The Iron Thorn

Iron Codex #1

by Caitlin Kittredge

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.

Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Magic

492 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Caitlin started writing novels at age 13. Her first was a Star Wars tie-in. Fortunately, she branched out from there and after a few years trying to be a screenwriter, a comic book writer and the author of copious amounts of fanfiction, she tried to write a novel again. Her epic dark fantasy (thankfully) never saw the light of day but while she was struggling with elves and sorcerers she got the idea of writing a story about a werewolf who fought crime.

Two years and many, many drafts later, she pitched Night Life to a bevy of agents and one of them, Rachel Vater, sold the series to St. Martin’s.

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.

http://us.macmillan.com/bonegods/Cait...

Reviews

[Faye · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Iron Thorn Drinking Game: Everytime the adjectives "clockwork," "steam" " brass" are used to ensure the reader is too aware this is a "steampunk" novel, drink. Anytime someone "scrabbles for purchase," " or mentions a dirigible, drink twice. DO NOT drink anytime a jitney is mentioned; we're tryng to have fun here, not get alcohol poisoning. Oh, wait, this is a YA book, we probably shouldn't be drinking... though this book would drive most people to it!

And how could you miss it being a YA book? Take one self-absorbed, moss-green eyed, outsider-type teenage girl with a tendency take on responsibility for fixing all the crap that is not really her fault, mix in one long-term do-gooder guy-friend with a crush and a new supernatural bad boy with eyes of liquid silver. Then send the girl, with the help of the sickeningly loyal dudes on a quest to save her brother. Throw in some stupid, transparent assumptions leading to threes-a-crowd tension. Oh, then make her discover her own supernatural powers!

For once, sticking through a read like this almost pays off near the end when *spolier,* the prissy good guy actually turns out to be a useful ghoul. No really, an actual ghoul - proving the author may have a sense of humour. I smiled for a whole chapter. After that the book proceeds to perfect the set up for the sequel, which I will only be reading if in a truly desperate, remote island type situation.

[Mizuki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 stars only. The extra one star is given to the creative homages to H P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu myths. How can this book be so dull? Even duller than End of Days by Susan Ee!?

(1) The heroine Aoife Garyson is an annoying, ungrateful brat:

She is supposed to be a charity case without the protection of her family, an almost-orphan living off the charity offered by the city's welfare system. Yet she acts so entitled, ungrateful, unworldly and naive for an entire book. Not to mention she also treats her one and only male best friend like dirt, always hissing and yelling at him whenever they have disagreement.

(2)Despite of all the Lovecraftian homages and reference to Cthulhu myths, still the story is hopelessly unimpressive and dull.

Trust me, I really do appreciate the Lovecraftian homages and the reference to all those Lovecraftian creatures in the story. A city in the fictional steampunk version of America named 'Lovecraft'? A town named 'Arkham'? Innsmouth? The Older Ones? Sisterhood of the Stars? Cthulhu? Flesh-eating ghouls? I love them all. The Lovecraft fan girl in me was jumping in pure joy when I saw those references.


(Link: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/170204...)

Still, the story is dragged down to the mud by the heavy weight of the disorganized storyline, the irritatingly slow pacing and the uninspiring characters.

(3) The characters are hopelessly dull.

I'd mentioned above that the heroine is a bratty cow, the other main characters and unluckily, the main love interests, since it's a YA book so love triangle is just unavoidable, Dean and Cal are almost just as bad.

Dean is the mysterious, supposedly streetwise and jaded older teen, who hangs around with Aoife for no good reason even after shit hits the fan. I mean, why would he risks his neck for a girl whom he barely knows when he is supposed to associate with her just for the money? Okay....because of true love. How can I forget?

As to Cal, the male best friend is also unimpressive. For the first half of the book he tags along with Aoife with seemingly no good reason, risking his future and his place in the society to help her to a point beyond the power of friendship and loyalty. Their friendship is also unconvincing as well, I can't see Cal sharing anything deep and meaningful with Aoife and in turn I can't see why would Cal care enough to hang around, neither.

Not to mention, both Aoife and Cal are acting so naive when they first visit the black market in a supposedly dangerous slum filled with outlaws, cultists and thieves, trusting every single person they talk to and believing every word those complete strangers tell them. Oh, goodness!

As sad as it sounds, Cal only becomes half-way interesting only after he is revealed as a ghoul by the end of the story. Outside of this his character is as remarkable as a piece of rag soaked with dirty water.

Aoife's estranged father, crazy mother and missing older brother are mentioned here and there, but they are both so paper-thinned that they almost feel like plot devices.

(4) The world building is unexplained and poor.

I know nothing about why this fictional America came to be what it now is, why there is a virus plaguing the country, why there are ghouls and monsters attacking humans, why the government would banish magic and the occult and why they are dangerous, after reading the whole book.

(5) The ending sucks.

Aoife's father and brother both warned her not to trust the faeries, but what does she do in the end? Helping those people and unleash their power to the human world!

Lord Cthulhu! Our mighty Lord and Destroyer! How could this happen?

Review for book 2: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very dark fantasy/steampunk, set in a world in which magic was discovered instead of nuclear power. Rather than embrace the new energy, a government led by President McCarthy is trying to eradicate it and the people--ghouls, vampires, and others--that thrive on it. Aoife Grayson is an engineering student under suspicion by her schoolmasters and living with the fear of the madness that took her mother and brother and may well take her. Determined at last to seek out her unknown father and to learn the truth of why her family history decrees madness at the age of 16, she hires a guide to take her and her friend Cal out of the city, where she takes flight on an airship, is bitten by the strange, Lovecraftian monster called a shuggoth, and discovers that magic is her inheritance, and nothing is what it seems. I loved it and can't wait for the next book.

[Isamlq · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good thing this has a little over 500 pages, otherwise it would have been too much. The author throws in everything! And surprise of surprises, I enjoyed it! I am not saying it was perfect. In fact, there is a specific clump of pages I could have just done without. But all in all, IRON THORN was quite satisfying.

One complaint though: the reader shouldn’t be tasked with having to figure out how to say the lead’s name. I mean, “Aoife”. It took me several tries to figure out how to roll my tongue to come up with a believable/right sounding name… and I’m still not sure I was/am saying it right.

Let me just say that the first fifty pages were AWESOME. There is no other way to describe why page after page after page just flew by! To bad the awesomeness stalled around page fifty... only to kick back into gear around p 160!

I really enjoyed the characters in this one. They are, all of them, not as they seem (And I really do mean all of tnem.) Then there's the world that they live in. I also enjoyed all the twists in it (and there are a lot.) So here goes,

She's is a ward of the state. With her mother is in a madhouse, she goes to a school where she disagrees with half the things taught (re: Heretics.) In her blood, it is said, lies madness. A madness that drives her away from her mother. A madness that caused her brother to almost kill her. In a few, she turns sixteen when her madness might be triggered. Madness being just the first step to being virally decimated. Those infected devolve. Add on the fact that Her world is one divided between Rationalists and heretics. The former look down on the latter as “those who reject reality and substituted the fantastical lie of magic and conjuring for science and logic…” Cool, right?

The problem is by the time her world and its background had settled enough in my head she started sounding like a drip: (a.) she is like a lot of teenagers has a love/hate thing going on with her mother. (b.) She hates her situation, complains (to herself) about how everyone sees her in a certain light, but does nothing about it! That is, until her absentee brother pops in the picture. (c.) Then there’s the way she treated her BFF, Cal and later on Dean(!)

Once they get to where they need to go, things get much better (or different?). One, I was expecting a Leviathan/Behemoth i.e. a lack of romance compensated for by other aspects like action or mystery, but that was not the case here. The change in relationship between the characters took me by surprise. It seemed contrived. As if the author felt something absent and decided to plunk the girl into more trouble… (Let’s put them in the impossible situation of having him them like her!) THANKFULLY, that was not the focus of IRON THORN.

I had a Clockwork Angel moment too when Conrad’s role became clear. A girl in search of her missing brother in a steampunk-ish novel. Sounding familiar yet? With nothing held against CA, I am thankful (again) that the similarities are superficial! IRON THORN is so much more. It’s darker and edgier. So dark in fact, that I could practically hear the moans of those in Doctor Portnoy’s care, and the shrieks of those falling from the bridge. So edgy, I could practically imagine the mist around her.

And if steampunk and a missing brother ala-Clockwork Angel aren’t enough to convince you, well, why don’t we throw in some Fey. Apparently her life wasn’t complicated enough… BUT I loved it! The fey aspect in this one raised the creepy factor up a couple of notches (if that's possible.)

With so many things going on, some might be tempted to chuck it. I would have done so, but after page 160 the story just flows. Reading on, I found myself liking the characters more, curious about what they would do and what would happen to them. So, the length of the book makes sense. Nothing short of 500 could fairly contain all the details in the book. In the end, IRON THORN worked for me. The boring part (pp 50ish-150ish) was mind numbingly boring… but that was offset by the good parts which were absolutely just that~ good!

I am looking forward to the rest of this series.

[Adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kirkus got it right when they said "overwriting" in their review for The Iron Thorn. The book is almost 500 pages (I read an advance reader's copy) and it felt long. Some books despite being long (i.e. Harry Potter and A Great and Terrible Beauty) don't feel that way because they keep you intrigued and engaged. The Iron Thorn did none of those things. I can appreciate the writing, but it got to be where the author was repeating circumstances and explaining the character's outfits, which had nothing to do with the story. The book combines steampunk with faeries and witchcraft set during an altered history of the United States in the 1950's. It was anything but simple and I think that hurt the flow of the story. So many things could have been edited out without compromising the most important elements of the story, which to me were finding out what Aoife Grayson's destiny is, where her brother Conrad went, and their role in the land of Thorn and of Iron. I could appreciate the world building in the book but it took too long and by the end of the book most steampunk elements weren't even being mentioned anymore, aside from the Lovecraft machine. The cover of the book doesn't even allude to steampunk, and when you begin reading the book that is all that is being conveyed. I will wait to see what kind of reviews come in for the second installment in this series, because I wasn't left with a desire to keep reading despite the fact that the book ended so abruptly. (Oh, and how the heck do you pronounce her name?)

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first steampunk! And it was AWESOME!

It took me a little while to get into it. I'll admit the world itself took me a while to get used to, the lingo and what-not. (I can't really say if it was just this novel, or if it's steampunk related.) But once I was enraptured by the story, there was no turning back!

What a complex world! Magic, machines, Kindly Folk..... I can honestly say I never knew what to expect next! I was blown away by the complexity and innovation of this novel. Kittredge is a very talented story teller, and at five hundred some pages, The Iron Thorn is one hell of a story.

I loved the characters in this novel, Aoife, Dean & Cal, and EVERYONE of them surprised me! Aoife was a kick-butt protagonist. I loved how realistic she was, she was afraid and cautious but she still did what she believed she needed to do. Dean was instantly my favorite the moment that he hit the page and Cal, well I'll leave you to make your own decisions about Cal!

Don't be afraid of it's size, there is a great story in those pages, and it builds and builds and that ending! Wow! I can only anticipate the epicness of the next novel!

[Scribblegirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I facepalmed at least 3 times. It started off well enough, and Kittredge is a talented storyteller (in that the overall story was interesting), but I find her writing abrasive. She leaves details out, sometimes makes improper verb tense choices which make the reading confusing (ie. he saw instead of he had seen), makes clicheed dialogue choices, and is lacking in motivation for her characters, who do everything they do solely to either help or hinder main character Aoife, as it suits the convenience of the story, and for no other reason. Cal is just flatout irritating; I really hoped something nasty would happen to the condescending, pretentious little git. Every character in the book is either incredibly stupid or evil. Even when she is repeatedly presented with obvious evidence her mother is not, as she believes, crazy, Aoife is unable or unwilling to connect the dots*. As a reader, that is unbelievably frustrating, especially when something obvious seems to go ignored or unaddressed nearly every single chapter.

It annoys me too, that Kittredge gives no reason, no alternate history or background, to explain why 20th century America is a Dickensian construct plunged into what seems to be a combination of the Dark & Industrial Ages, where "heretics" are steam-burned at the stake in the public square. If there's been a massive, world-destroying war that robbed mankind of all the technological knowledge & advancements of the last 200 years, TELL US SO & WHY. I find the lack of background story irritating and lazy. I also find Kittredge's descriptions of the steampunk uselessly longwinded and nebulous, like she didn't fix it in her own mind before she set it down on paper. She just sort of vaguely waves a metaphoric hand at the other end of the room and mutters "over there."

All in all, I kept reading because I can't seem not to finish a book once started, but I skipped mass sections of rambling, insubstantial description, and I couldn't wait to be done with it. I wanted to know how it ended, but I will not be reading any sequels.


SPOILER ALERT:


*Kittredge covers it with some mumbojumbo at the end about iron sickness, but there's no compelling reason to believe Aoife's mother is insane when everything which Aoife thinks signals insanity turns out to be 100% true to Aoife's own experiences, and a smarter character would have put 2 & 2 together and figured out that if one's mother says she's been to the lily field, and then not only does one also go to the lily field, but while she is there, she is told flat out that one's mother was also there before her, said mother might be, oh, I don't know, actually telling the freaking truth about having been to the lily field, rather than hallucinating, for the love of GOD.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot going on in this book. The setting is unusual. Steampunk, in 1950s America. It's set in a city called Lovecraft (Boston, I think), which is, appropriately, infested with horrible things that would be at home in one of Lovecraft's stories. But they aren't supernatural, of course. That wouldn't be rational. Instead, the creatures that stalk the city of Lovecraft, ghouls, nightjars, and springheel jacks alike, are people infected by the necrovirus. Some infected turn into bloodthirsty creatures, and others go mad. Like Aoife's mother, and brother, and, in time, probably herself. All of this is set up in just the first 50 pages, and it only gets more complicated from there. So many writers wouldn't have been able to handle such a huge, complicated system of ideas. But Kittredge is able to weave it all together into an easily comprehensible, complete world. And although she can't entirely avoid infodumping, she does it as little as possible, and spreads the exposition through the book.

There's also a good cast of characters. Aoife is a good narrator, bright, capable, and with the best of motivations throughout the book: her family and friends. At no point did I find her thoughts or actions unbelievable or inconsistent with her character. Her growing relationship with Dean didn't take over the book, because she had more important things to worry about, and the trajectory of it was plausible to me. I also liked her friendship with Cal. Kudos to Kittredge for giving Cal the sort of casual, paternalistic brand of sexism that I'd expect to see out of characters from the 50s, without letting it turn Cal into a villain or even an unsympathetic character. Hard balancing act.

My one small complaint about the book is that there's so much exposition at the front, out of necessity, that the first half drags a bit. But once the world's been set up, it's a much quicker read. It's the one thing that kept me from loving this book entirely. Since so much has already been established, I expect that the other two books in the series will have less of that. And the ending is enough of a game-changing cliffhanger that I'm eager to read them.

[Arooj · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unexpected has happened.

I have read a historical/steampunk novel about faeries.

And actually liked it. A lot. So much that it even made it to my "books I fell hard for" list.

*dun dun DUUUUUUN*

Every time someone asks me what my least favourite type of books to read are, I always say historical. And faeries. You see, historical just isn't something I'm interested in. I find it boring. The only other historical book I actually like is The Infernal Devices series, but that's because I already love Cassandra Clare and her books. And faeries are just...blah. Besides The Iron Fey series, there aren't many novels about faeries that I like. I'm very iffy about them. As for steampunk, it just sounds very confusing to me so I never tried to learn more about it. So the fact that I loved The Iron Thorn, which has all these three things, totally shocked me.

This book made me see steampunk and faeries in a whole new way. I actually searched steampunk to better understand what it is and found out a lot. The best way to describe it is by this slogan I found, "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner". Basically, a dystopian world set in historical times. And I love dystopian. How cool is that?

The Iron Thorn is full of magic, adventure, and some pretty scary stuff. I loved it ALL. The beginning instantly pulls you in and you just can't help but keep turning the pages. At first it's very fast paced, but towards the middle, it slows down. This is a pretty heavy book. Do not expect a quick, light read. It's the kind of book you should read when you have a lot of time on your hands to settle down and absorb all the information. It's not the kind of book you'd want to read in the 5 minute breaks you have in between work, or a quick chapter before you go to bed. (Though I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't help yourself!) I read this book at the worst possible time. I had end of term school work to do while I was reading this and I could only read about a chapter at a time. My mind was always on the book and at times I couldn't even focus! See what this book does to you? You need to be fully alert when reading this because since the pace is slow, you might get tired at times. However, this book is NOT boring. At all. The romance takes some time to emerge. It slowly builds up from the start keeps you guessing just when it will happen, but when it does, you'll be swooning over and over again like me. It wasn't the main focus of the story, but I didn't mind that one bit. In my opinion, this book is sort of a mix of The Infernal Devices and The Iron Fey series. All in all, Caitlin Kittredge has created an amazing novel with a twist on the usual faerie theme that'll have you wanting to devour the whole book up in one sitting. If that's even possible!

Before I began the novel, I made sure to learn how to properly pronounce Aoife's name (it's ee-fah) otherwise I would have gone mad trying to figure it out. Aoife is a badass. She takes crap from no one. She isn't the noble, order following good girl like others around her. She thinks and speaks for herself. I loved her immediately from the start and that love just grew when I learned about her admiration for books. Anyone who knows how to appreciate books is immediately awesome in my mind! Dean was by far my favourite character. Totally hot, a little bad, and a charm that can melt any girl's heart. I loved him! Cal was adorable, but a bit annoying, however he turned out to surprise me the most. Why? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out then won't you?

Thanks to this book, I have a new determination to read more steampunk books. If anyone knows of any like The Iron Thorn, feel free to recommend some to me!

Thank you Caitlin Kittredge, for writing such an amazing book.

4.5/5

[Rhiannon Ryder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Epic was my disappointment in The Iron Thorn, it was by turns boring, convoluted and confusing. I felt no real pull to any of the characters, and only loosely understood what was going on most of the time. All very bad traits in a book, but horrible traits in a book which you're hoping to entertain you for a four and half hour flight.


For starters, the blurb is not really truthful. I thought I was getting a steampunk book with madness. Not so much. The Iron Thorn is really a fairy book, with a touch of steampunk, and some dabbling in madness. How do those three things fit together you ask? Such a good question! Not very well, would have to be my answer. At no point did I feel Kittredge took her seemingly endless supply of disparate story threads and worked them together to form a whole. More like they were pulled into a messy knot, and left to be sorted out in the next book.


One of the greatest issues I took with this story was how things tended to cycle back in repeats of a situation, with no advancement of the plot or development of characters. For instance, Tremaine, a sinister member of the Folk, kept cropping up and threatening but each of his appearances were just more of the same without any new reveals. What is especially strange about Tremaine's story arc, was that after his first appearance he lets Aoife know she has a week to live up to her end of their agreement, but then he crops up two more times in less than 24 hours just to repeat himself. Why? It was never clear to me, but I was starting to feel like there was a glitch in my Matrix.


A convoluted story can be both confusing and mind-numbingly boring, but somewhat excusable in a debut author if they redeem themselves with characters you can invest yourself in. There have certainly been authors I've given the benefit of the doubt to, and carried on to book two because I loved their characters and the relationships they had built. Sadly Kitteredge didn't sell me on this point either. Cal is patronizing and annoying, and I spent most of the story (even after his big reveal) wondering how desperate Aoife must have been to make him her best friend. Dean was simply uninteresting, I mean at least Cal evoked an emotion from me, but Dean was just there. And his cowboy talk was ridiculous, especially once it's discovered he's part mystical creature of some fairy-type descent. Cowboy/Steampunk/Fairy/Madness tale was just two too many combos for the story. I can only imagine how much fun it must have been to fit this baby into a genre.


Most shocking of all was the Acknowledgments at the end, where Kittredge goes on to thank an extensive list of authors I greatly respect, including: Cherie Priest, Mike Mignola, and Holly Black. Although it seems some of these she's just quoting as inspiration, Cherie Priest and Tiffany Trent seem to have helped her at points with the manuscript. How this is possible is one of the many, many mysteries of The Iron Thorn.


It was such an intense challenge, and downright pursuit of boredom to finish this book I am greatly relieved I didn't buy book two when I picked up book one. I can't see myself ever becoming desperate enough to give it a chance. Though I would be curious to know if any of you have read it and found it an improvement on The Iron Thorn.


So tell me, what did you think?

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is on my library's YA best fiction shelf, but I was highly disappointed. I kept waiting for it to get really good, but it didn't. There was almost too much description in the first 300 pages. It was distracting and made the story drag. The ending picked up. I got excited thinking it would become hard to put down. It never did. Then there was a random event to the plot that left me raising an eyebrow. The worst part, after finally getting through all 492 pages, the story is no where near finished. As much of a cliff-hanger as the ending is supposed to be, I can't even find myself to be curious as to what happens next.

If I were an editor and was handed this book in the exact form it is published, I would say, "Great start. Cut 200 pages, give a little foreshadowing for this end event, so I doesn't seem like you threw it in just to get the MC's out of a sticky situation, and make the female MC's name prounouncable."

[Ferdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in 1950's Lovecraft - an alternate Boston, 15yr old Aoife Grayson attends a prestigious academy for engineers. Aoife is a ward of the state, her father left, her brother ran away and her mother has been in a mental institute for most of her life. Her mother's condition is heriditary and her brother went crazy when he turned 16. Aoife is dreading turning 16 because of the strong chance of her going insane and being locked up like her mother. After getting a distressed message from her missing bother, Aoife runs away from the academy with her best friend to find her brother.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much positives to this book, the world building was quite interesting but was executed poorly and the relationships between the heroine and her various family members was somewhat engaging.
The heroine Aoife was a mean, shrewy, annoying cow. The way she treated the people around her was disgusting. I didnt really believe her so called fear of going insane, she just felt sorry for herself..there was no urgency or desperation in her supposed impending insanity.
The love interests were cardboard cutouts, there was Cal - the puppy dog, best friend and Dean - the gorgeous, slightly older, sarcastic playboy. The only reason Dean was an ok love interest was by not-so-subtly showing Cal to be a mysogonistic, immature coward. If I'm meant to believe that the hero is suited to the heroine then it has to be shown by the hero's own actions and behaviour not by shoving an obviously unsuitable guy in everyone's face to give the impression that the hero is so great and perfect in comparison.
The storyline was just all over the place and half of it was just Aoife trying go from one destination to the next. The writing was at times nonsensical..it was also overly descriptive which just slowed the plot down.
I'm not sure I'll read the next book even though I bought it when I got this book. If I have nothing better to read, I might get around to it.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Iron Thorn (The Iron Codex #1), by Caitlin Kittredge

This book is a Must-Read! It’s got something for everyone: steampunk, romance, adventure, dystopian, secrets, mysteries, great characters, monsters, strange worlds, faeries, a beautiful written story, a plot with unexpected twists…

Here’s the short(ish) version of the review:
* The cover seems very fitting, it projects the grim feeling of dark fantasy in the story, while bringing across the lonely feeling Aoife must have had many times, surrounded by those grey skies and spying Ravens. 5/5 stars
* Caitlin Kittredge has a very poetic writing style, beautiful sentences string the pages of this book together. However, the story wasn’t overwritten: I found every word interesting, every word was where it needed to be and added only to the plot and story. The style and use of prose enhances and complements the feel of the story completely. 5/5 stars
*The characters are very interesting and very real. They have good and bad qualities, they doubt themselves, they grow, they make mistakes, their relationships change. They’re actual humans, not just stereotypes, and you really care what happens to them. 5/5 stars
*The story itself has many different elements: steampunk, adventure, dystopian, mystery, romance, dark fantasy...
One minute you find yourself in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie with all the secret chambers and flying airships, the next minute you’ve landed in a grim, alien-like Fairytale world. Madness and alternate worlds battle over one another, which one is the actual reality? Never a dull moment, but all is blended together perfectly with some unexpected twists. The action is not too overwhelming, or at cost of the story/feelings/characters. The story puts quality over quantity (despite it being sizable enough with almost 500 pages) and lacks no depth, thankfully. The ending is not disappointing, it is truly epic in proportions. 5/5 stars
*The plot and the alternate worlds built here were immensely thought through and well described with many details. The whole thing has a dystopian feel to it and steampunk it definitely is. Slowly the story develops, with surprising twists that keep you interested the entire time. It’s kind of like reading an old-school adventure, with secret chambers, traps, airship-travels, and so on. Until the story takes a turn one did not see coming, seemingly unfitting the steampunk elements. Until the author made it fit, logically and extremely well. Convincing us of the strange reality of this strange world where time ticks to a different clock. Where there is darkness, there is light. Where there is reason, there is magic. 5/5 stars
*All in all I find it a very original idea, an original world. The real world, the ‘Iron’ world, is scary with its rules and demands. Dictatorial, cold, scientific; medieval even in the sense of punishing so-called heretics who do not accept their truth as the only truth. The ‘Thorn Land’ may even be scarier with its unpredictability; inhabited by corpse-drinking Mists, the treacherous ‘Folk’ and trees that could swallow you whole and turn you into part of them. 5/5 stars

Here's an even longer review:
Already in the first chapter, a dizzying amount of info is being dropped on the reader. Necessary info, for building the world our main character ‘Aoife’ lives in. The story is being told from Aoife’s point of view (in the first person). The city of ‘Lovecraft’, Massachusetts, is a grim place, with its 17 asylums due to the immensely consuming ‘necrovirus’ which has infected many people. One of those infected people is Aoife’s mother Nerissa, whom she visits her every week in the asylum where she is committed as a charity case. Aoife never knew her father.
The necrovirus slowly consumes ones brain until its victim becomes a ‘nightjar’: a ghastly creature who in turn can infect someone, after biting them.

Lovecraft runs on a big machine at the heart of the city, built by the ‘Master Builder’ who has become the ‘God’ of Lovecraft. There are strict rules provided by the government concerning what ‘aether tubes broadcastings’ inhabitants are allowed to listen to, where they can and can’t go, what they can read and what ‘religion’ they must have. Heretics are people who do not believe in science and reality, but practice magic instead. Therefore, they are severely punished (old style, by partial or whole burning rituals) for their ‘lack of ignorance’, when caught by the ’Proctors’. Ravens (mechanically engineered ravens who have the ability to recreate an image which can be seen my a magic lantern of some sorts) are the Proctors’ little flying spies.

Aoife and her best friend Calvin Daulton both go the Academy of Engines, Aoife as a charity case or 'ward of the state'. As a young girl she is not afraid to admit when she’s scared, especially now her 16th birthday is coming up. The necrovirus is latent in her family; Aoife’s brother Conrad has already been infected and was committed to an asylum after trying to kill his sister. However, he escaped. About 4 times a year he secretly writes her a letter to let her know he is still alive and ‘well’. When he sends her a letter telling her to go to ‘Greystone’ (their biological fathers house) in order to save herself and help him, Calvin and Aoife go on a secret mission. Will she find Conrad in time, or has he been lost for good? Maybe even dead?

After seemingly saving Aoife and Cal from becoming ghoul dinner because of their initially chosen guide, the attractive but illusive Dean Harrison leads them out of the city. Dean is somewhat of a mystery, a heretic in his own way, but very loyal when it comes to standing at Aoife’s side. Aoife is not sure what to make of him at first, a liar, or not? Here’s a quote from Dean that illustrates both Aoife’s doubts as well as Deans perspective on life: "A touch of truth makes a lie worth believing."
Their journey involves places Aoife has only heard rumours about, such as the Nightfall Market, the ghost of a bridge that supposedly crashed years ago (taking 21 victims along with it…) and an eventful flight in an actual airship. Encounters with deadly mud-like monsters called Shoggoths, causing one of the characters serious (possibly lethal) injury by injecting them with the virus. The ‘mad’ flashes and visions are beautifully written; truly painful, poetical craziness.

The evolving relationships are written very believable and natural, the characters seem very real.
Aoife discovers and unravels more and more about her father; his strange, secretive clockwork driven house and her lost brother. When she learns of the ‘Land of Thorn’ she doubts herself even more at first. Could she really possess a power, a ‘Weird’, like her father before her? Or are these the first signs of madness, seeing how Nerissa spoke of the Land of Thorns as well? Aoife’s self-confidence and fear keep altering, the hope to find her brother keeps her going, even though the fear for the lurking necrovirus stays with her. Learning the truth, discovering who really is the bad guy, experiencing her father’s memories, realising nothing and no one is what it/they seem(s); all these things only seem to make Aoife stronger. She intends to fulfil the destiny which has been forced upon her in order to protect her loved ones.

The author really takes you along the journey of feelings Aoife develops for Dean, slowly but steadily. Since Aoife is afraid she has no future besides the one in the madhouse, she doesn’t allow herself to get involved with anyone at first, not even Dean. She doesn’t need distractions from her quest either, after all. But Dean is the first person who does not judge her for her family’s burden en believes her without a doubt. He’s an outcast, like herself. More than once he risks his life to save hers, mind you despite the fact Aoife is not your typical damsel in distress! (She’s independent, smart, brave, not afraid to speak her mind, good with machinery and doesn’t act the way a ‘properly brought up young lady’ should.)

Calvin finds it hard to believe in anything besides the Proctors’ truth and is convinced that everything happening to Aoife is just another sign of her upcoming madness. The way he looks down upon the ‘common’ people, even if Aoife is one of them too, is not a nice personality trait. The way he feels towards women’s behaviour and future may be considered ‘normal’ during the fifties, I find Calvins expectations degrading. I actually didn’t understand why he befriended someone like Aoife at first, because associating with heretics (Nerissa) is punishable and he keeps throwing that knowledge in Aoife’s face in one way or the other, practically saying she should be thankful to have him. I find him quite nasty and unbearable and cannot comprehend why he sticks to Aoife’s side. Until things finally become clear... He’s the guy you expect to turn on his friends in the end, because of his allegiance to his country/beliefs/so-called righteousness/whatever. (You know the type…) But maybe he is not what he seems after all…

I did not expect what was happening in the end. At all. Some important things turned out right, other things spiralled out of control into a huge, epic disaster.
The only downside I can see? The book ENDED. With a major cliff-hanger! I am seriously DYING to know what will happen to Aoife, Dean, Cal and even Bethina. What will happen to Thorn and Iron, though we saw disturbing glances already. I’m not ready to leave this world yet, to leave Aoife and Dean behind. I wanna go along with them on their journey and I certainly will, once the sequel is out. Which hopefully will be soon. Yesterday, if possible. Pretty Please, Caitlin Kittredge????

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite some issues I really, really loved this book. The world isn’t something I encounter in YA very often: A fantasy/steampunk/clockpunk world set in an alternate 1950s. That, to me, is beyond awesome so right off the bat I was poised to love this book. And I definitely did. I found the world building very thoughtful and well done--a city running on a great Engine that protects them from the things that can cause madness, a world torn by the battle between science and magic (which itself isn’t an original idea but here it is pulled off exceedingly well). Kittredge definitely creates a very distant but still recognizable 1950s, where girls and women can hold certain jobs but still be expected to be “nice girls” and find husbands one day. The plot kept me intrigued throughout the book, even the times when the pacing was a bit too slow, though that was rarely a problem. The climax near the end was extremely well written and powerful, and it does offer some exciting possibilities for the next book.

The characters all have strong voices, though the strongest of them was probably Dean’s. His dialogue never felt forced or strained, in fact it was probably the smoothest and more consistent voice in the book. Cal, Aoife’s best and only friend, started off as a very nice character, but he slowly turned into a kind of stereotype of the typical ‘50s male; chauvinistic and sexist, expecting Aoife to conform to societal standards. He stays this way pretty much throughout the entire novel, to the point where I honestly started wondering why he was even there. He was serving little to no purpose except as a tool of creating some conflict for Aoife while the rest of the plot waited to be introduced. While at least Kittredge shows that his opinions and views of women were unreasonable, it got to the point where I just rolled my eyes whenever he showed up on the page. However Kittredge completely turns this on its head near the end of the book in a way that honestly made me put down the book and laugh with joy. It’s honestly brilliant and is a major part of why I love this book.

I was afraid, at first, that the traveling trio of Dean, Aoife and Cal would turn out to be a love triangle. It swung dangerously close to that mark briefly, but then it reins itself back in and, honestly, there was never any doubt in my mind who Aoife preferred. Aoife never stopped to think “hey, maybe I do like Cal as more than a friend” and when presented with the idea by another character, she waves it off. No, Cal was always her best and only friend, her confidant, but I never got the impression she saw it going further than that, probably because of her necrovirus. The way this turned out was so pleasing, because I am sick of the love triangles in YA, especially love triangles where it’s obvious who the girl is going to be with in the end.

Speaking of romance, Dean and Aoife were rather sweet. Dean respects her and her agency, which is always a big plus in my book. While there were a few scenes that made me discontent, over all they’re a sweet couple that work in YA. However I do think that, if there are going to be three books in this series, Kittredge could have taken the time to develop their relationship a bit more. The entire book takes place a little over a week or so, and yet she and Dean are kissing by the middle of it. Perhaps there’s a reason for this that will be revealed later but for now, it doesn’t sit well with me.

There was one main complaint I had during the novel and that was, besides Aoife, there weren’t many female characters. And the women Aoife does meet during her journey--hell, even before she starts traveling--she doesn’t view very kindly. She’s seldom outright rude to them, but her opinion of them is always very low. If they’re rightfully scared of something unearthly, she thinks them hysterical and silly. If they’re showing even a bit of kindness or interest in Cal or Dean, she gets territorial and possessive. There’s even a scene in the book where, after Cal sees Dean and Aoife kiss and throws a snitfit, and Aoife has to go after him to make sure he doesn’t run off to the Proctors in revenge, Dean mentions a girl he got into a fight over, and Aoife just stops and asks, “Was she pretty?” Um, hello, this is not the time. You need to go stop your former best friend from turning you all in.

Then I started to wonder why this bothered me so much, since, after all, the era is an alternate 1950s. Women are still taught to be critical and unkind towards each other even today; surely it was the same back then, too, if not worse? And then I realized: Well, duh, it’s because almost every YA book out there holds the same attitude towards teenage girls and their relationships with each other. Only it’s worse because the young adult books I’ve read that represent and normalize this attitude are set in modern times, when we really should know better by now, and should be calling this stuff out as unreasonable and, worse, destructive. After that I was much more forgiving of Aoife’s attitude towards the few female characters in the novel, even if it still grated. There is a chance in the next book that Aoife will change her way, as another female character joins the main cast, and I hope that same character gets more screen time and development than she did in this book. I sincerely hope so.

All in all I truly loved The Iron Thorn, even with its flaws. The characters were strong and three dimensional, the worldbuilding was extremely well done, and the cliffhanger at the end--yes, there is a cliffhanger--will keep me eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

[Shelby]

Ugh. UGH. You know, sometimes I finish books because I just want to write the review. I want people to know that they should 1) get the book immediately, 2) try the book if you want, or 3) AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS LEST YOU BURN YOUR EYES OUT AND FIND YOUR SOUL SUCKED INTO THE BOTTOMLESS PITS OF PURGATORY.

The Iron Thorn maybe won't kill you, but Caitlin Kittredge really just created a book that I couldn't...couldn't finish.

To be concise, the world building is really good and the characters are so, so bad.

First off, the world building. Honestly, this is the book's strength, but it still lacks in so many ways. I love the steampunk-y feel to everything; I've always loved reading about worlds built on machine cogs and Victorian manners. The Iron Thorn's initial chapter feels like a trip to a complex alternative universe. But after that initial glow of a new story and new world, I found myself picking up on the shoddy foundation underlying the story. For example, is this a real Victorian book? Is it set up in the 19th century? Is it an AU? If so, then where does our world's history start and diverge from Kittredge's world?

Aoife (pronounced EE-fah) is one of the most annoying characters I've read. She seriously needs an attitude adjustment...or perhaps a pill of magical maturity. She blames Cal for everything, especially once things start going wrong on their "adventure." He's the same guy she's always known, but she goes ballistic when he starts questioning her sanity for chasing after a brother who tried to KILL her. Cal, IMO, gets a lot of heat for being the chauvinistic character who acts as a foil to Dean (who is so one dimensional, I don't know where to start). He doesn't like anything magic-related and believes it's his job to protect Aoife from becoming corrupted by "blasphemy." But this is how EVERYONE in Lovecraft grows up; it's what they're taught from kindergarten. It's also a steampunk novel, which, no matter the universe, is structured around the gender hierarchy of male authority. So, yeah, Cal sometimes drove me crazy, but I don't blame him as much as I blame Aoife for telling him to abandon everything he's believed in.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can get past the language--dear god, the way these characters speak is so annoying--this is not a bad book. Granted, there are some gaps, plenty of places where we could well do with a bit more exposition. And, somewhat oddly, while some things were quite predictable (in total, even if not in exact detail) there were also several other items that were thrown at us with absolutely no warning or indication that that would be the case. (Kittredge tries to make up for it by alluding to supposed past events, having the narrator say, 'now that I thought about it, blah blah blah made total sense--how could I not have seen it?--except that I, the reader, never saw even the slightest hint of it, either, even when looking back.) Unfortunately, these revelations don't come in the form of surprising plot twists, but rather in the form of, 'Wait-what the hell? Really? We're supposed to believe that? There was absolutely no basis for that happening anywhere in the rest of the story.'

The ending is hugely, obviously, left open to a sequel, so maybe these things are explained properly in the future, but unless the next book is immediately way better than this one, I'm not sure I'll care to read on.

I do think this is an interesting idea. Kittredge melds steampunk (Iron Thorn is set in an alternate version of the 1950s, in an imagined (or possibly renamed) city in the northeastern United States) with fantasy of the evil faery type. (I would've added historical fiction, as well, but it doesn't really read like that.) It's not entirely successful--as I mentioned before, there are some gaps. I guess we're just supposed to accept that magic works in really mysterious ways.

Finally, I should mention, for those who judge books by their covers (I admit I am sometimes one)--the cover of this book has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story inside. In terms of accurately conveying what the story might be about, this cover is probably the worst I have seen in my entire life.

Okay that's enough now.

[Brooke ♥booklife4life♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Find this review, plus more, on my blog: Booklikes OR Blogger

Basic Info

Format: Kindle
Pages/Length: n/a
Genre: Young Adult; Steampunk
Reason For Reading: Challenge

At A Glance

Love Triangle/Insta Love/Obsession?: Triangle!
Cliff Hanger: No
Triggers: n/a
Rating: 1.5 stars

Score Sheet
All out of ten

Cover: 7
Plot: 4
Characters: 5
World Building: 5
Flow: 3
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 6
Ending: 6

Total: 4

In Depth

Best Part: Doctor Who quote, but did they steal it?!
Worst Part: Death by boredom.
Thoughts Had: Something please happen!

Conclusion

Continuing the Series: Eh
Recommending: No

Short Review: Well, that was... Yah. So nothing happens in this book. Really, barely anything. I was so freaking bored. So you basically have this big love triangle where the girl is around both boys all the time. Cal (Boy 1) is a douche, bosses her around, and basically doesn't give a shit about her. Dean (Boy 2) basically just likes her because she's mean to Cal and "trust" Dean over Cal. There's some kissing. Some crying. Random magic shit. Then some kinda action near the end. Then it ends. That's the whole freaking book. Next please!

Misc.

Book Boyfriend: Dean
Best Friend Material: Pass

Review in GIF Form:

[Brunnstag · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to rate this book higher, but there are so many little annoyances with it that really stopped me from enjoying it as much as I could have. The dystopian 'steampunkish' setting doesn't work well with the time period it's set in. While everyone else's name in the book is simple and pronounceable such as 'Dean', 'Cal', or 'Conrad', the main character's name is an unpronounceable and strange ''Aoife'. And the character of Cal will argue with EVERYTHING, no matter what it is, whether it be life or death- to the point you'll want to fling the book across the room whenever he opens his trap. His character is so over done for the majority of the book that it nearly ruins a big reveal.

On top of this, the pacing is awful for the majority of the book, where it takes too long to get anywhere or do anything. The author leaves you in the dark as to what's happening to Aoife for far too long, practically to the point you'll put the book down in frustration. I feel as if she trying to build dramatic tension to keep you going, but it fell flat, and just leaves you confused for the first half of the book.

As it stands however, after about 400 pages, the story -finally- picked up and grabbed my interest. Once you finally get a real idea of where it's going and the magic system at work (Which, I'm sorry, the author used a terrible and stupid sounding name for) the book turns around and leaves you wanting more. All issues aside, I will be putting in a request for the sequel at the library today.

So should you read the book? It is YA and it is a fairly fast read, which does work in it's favor for the first 400 pages. I would recommend checking this unique and interesting book out at the library before you buy. It's great at the end- IF you can get there!

[Kathy (Kindle-aholic) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic start to a YA steampunk series.

This is not a short book, but the pages flew by. I was sucked into the story and didn't want it to end.

You are just thrown into the world - I like that. At the same time, I still felt like I got a good feel for the worldbuilding. I got enough glimpses of Lovecraft through Aoife's journey, but I never felt that I was being "told" what was going on. It was a wonderful experience to discover the truth alongside the characters.

In Lovecraft, Reason and Science are law. Anyone claiming to be able to do magic is a heretic and is punished by the Proctors. Aoife is almost 16 - the same age her mother and brother went mad. She receives a message from her brother asking for help, and that sets her on an adventure where she will find truth, more questions, allies and enemies. It's bleak in places, hopeful in others.

I really enjoyed the characters and I'm looking forward to seeing them grow together, as well as learning more about their backgrounds.

There is some romance, but I thought it was well done, not overmuch, and still low on the angst scale.

The end did feel a bit rushed, but because I was so into the story, and it was a point where the characters were rushed themselves, it fit and I was satisfied.

This belongs with some of the darker YA books I've read lately. There is some violence, no sex.

Can't wait for the next one.

[Darcy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a hard time reading this one. I found myself reading a paragraph, then would get up putter around the house, pick it up again, read a little more, then put it down. You can see where I am going with this. This one just wasn't for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge
Delacorte Press, 2011
492 pages
YA; Steampunk; Fantasy
4.5/5 stars

Source: Won

I wanted to read The Iron Thorn because I remembered how much I had enjoyed Kittredge’s story in Kiss Me Deadly. Some of the same things I remember liking about that story reappear here-a sympathetic heroine, evocative descriptions, and a story that drew me in. However as a full-length novel, there is more opportunity for world-building and character and plot development.

The world is a sort of steampunk 1950s New England, based on the writings of HP Lovecraft, which I must confess I have never read or even really thought about reading (I don’t think he has many female characters in his canon). Thus there are probably many references to his writing that I missed. Regardless I enjoyed the world created and I’m going to attempt to break down the plot in an effort to give you insight into my impressions.

The novel opens on Aoife with her mother, who resides in an insane asylum in the city of Lovecraft (I think it used to be Boston but perhaps it did not replace one of our cities). Consequently Aoife is a ward of the state with very little knowledge of her father and with an older brother who has also been deemed insane. She goes to the School of Engineering, the only female student (in her year or overall, I’m not sure) where she takes comfort in numbers, iron, and the other tenets of the Lovecraftian faith. Anything outside of this rationality is dubbed heretical and causes suspicion. When Aoife receives a letter from her on-the-run brother, Conrad, she sets out to leave Lovecraft for Arkham, their family’s ancestral home. Compounding her desire to find her brother is her fears about her possible pending insanity. The theory is that it begins at the age of sixteen and Aoife’s birthday is approaching. In order to escape, Aoife and her only friend Cal engage the services of a guide Dean and flee the city.

Once they have arrived at Gatestone, her father’s home, there is no sign of Conrad but there is an extraordinary house and collection of books just waiting for Aoife to learn about. Through them she begins to discover her ancestral gift and the terrifying world of the Kindly Folk (who are misnamed; us YA readers may know them better as the Fae, a capricious and wily people).

Aoife was a great heroine. She bristles at those who would treat her differently because of her gender and she’s incredibly headstrong. She’s also loyal and curious, which is good for that spurs on her adventures. Her best friend Cal alternately pleased and annoyed me. I was glad that he traveled with her because she needed company but as the book progressed, his patronizing attitude toward her increased. Then came a surprise that twists everything but confirms Cal as loyal to Aoife. Then there was their guide Dean, the love interest. Although many times his attitude was also annoying (calling her “princess), something about him made me melt; this was helped by his willingness to believe Aoife even when she feared she was going crazy and he always gave her a (figurative) shove to keep going. Unfortunately Dean smokes, a habit he’ll need to kick if he wants to secure a coveted place on Bookworm1858’s Top Ten Boys in Books list.

Overall: A long, luxurious read full of details and atmosphere. While I loved this, I would definitely recommend doing a bit more research before you buy it to make sure that it really appeals to you.

Cover: Not a fan; I guess it conjures up darkness and fear but I don't find it very enticing.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm honestly not sure how to explain how much I love this book! I mean, really. It blew me away in all the best ways possible. I'm a huge fan of Fantasy and of Steampunk. Caitlin Kitteredge takes these two genres, throws in a bit of dystopia, and blends it together into something beautifully unique and wonderful. Looking for something to chase those reading blues away? Take this for a spin!

The Iron Thorn follows Aoife through a tough time in her life. Her family has a history of madness, and it seems to hit them each around their 16th birthday. Unfortunately for Aoife....that's just weeks away. The reader watches as Aoife is swept up in a whirlwind adventure to figure out her past, her present, and her future all at once. This is a dark and epic quest, that is filled with some of the most intriguing and disturbing creatures imaginable. I don't know if these characters live in Kitteredge's brain, but if they do I'd love to talk creepiness with her! I love that there is an underlying link to fae here as well. Keep a look out, it's hidden wonderfully well.

It is really the world building that brings this book to life. The city of Lovecraft is built from bits and pieces of H.P. Lovecraft's writing, with other elements thrown in. As I mentioned above, this isn't just a Fantasy novel. There is so much more to it. Lovecraft and it's surrounding areas are gorgeously dismal. There is a sense of fear and darkness that lays over everything. The atmosphere that is built makes you want to crawl under a blanket and read by lamplight, even if it is daytime outside. No kidding, there were descriptions in this book that made me shudder visibly. However it's not all dark if you're worried about that. Underneath everything is that fantastical sense of adventure and camaraderie. I won't spoil anything, but it's fantastic.

The characters, even besides just Aoife, burn off the page! Aoife is fierce, brave and utterly loyal. Her friend Cal is very rooted in what is right, normal and "proper" but is also an extremely loyal friend to Aoife. Then there is Dean, sweet Dean. The vagabond boy who turns guide, and just so happens to be the apple of Aoife's eye. Brave to a fault, and more than what he seems, he was absolutely my favorite character in the book. Each one of them has their own beautiful personality and wit. Add in the colorful characters that they encounter as they travel and I was completely swept away into the world of Lovecraft.

I can't say anything more. I just don't know what else to write. If you can't already tell, The Iron Thorn was everything I was looking for in a book. It pulled me out of my reading slump, and back into a love of the written world.

I wouldn't quite call this High Fantasy, since it still has one foot in reality, but definitely do your research if you aren't generally a fan of this genre. The Iron Thorn might not appeal to you. However, if you are a lover of Fantasy, of Steampunk, or even of Dystopian fiction, pick up a copy stat! I promise that if you allow yourself to get lost in the words, lost in the world, you'll experience something so amazingly unique it might just make you drop your jaw. The next book is still so far away!

[Anna Mejstrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried really, really hard to like this book. The beginning was interesting and caught my attention, but about 100 pages into the book, it started to get extremely confusing and completely lost my attention. The world building is poor and the characters are dull, annoying, unlikable and predictable.

Some major issues I had with it:

1. You could never tell what year the book actually took place. The steampunk references really made a mess of things rather than help the story along. To categorize this book as steampunk is a joke.
2. Some things were explained in painfully long details, while other scenes had you saying "Wait, what happened?" either because Kitteredge didn't really explain how we got from point A to point B or because you were so bored you just stopped paying attention.
3. The magical ability is called a 'Weird'. Why?? That's such an unimaginative and lazy name. And why didn't Aoife show any signs of having a Weird until she got to Graystone?
4. She kept having visions of her brother and father and conversing with them like they were actually there. It was never explained why she could do this and she never had a real thought about it.
5. Aoife is just dumb. The foreshawdoing is non-existent because it's obvious what's going to happen almost every single time. But Aoife never sees any of it coming. Of course.
6. Her father is missing the entire book but then out of nowhere, he saves her when she's locked up in Ravenhouse. But of course she doesn't recognize him. She mentions his green eyes, which makes the reader realize it's her father. The entire book she's whinning about how she got nothing from her father but his green eyes! How did she not know?! Even though she saw a portrait of him in his house, even though she had visions of him and TALKED to him in the visions. She only realizes it in the last few chapters of the books and it just randomly dawns on her that it was her father. UGH.

I almost gave up on this book as I met my eye-rolling quota about half way through, but I pushed on in hopes it would get better. It didn't get better, however, only worse. When I finally finished the 492 page book, I slammed it closed and said "Thank god" aloud.

[Nely · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a very unique adventure you'll find in The Iron Thorn. Set in an alternate Boston, Lovecraft, almost has the feel of a dystopian society. Where the government has control of its people and something as simple as believing in a fairytale will deem you a heretic. Aiofe is worried now that she is on the cusp of her 16th birthday - the same age that both her mother and older brother went mad. When she receives a message from her brother a few weeks before her birthday she grabs her BFF and they are off to discover what truly happened to him.

I really tried to love this book and there were many things about it that I did enjoy. For instance, I loved the steampunk-ness of it. It was dark and spooky and I was captivated by every dark corner just worrying about what was waiting to jump out at you from it. I loved the machinery, the magic, the madness of it all. The world building was phenomenal. It was truly as if you were transported to another time and place. The descriptions were so vivid that you could easily envision Lovecraft and its inhabitants.

My main complaint is that the book is so long. I felt that the story could have easily been told in half its size. The plot itself was also somewhat complicated so between that and me trying to truly grasp everything that was taking place, it felt tedious at times. I also hated the name Aiofe. I had the same problem with Hermione (Harry Potter) for the first three HP books until it was finally explained in the fourth book. I know I never pronounced Aiofe right and just hated the doubt and pretty much the name altogether. With names like Conrad, Calvin and Dean you would've thought our heroine had a name that was much simpler to say.

Unfortunately, I didn't love The Iron Thorn, but I didn't hate it either. There were many moments that I was taken in by it but others that just didn't connect with me. This is the first installment in The Iron Codex series so be aware that there is an abrupt ending. I can't say for sure that I'll be reading the rest in this series, but for fans of Steampunk and fantasy this might be one to interest you.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concept, too bad it read like a first draft. I got about 350 pages into the book before I decided that the choppiness of the writing and numerous logical flaws were too much to keep suffering through.

Our heroine is a orphaned ward of the state though neither of her parents is actually dead who has a state-provided scholarship to an academy for engineers even though the academy believes she will go insane at the age of 16 and so they want to kick her out before then, which begs the question why the state would bother funding her education at all? . She receives a message from her on-the-run brother and sets out to find him.

There's a lot going on in this novel - a virus that turns you into a flesh-eating ghoul, ghouls, fairies, steampunk elements, magic, Lovecraftian monsters, and so on. I enjoy a big sprawling novel, but I felt like this novel needed a trim. Elements that were emphasized in the first part of the novel soon faded and were replaced with new ones. Then we entered a great big boring stretch at the mansion, where a protracted infodump from some of these new elements caused me to finally give up.

This sloppiness persisted at all levels. There were pacing problems. There were things characters said or thoughts they had about other characters had little resemblence to how the characters acted. For instance, the Shoggoth incident: "Look, there's a Shoggoth." "Oh, that's dangerous." They argue about the Shoggoth's level of dangerousness while standing within grabbing distance of the monster. And then one of them throws rocks at it. Good job. .

The characters were unlikeable, with Aiofe unable to decide if she is an unrefined commoner or hating them, Cal being a male chauvinist who just exists to "protect" Aiofe, and Dean serving the role of your typical bad boy and probably secretly a fairy or some other supernatural creature, but I didn't finish the book so I guess I'll never know . There was simile overload too (and the similes didn't even make sense), and an overuse of the word "felt". Overall, it seriously needed an editor.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aoife Grayson is a ward of the state in a city / world that terms every type of magic to be heretical. Any mention or practice is dealt with severely and no one can believe in anything but the engine works. There is only the mechanical science that exists today. As a ward of the state, whose mother has gone mad with dreams of magical beings, she is sent to the engine training school. But Aoife is starting to have dreams too. When her mentally ill brother, still at large, contacts her and asks for help, Aoife goes to their father's house in Arkham.

This is a dangerous journey as all the people affected by the Necrovirus, exist outside the city walls and Aoife needs to travel several days to her father's place. She is lead by Dean, a heretic she meets and hires as guide, and her best friend, a young man from the school, estranged by all others even as she is herself.

She finds that magic truly does exist and she has it inside herself and so does her brother. Is this the reason her brother went mad and not the necrovirus? Will she follow in his footsteps on her 16th birthday?

I found the book to have some really good parts and a surprising ending which I rated highly but I think the characters could have been more fully developed and Aoife just a bit flat for my tastes. I would however read on in the series as there were a couple great twists that I am curious how the author uses in the future.

[Cleverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I know a lot of you probably do not know who James Dean is or actually care. I have to tell you, You are sooo missing out! He has to be one of the most Beautiful Men I have ever seen Have wished to have seen..Anyhooo Moving along. Dean in The Iron Thorn was rocking his style after James Dean. I normally wouldn't say read a book because of a male character, But I am making an exception.

I am big on conversational banter, If the characters don't mesh well together the conversation won't flow and that leaves me hanging. It did seem to take about 100 pages to get the flow right. Other then that minor issue the book was fantastic. It left it's lasting impression on me. Aoife had a strong personality but wasn't using it till closer to the end of the book. What to say about Cal, you will never and I mean Never read another character like Cal. I don't want to say to much and give anything away but boy is he something special. This was a fun adventure with so much more. This isn't a YA fluff read it had a more serious plot with some dark and creepy creatures. The Iron Thorn had a bit of just about everything but it never felt forced of cliche. I can't wait to read the next in The Iron Codex series.

[Lyndsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

So,
At first I was compleatly entranced by this book. The writing was beautiful and descriptive, and the plot was fast passed and interesting. The detail and live of the story seemed to come alive! This book was looking like it would be another of my all-time favorites...
.....Then I got a little past the middle and my opinion changed dramatically. Im not sure what happened hear but the main character became almost unbearably winy, and self-centered. I was shocked at how fast everything went from amazing, to plain out right bad. The plot kinda wobbled after those first 200 pages as well. Some situations were presented that seemed kinda cheesy and some parts weren't very well written. So much so that I couldn't understand what was happening in them even after re-reading it three times.
The book was good, but could have been amazing. I was really disappointed. If I could divide my rating I would have marked the first half as a 5, and the last as a 1 or 2.

(Note: Wasn't anything bad in the book, all content was pretty much clean. Not a lot of violence, or swearing.)

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge is one the first steampunk books that I read. Personally, I think that it could have been done better, but I really liked the idea of the book. It was a dark book that mixed magic, historical fiction, and engineering together to create an alternate version of America in around the 1950’s, where logic is everything and people who believe in magic are punished severely. Aoife, along with Cal and and a guide named Dean that they met along their journey, escape Lovecraft to try and find Aoife’s brother Conrad. Soon, caught up in a whirl of confusion and mysterious new things, she learns that sometimes, everything you know can be a lie.

In the city of Lovecraft, a necrovirus is infecting people, driving them to madness. The Proctors reign, and anyone who is deemed heretical or believing in witchcraft is immediately punished. Both Aoife’s mother and brother Conrad have gone mad on their 16th birthday, and Aoife is racing against the clock to follow the clues Conrad left behind to find him and avoid the same fate. She and Cal, who is her best and only friend, escape from Lovecraft and the grasp of the Proctors with the help of Dean, whom they enlist as a guide. They follow Conrad’s clues to her disappeared father’s house, where she discovers that magic is actually real. Tremaine, one of the Kindly Folk (but actually as far from kind as possible, in his case), approaches her there and makes her agree to help save the Land of Thorn, which is dying. Cal, Aoife, and Dean then go back to Lovecraft to try and save Thorn, but get captured. They escape, but not before Aoife learns that the government has known all along about Thorn and that they’re the ones who are trying to make it die. At the end, Aoife is reunited with Conrad, but they encounter more danger and have to flee to the Land of Mists.

In The Iron Thorn, one of the major elements I thought was well done was the world building. Although there wasn’t much background on either of the two realms (The Land of Thorn and the Iron Land), I liked the way Kittredge described them: using descriptive and figurative language. Her word choice and the way the words were phrased helped set a specific tone/mood of a setting, which I thought was done very well. One such description was “The grass was rust red, the color of rotten iron or old blood. The sky hung overhead, charcoal clouds scudding before a wind that brought a faint scent of night flowers and turned earth,” which was a description of the Land of Thorn. It gave off a menacing and kind of creepy tone, which helped to maintain that Thorn was an otherworldly place. I could picture the Iron Land really well too, especially Lovecraft.

If the characters were a separate rating, I would probably give them 2 stars, mainly because of Cal. Throughout the whole book he didn’t really seem like one person; he was generally all over the place and extremely mercurial. One minute he would be caring and playful, and then in the next chapter, he would act like an entitled brat. I think the only good part about his character was near the end of the book, when Aoife finds out he is actually a ghoul. Dean and Aoife were pretty much neutral territory; kind of just meh . They weren’t really unique in any way, just your two typical angsty teenagers who meet and fall in love that are present in pretty much every YA novel, complete with Cal as the jealous “other guy”. My opinion on Aoife is that if she were stranded on a desert island, she would die within a week. She isn’t very resourceful; although sometimes she can use her Weird to defend herself, she has to depend on Dean for help most of the time. As Tremaine says, she is a “frail little thing”. Dean was slightly better. He was at least likable, although that might just be my opinion. I felt like he was relaxed most of the time, like he was comfortable with himself, unlike Aoife and Cal, who were so high strung they were like violins. He was pretty much always able to be optimistic, which I liked, but he knew when to get serious.

The idea of this book is what I think made me want to first read it, but it ended up being disappointing. I was expecting this book to be wild and exciting, with more of the Faery/Kindly Folk aspect and more of the madness aspect, but it didn’t really get to that because of how slow the plot was. For one thing, Aoife learns about her Weird in the middle of the book, but still hasn’t figured it out 150 pages later. If the original idea had been retained, and the book written with fewer significant events rather than a bunch of less meaningful small events, then I think it could have been a lot better. The plot was also really predictable. When Aoife first met Dean, I was thinking to myself, “If they don’t fall in love before the end of the book, I’ll be really surprised.” Cal, as the best friend, obviously HAS to go wherever Aoife goes in the interest of protecting her, but then they will have a falling-out, usually because of outside circumstances, because that’s just what happens in a typical YA book. I also didn’t like how abrupt the ending was. I know there is a sequel, but I think that there could be slightly more closure than it has.

I would recommend this book to people who know that they like steampunk/dark fantasy kinds of books. For me, since this was one of the first of those types, I might not enjoy it as much as a person who really likes these kinds of books. However, I could see how people could like this book (magic, interesting-if sometimes clueless-characters, draggy but interesting storyline). For me, it also gave off a Alice in Wonderland vibe, if you like that kind of book, because it has a lot of the same elements: madness, a different world the MC is entirely unprepared for, that sort of thing. However, if you’re a type of person who likes lots of background information, this book is not for you. The best things about this book were the description and the idea behind it. I could picture most of the characters and settings clearly in my head, and the words Kittredge chose to describe them made them stand out. Overall, I think that the book could have been better, but it wasn’t too bad.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to admit I didn't finish this book, I kept "forcing" myself to continue it until I realized what is the point in that? I didn't care about any of the characters, they were all so unlikeable. Could Cal be any more whiny, stupid and annoying? Dean held no appeal to me whatsoever. And Aoeife or however you spell her name - I hated her name for one. I also just didn't connect with her and I didn't understand her "Weird" talent.

This book is WAY too long. The beginning is confusing and I had very little understanding of their steampunk world. Then they finally reach Graystone and nothing really happens. It's so boring! I also had no interest in learning about the Fey world. I think the author tried to muddle way too many themes into this book, there was no clear focus.

In the end, I just didn't care about anyone in the book and because it was so boring, I didn't even bother finishing it.