Series: Iron Codex #3
Hardback: 304 Pages
Publication: February 12, 2013 by Delacorte Books for Younger Readers
Aoife Grayson must face death to win back Dean—the love who was ripped from the Iron Lands of the living when he was shot in the arctic north. But getting to the Deadlands is something that Aoife can’t do on her own. And if she can find a way there, Tremaine would surely never allow it. He has sworn to keep her in the Thorn Lands, the fairie home of her mother, Nerissa. But Aoife is determined to find her way out. And she has no trouble if that means she has to kill Tremain and his queen to do it.
Overall, this is a solid book. The plot is simple and straightfoward at this point, but that is mostly because this is the third and final book in the series, and we know what has to be done for Aoife to right the turmoil she has caused in the worlds. What complicates my feelings about this book is that I fell so much in love with the first book my expectations for this book were that much higher, and unfortunately I didn’t feel the same magic that I did with The Iron Thorn. One reason may be the length of the book. The Iron Thorn was almost 500 pages, and The Nightmare Garden was just over 400 pages, whereas this one is only 304 pages long. There wasn’t nearly enough room in this book for the elaborate imagery and complexities of plot and character that The Iron Thorn gave us.
Aoife grew into the ‘rebellious’ child in The Nightmare Garden, which I could understand. It was a transition book, and Aoife was disillusioned with the world around her. She couldn’t trust anybody but herself, so it was only natural for her to backtalk and sneak around behind even sane adults. In this book, she is wracked by guilt over the damage that she has inflicted on the world and her grief causes her to take great risks, jeopardizing her life and her relationships with the living for Dean. It was a conflicting experience watching Aoife go to hell and back for him. I understand her feelings and was delighted that there was a chance to bring Dean back; at the same time, he didn’t die for her to place herself in greater dangers for his sake. On the other hand, it’s really amazing to see how powerful her connection to him. It takes a seriously awesome guy for a girl to do what Aoife does to get him back (and he is seriously awesome)!
I enjoyed visiting the Deadlands with Aoife. It is such an interesting world and has some brilliant, unique characters, and I am sad that we didn’t get to explore more of it. I also feel as though this book is less about character growth than about achieving a resolution to the greater plot, which is really disappointing because I loved the characters and there was so much potential for this world to be expanded. Nevertheless, while in the Deadlands, the stakes grow even higher and Aoife learns that there is more than her own life at risk (isn’t there always?). Most of all, I appreciate how Aoife’s relationship with her family has been resolved. I’m a family girl and love to see families patch things up. I also like how Aoife faces her fears and shows some maturity at the end, showing that she has learned from her mistakes and has grown into a stronger person, if a not yet fully matured adult. And that’s what the YA genre is all about!
An ARC was provided by the publisher for review purposes
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Review – The Nightmare Garden (The Iron Code #2)
Caitlin collects comic books, print books, vintage clothes, and bad habits. She loves tea, loud music, the color black (especially mixed with the color pink) and ghost stories. She can drive a stick shift, play the violin and knows more English curses than American ones. Caitlin lives in Olympia, WA with two pushy cats.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Giselle says
This sounds like such a great series and right up my alley too! When this book came up in my Fresh Batch I didn'T even know it was part of a series i'll have to hunt down the first one! Great review, doll!
Sierra says
Though I liked the second book, I didn't like it that much. I would definitely agree that the second wasn't as good as the first. Not even close. The first is AMAZING. I would reread it a billion times. I'm almost scared to read The Mirrored Shard after reading several reviews that have said it wasn't that great. *sighs* I wish it could have turned out as good as the first. I'll still read it though. Thanks for the review and giveaway! Sierra
Keep growing beautiful!
Bookworm1858 says
I loved the first book so much but ended up being a little disappointed in the second. I'm afraid that the lack of character development will let me down but I do have hope especially with the family stuff because I also adore family dynamics too.
Twisty J says
I am anxiously waiting to see how the characters of Aoife and the others progress and grow in this book. I usually have an idea in my head of how things should end up with series books, and it is always interesting to see if the author had the same ideas. I can't wait to read this one. Thanks for the review and a chance to win!
cosnmom says
I only read the first paragraph of your review to see if there was a clue to how you felt about the book. I was afraid to read the entire review because I have not read book two in this series, yet and I didn't know if it would be spoilery. It sounds like you enjoyed it, though not as much as book one, which I loved. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series soon.