IRONSKIN took aninteresting approach to retelling Jane Eyre with fantastical elements. Inconsistent with everything from its plot to its characterization, IRONSKIN will probably be a temporarily intriguing but ultimately forgettable entry in the category of classic retellings.
Readers who love Jane Eyre will probably find fewer things objectionable in IRONSKIN. I, however, was never a fan of the bland heroine, brooding, self-deprecating hero, and the melodramatic secrets unveiled at the end of the story. IRONSKIN actually does quite a good job of sticking to the original and necessary elements of JE. Mr. Rochart channels all of Edward Rochesters self-deprecating comments and tortured moodiness. Which, you know, if you like that sort of self-pitying thing is all well and good. The setting of the house and the mysterious woods and moor surrounding it are played up and given dark life of their own. Surface-wise, things look good for IRONSKIN to be a great, loyal retelling.
Its when the fantastical elements are added in that IRONSKIN loses some of its credibility with me. The tricky thing about retellings is that the progression of the characters decisions and actions has to make sense independent of the story its retelling. This is why superficial retellings of Pride and Prejudice have always bothered me: one cant just conveniently bring up the existence of an impending high school ball in order to bring the separated lovers back together, or have one if the characters arbitrarily do something inconsistent to his or her character, just to set them back onto the path of the original story. IRONSKIN suffers from this in some regard too: little happens in the first half of the book besides for Jane struggling to teach Dorie and having cryptic encounters with the moody Mr. Rochart, which means that the book had to make lots of dramatic events happen in order to bring everything to its proper, dramatic conclusion in time. The pacing was clumsy, which resulted in some of the characters decisions feeling contrived for the sake of sticking to the original. It really took me out of the story, the constant awareness that IRONSKIN was adhering to the plot of Jane Eyre at its every twist and turn, and kind of smushed the original JE elements and new steampunk fantasy elements together when necessary.
I realize that I talked about a lot of my critiques of this book in my review, but really, IRONSKIN wasnt a bad readexcept for that I was a bit confused about some messages regarding beauty and normalcy that this book seemed to be sending. The trajectory of characters outcomes seems to suggest that its okay for women to base their worth upon their physical looks. Or something. I dont know. I couldnt quite put my finger on the implications. IRONSKIN was an interesting steampunk fantasy take on Jane Eyre, but I think I wont be picking up the next book, because I felt myself skimming, my eyes wandering, too often for me to feel emotionally connected enough to the characters and their story
Readers who love Jane Eyre will probably find fewer things objectionable in IRONSKIN. I, however, was never a fan of the bland heroine, brooding, self-deprecating hero, and the melodramatic secrets unveiled at the end of the story. IRONSKIN actually does quite a good job of sticking to the original and necessary elements of JE. Mr. Rochart channels all of Edward Rochesters self-deprecating comments and tortured moodiness. Which, you know, if you like that sort of self-pitying thing is all well and good. The setting of the house and the mysterious woods and moor surrounding it are played up and given dark life of their own. Surface-wise, things look good for IRONSKIN to be a great, loyal retelling.
Its when the fantastical elements are added in that IRONSKIN loses some of its credibility with me. The tricky thing about retellings is that the progression of the characters decisions and actions has to make sense independent of the story its retelling. This is why superficial retellings of Pride and Prejudice have always bothered me: one cant just conveniently bring up the existence of an impending high school ball in order to bring the separated lovers back together, or have one if the characters arbitrarily do something inconsistent to his or her character, just to set them back onto the path of the original story. IRONSKIN suffers from this in some regard too: little happens in the first half of the book besides for Jane struggling to teach Dorie and having cryptic encounters with the moody Mr. Rochart, which means that the book had to make lots of dramatic events happen in order to bring everything to its proper, dramatic conclusion in time. The pacing was clumsy, which resulted in some of the characters decisions feeling contrived for the sake of sticking to the original. It really took me out of the story, the constant awareness that IRONSKIN was adhering to the plot of Jane Eyre at its every twist and turn, and kind of smushed the original JE elements and new steampunk fantasy elements together when necessary.
I realize that I talked about a lot of my critiques of this book in my review, but really, IRONSKIN wasnt a bad readexcept for that I was a bit confused about some messages regarding beauty and normalcy that this book seemed to be sending. The trajectory of characters outcomes seems to suggest that its okay for women to base their worth upon their physical looks. Or something. I dont know. I couldnt quite put my finger on the implications. IRONSKIN was an interesting steampunk fantasy take on Jane Eyre, but I think I wont be picking up the next book, because I felt myself skimming, my eyes wandering, too often for me to feel emotionally connected enough to the characters and their story
I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. I am shamelessly going to admit I was absolutely drawn to the beautiful cover; the haunting synopsis sealed the deal. The first two thirds of this book is decent but nothing special, but the last third was awesome.
Jane is an Ironskin, scarred from the Fey War five years past, she is forced to wear an iron mask over half her face to protect others from the fey curse that resides in her skin. She has few prospects and when a job comes up for a governess for a notoriously difficult child she is desperate for the work. But the child, Dorie, is unlike anything she has ever known and the childs father, Edward, is an artist with many dark secrets.
I read somewhere that this is supposed to be loosely based on Jane Eyre. I am ashamed to admit I have never read Jane Eyre (bows head in shame) so I cant really speak to that.
The book has an interesting setting. This book is set following a devastating Fey War apparently some time in humanitys future. Jane stumbles upon remnants of previous modern day technology here and there. The tone is very Victorian with some steampunk thrown in for good measure.
Jane herself is one of those wonderfully strong characters; she is polite and tries to be proper but is tougher than even she knows. Watching her struggle with Dorie, a child obsessed with using her fey abilities instead of human ones, was fascinating. At times it was reminiscent of what Helen Kellers teacher must have gone through. The relationship that Jane and Dorie form is unique and engrossing.
Edward is also a fascinating character. Hes got that whole darkly damaged yet sensitive man thing going on. He seems to be cold and damaged one moment, and then he is loving on his little girl like shes his whole world. It makes him a great character and a mysterious one. The chemistry between him and Jane isnt sizzling, but it is interesting and seems to build slowly throughout the book. There isnt a ton of romance in this story but there is a little.
The above being said the first two thirds of the book move slowly. Jane is going about her daily work and slowly trying to unweave the mysteries of the strange household shes become part of. The last third of the book is amazing; once she finds out the truth things really become engaging and I couldnt put the book down. Jane finds a way to use her fey curse and confronts the danger in front of her without flinching. The first part of this book was 3 stars for me, the last part was 5 stars.
Overall a wonderful read. The background behind Janes world is creative and mysterious. The characters are incredibly well done and I loved how the Fey were portrayed. The book starts slow and builds mystery; the climax of the story is amazing and I immediately wanted to know what would happen next to Jane, Dorie, and Edward. If you are a fan of Victorian fantasy I highly recommend this book. I cant wait to see what the next book in the series brings.
Jane is an Ironskin, scarred from the Fey War five years past, she is forced to wear an iron mask over half her face to protect others from the fey curse that resides in her skin. She has few prospects and when a job comes up for a governess for a notoriously difficult child she is desperate for the work. But the child, Dorie, is unlike anything she has ever known and the childs father, Edward, is an artist with many dark secrets.
I read somewhere that this is supposed to be loosely based on Jane Eyre. I am ashamed to admit I have never read Jane Eyre (bows head in shame) so I cant really speak to that.
The book has an interesting setting. This book is set following a devastating Fey War apparently some time in humanitys future. Jane stumbles upon remnants of previous modern day technology here and there. The tone is very Victorian with some steampunk thrown in for good measure.
Jane herself is one of those wonderfully strong characters; she is polite and tries to be proper but is tougher than even she knows. Watching her struggle with Dorie, a child obsessed with using her fey abilities instead of human ones, was fascinating. At times it was reminiscent of what Helen Kellers teacher must have gone through. The relationship that Jane and Dorie form is unique and engrossing.
Edward is also a fascinating character. Hes got that whole darkly damaged yet sensitive man thing going on. He seems to be cold and damaged one moment, and then he is loving on his little girl like shes his whole world. It makes him a great character and a mysterious one. The chemistry between him and Jane isnt sizzling, but it is interesting and seems to build slowly throughout the book. There isnt a ton of romance in this story but there is a little.
The above being said the first two thirds of the book move slowly. Jane is going about her daily work and slowly trying to unweave the mysteries of the strange household shes become part of. The last third of the book is amazing; once she finds out the truth things really become engaging and I couldnt put the book down. Jane finds a way to use her fey curse and confronts the danger in front of her without flinching. The first part of this book was 3 stars for me, the last part was 5 stars.
Overall a wonderful read. The background behind Janes world is creative and mysterious. The characters are incredibly well done and I loved how the Fey were portrayed. The book starts slow and builds mystery; the climax of the story is amazing and I immediately wanted to know what would happen next to Jane, Dorie, and Edward. If you are a fan of Victorian fantasy I highly recommend this book. I cant wait to see what the next book in the series brings.
