Book Review: The Iron Thorn

TITLE: The Iron Thorn
Book 1 in the new Iron Codex Trilogy
AUTHOR: Caitlin Kittridge
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: steampunk, dystopian, fantasy, faeries
SHORT PREMISE: A girl goes on a journey to find her brother.
My REVIEW: Aoife fears going mad like her mother and brother in a world that looks down on things like madness and being an outsider. But then she gets mysterious letters from her brother that actually sound like he's quite sane and goes deep into unknown magical lands that her society has always warned people to stay away from.
After the yawning cliche that was Haven this book was very refreshing. Granted one or two things made me raise my eyebrow and I sort of found being told over and over again that Aoife was clever kind of annoying. But other then a few minor qualms this book was a delight. I mean it had actual plot and good writing and it was creative! A decent female (and male) lead! Intrigue, great world building, and I was interested all the way through which in a 400+ page book is no easy feat. I seriously don't understand why this hasn't gotten more attention because as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best debuts from this year. Of course the author has written adult books before this apparently so she has a wee bit of an edge but still, it's GOOD.
If you want a plot focused on romance, this may not be your book. But if you don't mind that, I totally recomend it. I cannot wait for the next book in this trilogy and I'm definitely going to be checking out the author's other books in the adult category.
WHO SHOULD READ: steampunk fans, dystopian fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five engine rooms