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michalice's review against another edition
4.0
I have really enjoyed this series from the beginning, so after following Donna on her journey as she learns about herself and discovers the truth behind her iron tattoos I am sad to see it come to an end. Donna is in London, England training to be an alchemist, having been sent there for releasing Demain, who is now causing havoc, most notably burning down the British Museum.
The Stone Demon also gives us points of view from Xan and Navin, whose I love the most thanks to his sense of humour and constant jokes. Both Xan and Navin have their own roles to play, Xan has a secret he is hiding from Donna, while Navin plays a very important role in Donna's tasks. She must find a way to collect the items she needs from each realm to make the Philosophers Stone to save humankind from Demain.
The Stone Demon was a roller coaster ride from the very beginning from being safe in London at the alchemists home Donna is soon taking risks and meeting with people she shouldn't be meeting with. The Iron Witch introduced us to Donna, and from that point onwards it has been one big adventure for her, and for us the reader, The Stone Demon is a great end to this series that has everything you could ask for in a book, romance, friendship, fighting, magic, and laughter.
There were some moments in The Stone Demon where things happened that I didn't expect, and it wasn't until they happened that I realised how much I really liked the character involved. I even tweeted Karen Mahoney about it.
The Stone Demon to me is my favourite of them all, some characters get closure, and some get what they deserve, and the small handful really didn't deserve what they got. I laughed, cried, worried, and cheered on the good guys. Karen has once again drew me into the world she has created and I did not want to say goodbye to these characters. The ending of the book was bitter-sweet and I would love to see a novella or book in an anthology about what happens with certain individuals.
The Stone Demon also gives us points of view from Xan and Navin, whose I love the most thanks to his sense of humour and constant jokes. Both Xan and Navin have their own roles to play, Xan has a secret he is hiding from Donna, while Navin plays a very important role in Donna's tasks. She must find a way to collect the items she needs from each realm to make the Philosophers Stone to save humankind from Demain.
The Stone Demon was a roller coaster ride from the very beginning from being safe in London at the alchemists home Donna is soon taking risks and meeting with people she shouldn't be meeting with. The Iron Witch introduced us to Donna, and from that point onwards it has been one big adventure for her, and for us the reader, The Stone Demon is a great end to this series that has everything you could ask for in a book, romance, friendship, fighting, magic, and laughter.
Navin shivered. "Stop being so dramatic. You're hardly in the position to tear apart reality. You'd have trouble tearing open a packet of chips right now.".................
"Shut up a minute, I'm trying to think."
"I know, I can hear your two brain cells rubbing together."
Navin and Newton, location 1660 kindle
There were some moments in The Stone Demon where things happened that I didn't expect, and it wasn't until they happened that I realised how much I really liked the character involved. I even tweeted Karen Mahoney about it.
@kazmahoney just finished chapter 24 of The Stone Demon.....I may be crying just a bit
— Michelle (@MuchLovedBooks) April 13, 2013
The Stone Demon to me is my favourite of them all, some characters get closure, and some get what they deserve, and the small handful really didn't deserve what they got. I laughed, cried, worried, and cheered on the good guys. Karen has once again drew me into the world she has created and I did not want to say goodbye to these characters. The ending of the book was bitter-sweet and I would love to see a novella or book in an anthology about what happens with certain individuals.
chllybrd's review against another edition
3.0
This is going to be short and sweet as I don't want to give away spoilers.
Donna has been through a lot in her life and has come a long way since book 1. THE STONE DEMON was the completion of her journey and follows her quest to the end. There were a few points in the book that didn't keep me glued to my seat or particularly interested. For the most part I enjoyed the happenings just not as much as the previous two books.. I'm content with the way everything ended. I felt like Donna found herself and figured out who she was by the end and that was the whole point of her journey. Those most important to her all had a place in the final installment of The Iron Witch Trilogy and all were important to getting Donna to the end. If you read the first two books in the series you can't NOT read THE STONE DEMON.
Donna has been through a lot in her life and has come a long way since book 1. THE STONE DEMON was the completion of her journey and follows her quest to the end. There were a few points in the book that didn't keep me glued to my seat or particularly interested. For the most part I enjoyed the happenings just not as much as the previous two books.. I'm content with the way everything ended. I felt like Donna found herself and figured out who she was by the end and that was the whole point of her journey. Those most important to her all had a place in the final installment of The Iron Witch Trilogy and all were important to getting Donna to the end. If you read the first two books in the series you can't NOT read THE STONE DEMON.
kirstysbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book was better than the first two in the trilogy although it still wasn't amazing. This book starts where the last one left off, Donna has been sent to London as part of her punishment for releasing the demons. Donna is invited to a ball by the Demon King and he wants her to recreate the Philosopher's Stone which will involve collecting 5 ingredients. This leads Donna on a quest in order to get the ingredients and save the world from being destroyed.
I thought that this book moved a lot faster than the other two books, however, I still felt it contained a lot of the YA cliches although it didn't feel quite so formulaic as the other books. At the start of this series it appeared as if it was going to be more of a romance story however this book didn't contain that much in it and we saw very little of Xan which I was relieved about as I didn't particularly like his character.
Although I did enjoy this book more than the other two books in the series I don't feel that this is a must read series. I feel there are much better YA fantasy series that focus on Fae such as the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. Overall I felt that this series was very cliched and typical of the YA genre.
I thought that this book moved a lot faster than the other two books, however, I still felt it contained a lot of the YA cliches although it didn't feel quite so formulaic as the other books. At the start of this series it appeared as if it was going to be more of a romance story however this book didn't contain that much in it and we saw very little of Xan which I was relieved about as I didn't particularly like his character.
Spoiler
I liked Navin though and I couldn't believe it when I thought he had died but, luckily he was brought back to live by NewtonAlthough I did enjoy this book more than the other two books in the series I don't feel that this is a must read series. I feel there are much better YA fantasy series that focus on Fae such as the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. Overall I felt that this series was very cliched and typical of the YA genre.
kirstysbookshelf's review
3.0
I thought this book was better than the first two in the trilogy although it still wasn't amazing. This book starts where the last one left off, Donna has been sent to London as part of her punishment for releasing the demons. Donna is invited to a ball by the Demon King and he wants her to recreate the Philosopher's Stone which will involve collecting 5 ingredients. This leads Donna on a quest in order to get the ingredients and save the world from being destroyed.
I thought that this book moved a lot faster than the other two books, however, I still felt it contained a lot of the YA cliches although it didn't feel quite so formulaic as the other books. At the start of this series it appeared as if it was going to be more of a romance story however this book didn't contain that much in it and we saw very little of Xan which I was relieved about as I didn't particularly like his character.
Although I did enjoy this book more than the other two books in the series I don't feel that this is a must read series. I feel there are much better YA fantasy series that focus on Fae such as the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. Overall I felt that this series was very cliched and typical of the YA genre.
I thought that this book moved a lot faster than the other two books, however, I still felt it contained a lot of the YA cliches although it didn't feel quite so formulaic as the other books. At the start of this series it appeared as if it was going to be more of a romance story however this book didn't contain that much in it and we saw very little of Xan which I was relieved about as I didn't particularly like his character.
Spoiler
I liked Navin though and I couldn't believe it when I thought he had died but, luckily he was brought back to live by NewtonAlthough I did enjoy this book more than the other two books in the series I don't feel that this is a must read series. I feel there are much better YA fantasy series that focus on Fae such as the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. Overall I felt that this series was very cliched and typical of the YA genre.
nica2006's review against another edition
4.0
I would have liked to see a little more interaction between Donna and Xan.
arjunthakrar's review
5.0
I got this a little later than everyone else, because I didn't realise there was a book 3 in this series until it started popping up all over my twitter feed, but when i realised I had it quick as a flash and it's left me feeling pretty good.
This is one of those series that I just love. There doesn't have to be a reason because everything about it it totally lovable. For starters the idea is unique and... i just cant put into words how much I loved this. This book had me on toes the whole way through and explored so many different things i was continually entranced.
I guess I love escaping to Donna's world because whats not to love.
This book picks up a couple of months after the end of book 2 and It has a pretty dramatic beginning. The plot was seamlessly created and I loved every part of it! There was so much crammed into this book and I just loved it so so much! The events jumped from one to one, the action and romance balanced perfectly and even at time when it seemed to easy for a love triangle to be formed, Mahoney did the sensible thing and stayed away. The story was magical and captivating and I loved reading it every last word.
The settings were nicely balanced. This is the second YA book I've read this year set in England/London and that's really nice, just because YA is rarely set in england. Mahoney definitely knew what she was taking about when describing London, because as she described it my mind pulled up pictures of those areas from memory and placed Donna into those situation. Then we moved back to Ironbridge but during that we venture to many other realms/worlds which was really interesting but Mahoney doesn't dawdle on too much detail which is nice.
Writing. I don't know. I guess Mahoney just gets me. Something about her writing has just made me fall in love. Every since book 1 I have loved her writing so much. One thing I always love about her writing is 3rd person. Every time I read the next book in this series I always get so surprised that it's third person, because naturally you expect a book like this to be first person, but it s a nice change of perspective because not only do you get a better look on the other world but you are not limited to a single characters, which was another good point about this. We switched between characters, allowing us to venture into different parts of the story and piece puzzle pieces together. The description as i mentioned was beautiful and balanced just to the correct amount.
Characters. We didn't see to many new characters but where we did they were all so diverse and interesting. A new main characters was the involvement of Demian, the demon king and the romance that isn't quite a romance between Donna and him. Mahoney played it well though, because as the reader you want Donna to fall for him and for them to fall in love (or maybe it's just me) but nevertheless she stays true to Xan, who surprisingly we didn't see much of in this book. The characters in this focused onto the ones we haven't seen as much of so we can build on out knowledge base and connection to them.
Overall this was the perfect ending. I loved it so much and couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to Donna and the friends. But I have to thank Mahoney, because, from page 1 I fell in love with this series.
This is one of those series that I just love. There doesn't have to be a reason because everything about it it totally lovable. For starters the idea is unique and... i just cant put into words how much I loved this. This book had me on toes the whole way through and explored so many different things i was continually entranced.
I guess I love escaping to Donna's world because whats not to love.
This book picks up a couple of months after the end of book 2 and It has a pretty dramatic beginning. The plot was seamlessly created and I loved every part of it! There was so much crammed into this book and I just loved it so so much! The events jumped from one to one, the action and romance balanced perfectly and even at time when it seemed to easy for a love triangle to be formed, Mahoney did the sensible thing and stayed away. The story was magical and captivating and I loved reading it every last word.
The settings were nicely balanced. This is the second YA book I've read this year set in England/London and that's really nice, just because YA is rarely set in england. Mahoney definitely knew what she was taking about when describing London, because as she described it my mind pulled up pictures of those areas from memory and placed Donna into those situation. Then we moved back to Ironbridge but during that we venture to many other realms/worlds which was really interesting but Mahoney doesn't dawdle on too much detail which is nice.
Writing. I don't know. I guess Mahoney just gets me. Something about her writing has just made me fall in love. Every since book 1 I have loved her writing so much. One thing I always love about her writing is 3rd person. Every time I read the next book in this series I always get so surprised that it's third person, because naturally you expect a book like this to be first person, but it s a nice change of perspective because not only do you get a better look on the other world but you are not limited to a single characters, which was another good point about this. We switched between characters, allowing us to venture into different parts of the story and piece puzzle pieces together. The description as i mentioned was beautiful and balanced just to the correct amount.
Characters. We didn't see to many new characters but where we did they were all so diverse and interesting. A new main characters was the involvement of Demian, the demon king and the romance that isn't quite a romance between Donna and him. Mahoney played it well though, because as the reader you want Donna to fall for him and for them to fall in love (or maybe it's just me) but nevertheless she stays true to Xan, who surprisingly we didn't see much of in this book. The characters in this focused onto the ones we haven't seen as much of so we can build on out knowledge base and connection to them.
Overall this was the perfect ending. I loved it so much and couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to Donna and the friends. But I have to thank Mahoney, because, from page 1 I fell in love with this series.
amarrymeinbostonacademic's review against another edition
4.0
This whole series was great overall. I really like the author's style. She left me wanting more though I can see why she left it off where she did. The ending was fairly closed but open enough for her to continue the story if she wanted to.
The story was actually very fast at times, a little too fast at points, for me but that was my only complaint. I thought this volume should have or easily could have been longer but that didn't take away too much from the story.
I suggest this series to anyone who likes Young Adult Fantasy because it was very well written. I will be looking forward to see more by this author in the future. :)
The story was actually very fast at times, a little too fast at points, for me but that was my only complaint. I thought this volume should have or easily could have been longer but that didn't take away too much from the story.
I suggest this series to anyone who likes Young Adult Fantasy because it was very well written. I will be looking forward to see more by this author in the future. :)
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Good ending to the series, things came together, and yeah, the little thing about Maker, his story, yeah, that was nice, and it made sense, one of his names being Hephaestus.
rosepetals1984's review against another edition
3.0
Karen Mahoney's "The Stone Demon" is the third and final book to "The Iron Witch" trilogy, and I think its content is more on the level with the first, though with a few caveats to consider. I appreciated the journey with the familiar characters and imaginative settings, with nods to fae lore. It started off a little rough in the beginning with pacing, but as the novel went on, it improved with the stakes and immersion since there were multiple players in the story tasked with doing different things and having very different motivations to keep the ball rolling.
When we last left Donna in the previous story, she had woken the Demon King, Demian. Demian is positively evil, but charming I'll admit in some of the encounters Donna has with him. He demands that Donna and the alchemists forge him a Philosopher's Stone on a timetable, else he would overrun the human world to his own ends. This makes Donna, her mother and the alchemists, Navin, and Xan all come together to get to the task at hand, though with some rough encounters in the between.
I thought this story was a nice rounding out of the series on an overarching note. I think the biggest caveat was that towards the beginning, it got a little bogged down in the details of depicting the motivations of the stone, and toward the end, it went a little too quickly with the rolling action scenes, if those particular pacing and focal points had been switched, I think I would've liked it more for development and immersion. But I enjoyed the journey very much, and I certainly won't hesitate to read more of Mahoney's work in the future.
Certainly recommended to those who like fae stories with magic, romance and bit humor.
Overall score: 3/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Flux.
When we last left Donna in the previous story, she had woken the Demon King, Demian. Demian is positively evil, but charming I'll admit in some of the encounters Donna has with him. He demands that Donna and the alchemists forge him a Philosopher's Stone on a timetable, else he would overrun the human world to his own ends. This makes Donna, her mother and the alchemists, Navin, and Xan all come together to get to the task at hand, though with some rough encounters in the between.
I thought this story was a nice rounding out of the series on an overarching note. I think the biggest caveat was that towards the beginning, it got a little bogged down in the details of depicting the motivations of the stone, and toward the end, it went a little too quickly with the rolling action scenes, if those particular pacing and focal points had been switched, I think I would've liked it more for development and immersion. But I enjoyed the journey very much, and I certainly won't hesitate to read more of Mahoney's work in the future.
Certainly recommended to those who like fae stories with magic, romance and bit humor.
Overall score: 3/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Flux.
rebeccajane's review against another edition
3.0
Something just wasn't quite right about this book. I felt disconnected from the story and the characters and it wasn't very well paced. It seemed to go by too fast and I felt like everything happened way too easily. Donna and Xan, despite their 'troubles' in the last book, seemed to make up pretty quickly to me.