to teach Jane as well. The mask plot, both Jane's iron mask, as well as Edward making the masks, was interesting and thought provoking.


Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 5/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 5/5 (love it, definitely looks like Jane in her iron mask and silver dress)
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: A gloomy, spooky retelling of Jane Eyre, with a tiny bit of steampunk, and a lot of fey lore.

Ironskin on Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Ironskin-Tina-Connolly/dp/0765330598

Tor.com (publisher's website):  http://www.tor.com/

Follow along with the rest of the tour here: http://tlcbooktours.com/2012/08/tina-connolly-author-of-ironskin-on-tour-october-2012/

GIVEAWAY RULES:

The publicist has generously provided a copy of "Ironskin" for a lucky follower of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)

• US and Canada only
• Must be a follower to enter
• Books will be mailed out by the publisher
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Sun Nov 4

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

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