Review – The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 312 pages
Publisher: Flux
Release Date: February 8, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0738725826
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Iron Witch series
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I have had this book forever to read and was excited to finally get around to reading it. This ended up being a well done YA paranormal book featuring fey. The writing is a bit awkward at the beginning, but Mahoney finds her pace as the story continues. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

When Donna was seven years old she survived a horrific fey attack that left her dad dead and her mother insane. Donna’s nearly fatal injuries were fixed by an alchemist group that Donna’s parents were part of. As a result Donna has scrolling metal curling up her hands and arms. The only thing that keeps the teenage Donna sane at high school is her best friend Navin. Then Navin is kidnapped by dark elves and Donna needs help to rescue him. Donna ends up turning to the mysterious half-fey Xan for help; both help in rescuing Navin and help in figuring what these dark fey want with her.

The plot for this book is fairly simple, but I enjoyed the characters and how Mahoney blends alchemy and fey elements together.

All of the characters are surprisingly interesting and likable. The story starts out a bit awkward sounding but once Mahoney got into the story she really found her stride and the story flowed much more naturally and was engaging. I really enjoyed the character of Donna and also really enjoyed Navin and Xan…so far there is no love triangle (which is awesome because I hate love triangles).

Things really got interesting when Donna and Xan journeyed into the dark fey realm; we just get the barest glimpse of that realm in this book but I really want to see more of it.

Overall this was a quick read that I found to be surprisingly engaging and enjoyable. The characters are likable and there is a lot of mystery surrounding the dark fey. I would recommend to those who enjoy YA reads involving fey. I plan on reading the rest of the series because I am really curious about the fey realm and how Donna is tied into it.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge