"'Utterly enthralling. Karen Mahoney is a brilliant storyteller. Richelle Mead, New York Times bestselling author of the Vampire Academy series"
Karen Mahoney has been a professional Tarot reader, a college counsellor, a dating agency consultant, and bookseller and a webmistress. She is now a full-time writer and her first novel, The Iron Witch, was published in 2011. She has a highly trafficked blog where she talks about everything from writing books to her lifelong love of Wonder Woman.
Gr 8 Up-Donna Underwood is not your typical high school senior. At a party, she meets Alexander (Xan), who is also anything but typical, and in fact bears the scars on his back from where his wings were removed. Donna wears elbow-length gloves to cover up her iron hands, made for her when she was seven and her father was killed, her mother driven insane, and Donna burned by a terrifying creature called Skriker. These teens are trying to act normal in the world of the "commoners," but Donna is forced to use her atypical strength and knowledge about the fey world to save her friend Navin, with Xan's help. Teen girls will love the descriptions of Donna's feelings about her new love interest, Xan, and the details about clothing, friendship, and her attempts to fit in. Fantasy lovers will enjoy reading about a different world trying to hide in ours. There are subtle references to sex and underage drinking and drug use. At the end, readers are aware of more to come, and this book should prove to be the beginning of a popular series.-Kathy Kirchoefer, Prince Georges County Memorial Library System, New Carrollton, MD (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Mahoney's debut novel mines the familiar turf of the adolescent with magical abilities who just wants to be "normal." Donna Underwood, survivor of a faerie attack in the Ironwood years earlier, lives in Ironbridge, Mass., where she's been kicked out of high school and receives "homeschooling" from an alchemical society that saved her life by tattooing and reinforcing her arms with iron, giving her superhuman strength. Donna's best friend, Navin, tries to keep her in the flow of ordinary teenage life, taking her to parties like the one thrown by the mysterious Xan Grayson. It quickly becomes apparent that Xan's secrets are akin to Donna's. It's also clear that malignant elves from the Ironwood are starting to infiltrate the town, but why? Questions become crises when Navin disappears, and Donna must choose between keeping her secrets and saving her friend. Back-story takes precedence over present action in this installment, with info dumps taking the form of Donna's diary and conversations with out-of-the-loop characters. But although Mahoney's story takes a while to get going, she lays intriguing groundwork for later books. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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