LOVE her stories
I adore the Myrtlewood books. I unfortunately began with the Drone series, which isn't finished, so I'll need to re-read them when it is.
I'll begin with what needs work. Iris, I adore your writing ( more on that shortly), but darlin', you REALLY need a good proofreader. If you are already using one, they're missing a LOT of errors. Generally missing words, like of, the, to, and the like. It's distracting. Not nearly bad enough to make me stop reading, but enough to pull me out of the story frequently. If you're proofing your own work, that's generally not a good idea, as we usually read ( or somehow see) what we intended to write, rather than what we actually did write. I do proofreading, so perhaps I'm just more sensitive to errors. But the distracting nature of them doesn't do any author a favor. That's it for criticisms.
On the compliments side of things.... Iris is fantastic at point of view. She has a fabulous grasp of generational differences; the emotions, and behaviors of teenagers, adults, and older women. I find that very rare, and really compelling. While many authors can pull off one or two; I don't think I've read anyone else who so deftly does it like Ms. Beaglehole. It isn't easy for older people to remember what it was like to go through puberty, and all the angst of that period, as well as nailing approaching middle age, and being elderly. Kudos in spades for this! I'm moving toward 70, and having never had children ( no offense meant to parents. I've simply noticed that people with kids tend to forget what it was like to BE one... probably because of the necessity of discipline), can recall my past experiences, and emotions of those past times fairly well. But not as well as this author.
The stories are so fun. Lots of adventure, excitement, emotion, and just life...not to mention, MAGIC! A big cast of characters, each very well fleshed out, distinctive, and complex. Just like actual people... with magical abilities, that is. Things, and places are very well described. I think in pictures, so this is something I really notice in a book....are the descriptions written well enough for me to actually picture the scene. The far realm was so interesting, and well described that I could clearly see that magical, very different world. And everything of this world (,along with all the magical goings on) paints a perfect picture in my mind. Can she describe!!! A resounding... 'Perfectly' for all of Iris's Myrtlewood books. On to the next!!