Review: Iron Crowned

Iron Crowned

By Richelle Mead

• Publisher: Kensington Publishing
• Published: 22 February 2011
• Format: Paperback 352 pages
• ISBN 13: 9781420111798 ISBN 10: 1420111795

Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…


I'm not entirely sure where to start with this review. Be it because I haven't done one in such a long time, or it could also have something to do with the fact that I didn't enjoy this one as much as I anticipated I would.

I am a HUUUUGE fan of the Dark Swan books, but this one failed to keep me as entertained as the first two in the series. Don't get me wrong there are some good twists and turns here and there but it just felt like it fell short of the mark I subconsciously set for it.


With everything that was going on in the main part of the story it seemed the relationships between characters missed a bit of the depth I thought they had in previous books. In Thorn Queen you could feel the attraction between Dorian and Eugenie jump off the pages. Very quickly into Iron Crowned it seemed that relationship was muted. It was very two dimensional and made it a little hard for me to continue on.

Once I did get past that, I found quite a bit of the story was easily predicted. Plot twists that I knew should be shocking and clever just seemed a little lame and due to clues earlier on the book really did come across as predictable. I had a few "Ahhh, they finally spit it out" moments.


I hate reviews that spoil the plot for those who haven't read the book yet, so I will leave it at that for now because things change pretty early in the story and frankly it's been so long since I wrote a review I don't want you guys to get bored of my inane dribble just yet :)

All in all I actually still give this one a 4/5. But that is purely because of my love of the books and because I am really hoping things pick up a bit in the next one.

Been a while...

Many apologies for my long unexplained absence.
I figured I should come back and say I am alive and well, and though the last few months have been hell, I am back to write another day.

I have a huge pile of reading to get done, and many reviews to write so I best get to it.

I just wanted to thank everyone for sticking around even though I haven't been here.

Exciting things to come...

And the winner is....

The winner for the New Year's reading resolution giveaway is...

Ashley from Ashley's bookshelf

I will contact you asap, and hope you enjoy the books!

New Year Giveaway!

As all of my old followers would know, I love a good giveaway so this one will be no different.

I have chosen to give away a series of books that I kept looking at in the book store last year but still have yet to read. The series is a little different to what I normally read but I have friends who have never steered me wrong telling me that this series really is sensational.

I have seen the movies that have been released and they are pretty awesome, so I imagine the series is even better.

The series I have chosen is the Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko.

Book one

Book two

Book three

Book four

I have added the good reads links below each cover so that you can check out the descriptions and reviews. 

The only things you need to do to enter are:

*Be a follower (old or new, I am not doing points for this one)

*Comment on this post!

That's it folks!

Enjoy hopping around this giveaway, there is heaps of cool stuff out there.

Edited to add... This giveaway IS international! Books will be ordered via book depository for you if you are the winner.

Merry Christmas

I know I have been absent for the last couple of weeks but I will be back in the new year ready to read and review.

Till then...

Be well, drive safe and all the rest of it!

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

For this blog hop I was intending to have a review of Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead ready to post along with it... BUT

I don't want Vampire Academy to end! I know there is going to be a spin off type series but it wont be the same.

So you will have to wait until next week for that because I am reading 100 pages at a time to make it last just that little bit longer.

Any who... Lets get on with the hopping madness

As usual Miss Parajunkee has a feature blogger for us to all check out, Another Book Junkie does some good reviews and I have enjoyed checking out her blog today.

The question for this week is

Do you have an under-noticed author that you think we should all know about?

I still think Parker Blue is pretty cool. Only has two books out that I know of but they are great reads and I cant wait for the third to come out!

Check them out here Demon Underground series

And the winner is....

Jessica Rabbit!

Using Random.org Jessica was picked as the winner of Richelle Mead's final book in the Vampire academy series, Last Sacrifice!!

Giveaway time!

Okay I am so thrilled to see that Richelle Mead's Last Sacrifice novel is nearly out, I have decided to give a copy of it away!

The astonishing final novel in Richelle Mead's epic series! Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Throne, nothing will ever be the same between them.

All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment here. Too easy!!

I will pick the winner at random on Tuesday the 7th of December as that is the official release day.

The giveaway is international... So long as Book Depository delivers to you, you are eligible to enter.

Hippity Hoppity Hop!

I missed last weeks hop due to every day life taking over, so I am back this week and ready to hop again!

I have already hopped on over to Parajunkee's View and checked out her feature blog for the week and am going to answer her question below.

This week we are being asked

What do you do besides reading / reviewing as a hobby??

To that I laugh and and then wonder what it is I really do with my life. 

Seriously though, I spend time with my kids, lots of time at the beach, and at the moment renovating my house takes up more than it;s fair share of my time!

 

As soon as it is up I will also answer this weeks question from Crazy for Books as well.

Here it is...

 "What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

 The second book in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series was the one that really sticks out to me (One foot in the grave). It has had nothing but good reviews from everyone, and apparently chapter 32 was a must read. But I will be honest and say that when I saw someone mention chapter 32 I had to go back and see what they were on about. It wasn't what I expected from reading the first book and if/when I go on to read the third I really hope it blows me out of the water for giving it only 1.5 out of 5.

Happy blogging and reading book bloggers!

Waiting on Wednesday...

I have neglected my little blog for far too long. There is too much going on in my life right now but I am determined not to let that stop me posting.

I don't normally do the Wednesday meme simply because I read so many e-books that I generally don't have anything I am waiting on. But since it is coming up to Christmas I am now waiting on a bunch of things, mostly kids books but hell they count too!

First for my daughter...

 

She has some other books too, but only these that I am waiting on.

Then for my son...

 This is one that he borrowed from the library and loved so I figured it was a safe bet under the Christmas tree.

I saw this one in our local book store and it looked really fun (although a bit over priced at the shop, so I ordered online)

 Both of my kids LOVE this show! So I expect lots of messy fun times with this one.

 

There are 4 of these underpants books as far as I can tell, the first two are in the boot of my car waiting to be wrapped (it's my only hiding place from the kids.)

And just for me...

 I don't know if I should read it or create a shrine for it. I think I will just have to make sure the cover is plastic covered for fear of any drooling that might happen near it.

It's just a very pretty looking book :P

other things I am waiting on are replacement personalised Christmas baubles for the ones my dogs ate, and my NuSkin Vitality vitamins (not yet officially on the market, but come Jan-Feb I reckon everyone should at least try them! They do wonders for your energy levels.)

I will play around with my blog format tomorrow and try to get some new stuff up and posted over the next couple of days. Until then, happy blogging bloggers!