Saturday Snippet Reviews | The Nightmare Garden & The Mirrored Shard by Caitlin Kittredge

There are times when Heather, Aly & I finish a book, but don’t have time to write a full, comprehensive review… or even a shorter “flashbulb” review.  BUT we still want to share our thoughts with you on what we’ve been reading. That’s why every Saturday we’ll be featuring 3 “snippet” reviews — short, sweet, to-the-point reviews that we’ll try to keep to 2-5 sentences.  So we hope you enjoy these!!

 

 

Slipping back into this utterly captivating world has been long – much too long – overdue. Kittredge’s otherworldly yet familiar Steampunk creation is tragic, broken, dark and sinister, while it is also bewitching, complex, and mysterious. Equally captivating is Aoife’s character and her growth since first meeting her in The Iron Thorn. She’s always balked a little at the repressive, submissive role her society has forced her into, but Tremaine’s manipulation of her which results in the destruction of Lovecraft’s engine has become the catalyst for some major realizations and changes for Aoife. In The Nightmare Garden, she’s a bit older and wiser, more discerning, less trusting, more independent, less interested in fulfilling society’s ideals of womanhood, and more focused on righting her wrongs, saving her family and friends, and figuring out her place in the larger picture, but still a little reckless. As for everything else, except for a slight lull in the middle, the story is extremely fast-moving and very exciting, the romance (i.e. – Dean) was as fantastic as ever… and that ending! Be still my heart and say it ain’t so! <wink>

 

 

The Mirrored Shard is the long-awaited conclusion (or is it???) of the Iron Codex series. In an effort to not be spoilery for those who haven’t read the series, let’s just say the second book ended with a rather unfortunate WHAT??? moment, and this book gave me everything I hoped for. The plot and world building continues to astound me, and just when I think I’ve got character’s figured out, a new development surfaces. Aoife’s growth through the series achieves an absolutely gorgeous level. The ending was extremely well done leaving the reader satisfied yet open enough that there could be more story developed. <—–perhaps??? I hope!!!

Happy Reading!