Reviews

Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill

eyescanbecruel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

misspippireads's review against another edition

4.0

Can you describe a princess? It's all relative. It's also changeable.

Violet is the Princess, but she's also extraordinary. She doesn't look like a beautiful princess told in stories all over the Multiverse, but she's courageous, imaginative, and friendly. She befriends Demetrius and they explore her castle with abandon, only to stumble upon a secret room and uncover a dark secret. The secret grows and brings unrest to their world. Destruction follows, but if they work together and uncover the truth, the kingdom can survive!

I listened to Barnhill's book between other stories and books, so it wasn't as smooth as my usually audiobook timing. I enjoy the fantasy genre and this ranks at the top for middle schoolers. If listeners (or readers) enjoy dragon tales, this would be a great pick for them. It also contains mystery, storytelling, and unlikely heroes. It's not a happy-go-luck, but mysterious while dark and sorrowful at times. I wouldn't recommend this to every reader, but if you're interested in fantasy or dragon stories, I would recommend you to give it a go! It's very unique, especially, because Violet doesn't share her story, but the castle's storyteller: Cassian.

Simon Vance narrates Iron Hearted Violet. As stated previously, the storyteller is a male voice, so having Mr. Vance read the story works very well with the text. He's a stellar reader and he offers a nice range of characters from ladies to gents and fantastical creatures.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, AudioGo!

elletrixie's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

armelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

xsleepyshadows's review against another edition

3.0

Reads like a fairy tale and is nicely layered like The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I feel like this ended a bit abruptly but I enjoyed reading this. Also the narrator to the audiobook did a fine job!

~Ashley

cimorene1558's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 stars. Yet another middle-grade fantasy novel that doesn't live up to its potential. It's an interesting world, and to begin with, the characters seem decent enough, and the villain's first appearance is extremely promising, in that it's a rather spine-chillingly evil one. But it's all downhill from there. A lot of random and never quite connected things happen, things that feel like they ought to mean something but never quite do, and the characters end up two-dimensional and not very sympathetic (and frankly, kind of dumb).

And as for the illustrations, oh my goodness are they ever wrong. Princesses who are interesting and quirky looking with mis-matched eyes are not best drawn in Manga style, which is what's happened here.

brandypainter's review against another edition

3.0

Full review can be found here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

beforemyway's review against another edition

3.0

This was an interesting book - it was too slow in some parts, and came across much too creepy in others. I skipped through a couple of the earlier chapters. Towards the end the book picked up speed and I enjoyed it.

kaatiba's review against another edition

5.0

An amaaaazing fairytale that I love completely and totally and just. Wow!!!!!! Ingenious!!!!!

allarminda's review against another edition

4.0

I'm now officially a fan of Kelly Barnhill. This is the second of her books I've read and I'll happily read them all. Unconventional and refreshing are two words that describe her storytelling.

This book features a strong female protagonist (Princess Violet) who confronts the acculturated belief systems about what a girl should and shouldn't look and act like to discover that her beauty and strength come from within. And using her power of love and her strong intellect she reinvents herself as a true leader.

I strongly recommend this book to parents and young people, alike!