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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Third in the Dark Swan urban fantasy series revolving around Eugenie, the new fae Queen of Thorn and the Oak King's lover. When in the mortal world, she has a house in Tucson.
My Take
I do love how Mead starts this off! Too funny!! It just gets funnier when Dorian and Rurik play off on Ysabel's sighs about remarrying suggesting all sorts of possibilities. Just not the one she's "hinting" at so blatantly.
Oh man, Dorian is such a manipulative bugger! Poor Eugenie doesn't have a minute to herself in this story what with all the pushing and pulling by forces beyond her control. Mead really does marvelous work with all the bombshells she drops and the tension she builds into this story. Her characters are fascinating and edgy and Mead has you wondering which way they'll jump next. A different take on the fae. I am just panting to read the next in the series, <em>Shadow Heir.
The Story
The Thorn and the Oak are at war with the Rowan. Queen Katrice doesn't want Eugenie alive or in the fae world. The prophecy about her firstborn is too damaging. In the meantime, Eugenie's mortal world business is suffering from her spending so much time in the Otherworld fighting against the Rowan. If she doesn't take on a few more jobs, Lara won't get paid. It's this need that finds Eugenie up against a nasty fetch that results in Eugenie needing those antibiotics. Nasty interfering things.
Then there's the subtle manipulation pushing and pulling at Eugenie to go after the Iron Crown. The incentive is that Eugenie's possession of the Crown will intimidate Katrice into ending the war and putting an end to the casualties. It's what Eugenie discovers afterwards that breaks her heart into so many pieces.
One of those pieces is Katrice's kidnapping of Jasmine. A bold move, but one that will cost that stubborn fae queen. It also forces Eugenie to apologize to Imanuelle! Call Guinness!! Other pieces are the betrayals by her friends and the hectic pace of her life.
Oh, yeah, life is just getting even more interesting for Eugenie Markham, Dark Swan.
The Characters
Eugenie Markham is half-human, half-fae and all kick-ass. Even before she became Queen of Thorn Land. She's been the bogeyman the fae frighten their children with as she comes with bindings and banishings to keep our world free of bad things that go bump in our night.
Roland Markham is her stepfather and a retired shaman. He taught Eugenie everything he knows but no longer acknowledges her — he (and her mother) hate the fae. And they hate that Eugenie is canoodling with them.
Lara is Eugenie's secretary and sets up her banishing and binding appointments in our world. Right now, she's really annoyed because Eugenie is spending most of her time in the Otherworld. Tim is her housemate — he gets free room and board in exchange for household chores and cooking. He prefers to recite his poetry and schmooze people into thinking he's Native American. He and Lara are mortal phone enemies. Dr. Moore is Eugenie's personal doctor.
The fae who aid Eugenie in governing Thorn Land include Rurik and Shaya. They also maintain the guard on Jasmine Delaney, Eugenie's half-sister through their father, the Storm King. Hey, she tried to kill her sister so she could be the one to make the prophecy come true! Wil Delaney is Jasmine's half-brother. Nia is Eugenie's handmaiden in the Otherworld. In other words, she takes care of personal matters for her, beautifying her. Girard is a fae metalsmith. Imanuelle is his assassin sister.
Volusian is a cursed spirit whom Eugenie has bound. As long as she can control him, he won't torture her slowly into a miserable death.
Dorian, King of Oak Land, is Eugenie's "bondage-loving Otheworldly boyfriend". Ysabel is a former lover of Dorian's and definitely interested in reprising that role. Her mother Edria is another fae interested in wresting Eugenie from Dorian's side. Masthera is a seeress who goads Eugenie into going after the Iron Crown.
Kiyo is a kitsune — half-demon, half-human — who works as a veterinarian in Phoenix when he isn't visiting Maiwenn, Queen of the Willow Land, to see their daughter and take his queen's orders as to how to handle Eugenie. He was Eugenie's lover before losing her to Dorian.
Queen Katrice of the Rowan Land has started the war over a personal slight (I screwed up the reading order and have no idea what this is). Ranelle is an ambassador from the Honeysuckle Land. Dorian and Eugenie need allies as badly as Katrice and they're putting on a united front for Ranelle. Deanna is a ghost who agrees to a bargain with Eugenie in exchange for finding her murderer.
The Cover and Title
The cover is all purples blending up into reds with a lit-up downtown nestled into mountains while Eugenie holds a fighting stance in her jeans and lattice-worked tank top. Festooned with weapons dangling from her belt, an athame in one hand, and the iron crown in the other, our tatttooed, short-haired Dark Swan is ready for action.
The title is all about Eugenie's objective and her intentions. If she can just become Iron Crowned.
My Take
I do love how Mead starts this off! Too funny!! It just gets funnier when Dorian and Rurik play off on Ysabel's sighs about remarrying suggesting all sorts of possibilities. Just not the one she's "hinting" at so blatantly.
Oh man, Dorian is such a manipulative bugger! Poor Eugenie doesn't have a minute to herself in this story what with all the pushing and pulling by forces beyond her control. Mead really does marvelous work with all the bombshells she drops and the tension she builds into this story. Her characters are fascinating and edgy and Mead has you wondering which way they'll jump next. A different take on the fae. I am just panting to read the next in the series, <em>Shadow Heir.
The Story
The Thorn and the Oak are at war with the Rowan. Queen Katrice doesn't want Eugenie alive or in the fae world. The prophecy about her firstborn is too damaging. In the meantime, Eugenie's mortal world business is suffering from her spending so much time in the Otherworld fighting against the Rowan. If she doesn't take on a few more jobs, Lara won't get paid. It's this need that finds Eugenie up against a nasty fetch that results in Eugenie needing those antibiotics. Nasty interfering things.
Then there's the subtle manipulation pushing and pulling at Eugenie to go after the Iron Crown. The incentive is that Eugenie's possession of the Crown will intimidate Katrice into ending the war and putting an end to the casualties. It's what Eugenie discovers afterwards that breaks her heart into so many pieces.
One of those pieces is Katrice's kidnapping of Jasmine. A bold move, but one that will cost that stubborn fae queen. It also forces Eugenie to apologize to Imanuelle! Call Guinness!! Other pieces are the betrayals by her friends and the hectic pace of her life.
Oh, yeah, life is just getting even more interesting for Eugenie Markham, Dark Swan.
The Characters
Eugenie Markham is half-human, half-fae and all kick-ass. Even before she became Queen of Thorn Land. She's been the bogeyman the fae frighten their children with as she comes with bindings and banishings to keep our world free of bad things that go bump in our night.
Roland Markham is her stepfather and a retired shaman. He taught Eugenie everything he knows but no longer acknowledges her — he (and her mother) hate the fae. And they hate that Eugenie is canoodling with them.
Lara is Eugenie's secretary and sets up her banishing and binding appointments in our world. Right now, she's really annoyed because Eugenie is spending most of her time in the Otherworld. Tim is her housemate — he gets free room and board in exchange for household chores and cooking. He prefers to recite his poetry and schmooze people into thinking he's Native American. He and Lara are mortal phone enemies. Dr. Moore is Eugenie's personal doctor.
The fae who aid Eugenie in governing Thorn Land include Rurik and Shaya. They also maintain the guard on Jasmine Delaney, Eugenie's half-sister through their father, the Storm King. Hey, she tried to kill her sister so she could be the one to make the prophecy come true! Wil Delaney is Jasmine's half-brother. Nia is Eugenie's handmaiden in the Otherworld. In other words, she takes care of personal matters for her, beautifying her. Girard is a fae metalsmith. Imanuelle is his assassin sister.
Volusian is a cursed spirit whom Eugenie has bound. As long as she can control him, he won't torture her slowly into a miserable death.
Dorian, King of Oak Land, is Eugenie's "bondage-loving Otheworldly boyfriend". Ysabel is a former lover of Dorian's and definitely interested in reprising that role. Her mother Edria is another fae interested in wresting Eugenie from Dorian's side. Masthera is a seeress who goads Eugenie into going after the Iron Crown.
Kiyo is a kitsune — half-demon, half-human — who works as a veterinarian in Phoenix when he isn't visiting Maiwenn, Queen of the Willow Land, to see their daughter and take his queen's orders as to how to handle Eugenie. He was Eugenie's lover before losing her to Dorian.
Queen Katrice of the Rowan Land has started the war over a personal slight (I screwed up the reading order and have no idea what this is). Ranelle is an ambassador from the Honeysuckle Land. Dorian and Eugenie need allies as badly as Katrice and they're putting on a united front for Ranelle. Deanna is a ghost who agrees to a bargain with Eugenie in exchange for finding her murderer.
The Cover and Title
The cover is all purples blending up into reds with a lit-up downtown nestled into mountains while Eugenie holds a fighting stance in her jeans and lattice-worked tank top. Festooned with weapons dangling from her belt, an athame in one hand, and the iron crown in the other, our tatttooed, short-haired Dark Swan is ready for action.
The title is all about Eugenie's objective and her intentions. If she can just become Iron Crowned.
magikspells's review against another edition
3.0
This book fell into a trap. The trap of predictability! I thought a non YA book would save me. I thought wrong. Foiled.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it. What can I say, I've grown attached to some of the characters. But everytime some earth shattering event was about to take place, I knew what it was and was left feeling disappointed that I could so easily tell. Plus I'm starting to get confused as to why so many men want to throw themselves at Eugenie (outside of the prophecy I mean). Kiyo and Dorian are both suckers. Man up!
I don't want to spoil anything, but lets be honest. As tawdry as this book gets at times, some of these "shocking" events shouldn't be that shocking.
Oh well, onward toward the next book!
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it. What can I say, I've grown attached to some of the characters. But everytime some earth shattering event was about to take place, I knew what it was and was left feeling disappointed that I could so easily tell. Plus I'm starting to get confused as to why so many men want to throw themselves at Eugenie (outside of the prophecy I mean). Kiyo and Dorian are both suckers. Man up!
I don't want to spoil anything, but lets be honest. As tawdry as this book gets at times, some of these "shocking" events shouldn't be that shocking.
Oh well, onward toward the next book!
stephxsu's review against another edition
2.0
A dash of Indiana Jones mixed in amongst way too much unattractive love triangle angst. I think Eugenie would be better off dropping both Kiyo and Dorian and telling them she's done with their Alpha Male nonsense and striking off on her own--and so would us readers benefit from it too.
kk7's review against another edition
2.0
What.the.hell......... I enjoyed books one and two mostly because I believed the author actually had a purpose and it was all going to make sense in the last book. That hope was incorrect. Eugenie is a fickle slut. Who does she love, well it depends which one is right in front of her and wiling to give her the business. This is no heroine. She is strong and brave..as long as she can get other people to do most of the work for her and never complain. As long as people think the sun shines out of her a**, she finds them useful. Disappointed is an understatement.
bewitched_bibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jessicaalexander95's review against another edition
4.0
Great middle book to the series and you get to see a lot more of Dorians character and then working together.
charms1976's review against another edition
2.0
I haven't had a chance to really read much by this author. I admit to owning her books, but something has always come up and I haven't had a chance to read much by her. I received this book for review and after reading the back cover it seemed like a book that I would enjoy. Even if I haven't read the other books in the series, I though I might still have a chance at understanding the book and gain an interest in a new series.
While I tried over and over again to enjoy this book, I found myself struggling to finish it. I didn't care for the character of Eugenie. She fell flat and in a word I hate to use, well, shallow. She hindered the story from being so much more, even though she was suppose to be the main character. Her personality was immature and she was predictable after a few chapters into the book.
I was so frustrated with how the author had written this character that it might have hindered my feelings of enjoying the story. I just couldn't get past all the idiotic actions and reactions that Eugenie had. While the book was not a complete loss, but it also wasn't a success in my opinion. I think I am going to stick to her young adult themed books in the future.
While I tried over and over again to enjoy this book, I found myself struggling to finish it. I didn't care for the character of Eugenie. She fell flat and in a word I hate to use, well, shallow. She hindered the story from being so much more, even though she was suppose to be the main character. Her personality was immature and she was predictable after a few chapters into the book.
I was so frustrated with how the author had written this character that it might have hindered my feelings of enjoying the story. I just couldn't get past all the idiotic actions and reactions that Eugenie had. While the book was not a complete loss, but it also wasn't a success in my opinion. I think I am going to stick to her young adult themed books in the future.
masquerader888's review against another edition
3.0
Iron Crowned—Book three in the Dark Swan series by Richelle Mead
This book kind of pissed me off. I will admit that I only got to page 317 of the full 375 before just skimming the rest to decide if it was worth trusting the story. From what I could summarize, it was not. Much cursing ensued, but in the end I just had to concede that as much as I enjoy this author’s writing style, and love worlds she creates and the characters she peoples them with; in this case the plot direction she chose to take was a hurdle I couldn’t get past.
Eugenie Markham, the main character in this book, was a powerhouse, until she let her relationship issues take over her head and senses. She betrayed her own honor in this and then put it forth as emotionally justified.
I have no problem with relationship issues in my books, in many cases that is how a character grows, and I feel that many of her motivations behind the altercations were just. Being betrayed, lied to, and played off herself are good reasons for ending relationships. However, anger and apathy to change are not. In the end, she took the easy path, which I felt was not in line with her character. I felt cheated. It seemed like the author took the story in the way she wanted it to go, not one necessarily true to the characters. And I'm a character driven reader.
I will say she is a master of craft. I cared enough about her characters to be indignant on their behalf. But the end-note monkey-wench was just one too many disbeliefs. It sent me from being immersed to majorly pissed off.
I give this book three stars. ★★★ The writing was wonderful, I just didn’t like where the author chose to take this story.
http://masquerader.harshmage.com/category/book-reviews/
This book kind of pissed me off. I will admit that I only got to page 317 of the full 375 before just skimming the rest to decide if it was worth trusting the story. From what I could summarize, it was not. Much cursing ensued, but in the end I just had to concede that as much as I enjoy this author’s writing style, and love worlds she creates and the characters she peoples them with; in this case the plot direction she chose to take was a hurdle I couldn’t get past.
Eugenie Markham, the main character in this book, was a powerhouse, until she let her relationship issues take over her head and senses. She betrayed her own honor in this and then put it forth as emotionally justified.
I have no problem with relationship issues in my books, in many cases that is how a character grows, and I feel that many of her motivations behind the altercations were just. Being betrayed, lied to, and played off herself are good reasons for ending relationships. However, anger and apathy to change are not. In the end, she took the easy path, which I felt was not in line with her character. I felt cheated. It seemed like the author took the story in the way she wanted it to go, not one necessarily true to the characters. And I'm a character driven reader.
I will say she is a master of craft. I cared enough about her characters to be indignant on their behalf. But the end-note monkey-wench was just one too many disbeliefs. It sent me from being immersed to majorly pissed off.
I give this book three stars. ★★★ The writing was wonderful, I just didn’t like where the author chose to take this story.
http://masquerader.harshmage.com/category/book-reviews/
jesslynh's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like Iron Crowned more than I did, but it left me with mixed feelings overall. The storyline from the previous books progressed a respectable amount, but there wasn't as much in character development.
It was nice to see a little more from Eugenie interacting with Jasmine, but other than that, we didn't see much more character/relationship development. There was one relationship that I won't go into so I don't spoil it-it has no great bearing on anything else in the book.
The other relationships in the book are what left me with mixed feelings. Somebody tell me, does Eugenie have all the maturity of a 12 year old, or what? Snap reverse decisions, no coherent thought processes, selfish and petulant foot stomping revenge impulses. Ugh. That was in relationships, but her actions elsewhere in the book seem as shallow. Forgetting to get healed before a major AND dangerous mission?
I'm not one to really care about the sex in a book, but every sex scene seemed to be a list to me. "he did this, so I did that and then I came" list. Since I'm not one to care, I'll leave further comment to others.
Ultimately, Eugenie's actions and demeanor in this book made the whole thing fall flat for me. I wanted to give it a three because it's not a bad book. It's well written and the story advances. Unfortunately, the main character is flatter than the other characters, which ruined it for me.
It was nice to see a little more from Eugenie interacting with Jasmine, but other than that, we didn't see much more character/relationship development. There was one relationship that I won't go into so I don't spoil it-it has no great bearing on anything else in the book.
The other relationships in the book are what left me with mixed feelings. Somebody tell me, does Eugenie have all the maturity of a 12 year old, or what? Snap reverse decisions, no coherent thought processes, selfish and petulant foot stomping revenge impulses. Ugh. That was in relationships, but her actions elsewhere in the book seem as shallow. Forgetting to get healed before a major AND dangerous mission?
I'm not one to really care about the sex in a book, but every sex scene seemed to be a list to me. "he did this, so I did that and then I came" list. Since I'm not one to care, I'll leave further comment to others.
Ultimately, Eugenie's actions and demeanor in this book made the whole thing fall flat for me. I wanted to give it a three because it's not a bad book. It's well written and the story advances. Unfortunately, the main character is flatter than the other characters, which ruined it for me.