Ironskin by Tina Connolly

I had been looking forward to reading Ironskin since I first saw its cover and read the inside summary. It sounded like a mix of fairy tale and steampunk, so I knew I wanted desperately to read it. Ironskin definitely lived up to my expectations and more! I loved it!

This fantastic story follows Jane, a fey-attack victim who was cursed with rage, as she takes a new job at an isolated mansion near a dark forest. She is in charge of Dorie, a little girl who she thought would be like herself, wounded by fey magic during the war between fey and humans, but Dorie is different. Dorie seems to be almost half-fey/half-human, possessing abilities that only the fey have exhibited before. And then there is the girl's father, the dark and handsome Edward Rochart, who spends most of his time in his studio or away in the city. His clients are wealthy women who come into his studio looking one way but leave looking...otherworldly. Utterly beautiful. As Jane is sucked into the mystery, she slowly begins to unravel the secrets wrapped around the inhabitants of the lonely house on the edge of the woods.

Ironskin has a neat steampunk, gothic sort of style to it. It's sort of creepy and dark, and some of the scenes are rather macabre; it actually reminded of the old-school kind of fairy tale where happy endings usually come after a lot of blood and heartache, if they ever come at all. But Ironskin is creepy in a good way, in a way that makes you want to read what's going to happen next! I like the slightly sinister tone of some of the scenes, especially those taking place at the mansion.

The characters are wonderful, and I particularly like odd little Dorie and her whirlwind personality. She is strange and wonderful. Edward is a very different sort of male lead. I think he's unique and tortured, and I like that he's not really the hero; in a way, he is actually more of a victim than anything else. Jane is the hero, and that totally rules. She's kind, considerate, stubborn, and afflicted with rage; all in all, she is the perfect protagonist for this captivating story. The magic set-up and the curses were really neat; I can't remember ever having read about fey inflicting curses through wounds before. Also, I like that the fey are basically energy or spirits; I think it's a unique approach to fey.

I ordered Ironskin for our library, and I've been recommending it to patrons who like YA lit and patrons who like fairy tales and fantasies. It's gone out a couple times so far, and I've only heard positive comments about it from the patrons who have read it. I think that this is a book that is going to be well-loved in our library!

Thank you to NetGalley.com and Tor/Forge for letting me read this awesome galley!

Ever by Jessa Russo

My feelings about Ever are rather neutral. I didn't hate it, though there were some parts of the book that I really disliked, and I didn't love it even though there were parts of the book I enjoyed. So I'm sort of in ambivalent book limbo here...

In Ever, the title character is a reclusive teenage girl who is still obsessed with Frankie, the ghost of her best friend/long-time crush who is now living in her house. Chilling on her couch. Chatting with her parents. And Ever still harbors strong though pointless feelings toward him. But things start to change when new neighbors move in to Frankie's abandoned house...specifically when hot, twenty-something Toby takes an automatic interest in her. As Ever deals with needing to a real boyfriend instead of a bevy of unrequited love for a ghost, her life gets extremely more complicated as her love life becomes twisted and chaotic.

First off, I didn't feel any strong attachment for practically any of the characters. I didn't really like Ever: she is obsessive, indecisive and angsty, plus she seems to have no idea what a loyal relationship looks like. At all. Granted, she doesn't have much dating experience besides being obsessed with a ghost, but still. I became very tired of reading make-out scenes and then reading Ever lament about how hard it is to love two guys at once. Wake up, girl. Let GO of the GHOST. HE'S DEAD. This brings me to:

GHOST RELATIONSHIPS. I do not like them. AT ALL. I thought this one might work out since Ever loved Frankie before he was a ghost, but no. It didn't. Being in love with something that is dead-ghost-pale-dead is definitely not romantic to me, and no amount of longing looks, wishing-to-touch moments or stay-by-your-bed-while-you-sleep-because-I-don't-need-sleep-staaaaaare nights are going to make me change my mind. Nope. And I found Frankie's nickname for Ever, "Doll," to be borderline creepy. For a little while, I thought he might actually be a ghost from the 1920s pretending to be Frankie, but nope, he actually calls her that and he's from the current century. I found that off-putting.

Going back to the characters, I actually did like two of the characters, Ever's mom and dad, and their relationship. It was nice to see parents portrayed as being very in love and basically being soulmates. I really did like that part. I also liked the entrance of Ariadne and her evilness, even if it was a little random; it was well-timed, and I think it really got the story going. The romance between Ever and Toby was acceptable; I just wish Ever might have put a little more effort into getting over dead!Frankie so she could actually be happy with Toby. But apparently happiness isn't really in the works for Ever, especially at the end of the book, so she might've been better off just forgetting about relationships entirely and going to college boyfriend-less and ghost-less. The story was interesting, if a bit confusing every now; I don't feel like enough clues and hints were dropped at the end of the book. I want to read the next one to figure out what happens, but I wish more threads had been wrapped up in this one, which would have left room for more open plots in the next one. Instead, I was a little unsatisfied with the ending.

Overall, it was an ok read, probably for older teens due to content. Not my favorite, but it didn't get chucked against the wall, either.

Thank you to NetGalley.com and Curiosity Quills Press for letting me read this galley.