In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovi...
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reviews
Dec 08, 2011
Cillian
rated it: 
Review coming soon. Oh yes, I'll give you a review.
Ask and it's given
Engines, steampunk, faeries, contagious madness and Lovecraft, the perfect formula to keep this girl happy forever.
Many of you that had to put up with my incessant bitching during my reading of The Iron Thorn, might be shocked to see a 4 stars rating. I just couldn't bring myself to condemn this book to the spineless pits of 2 or 3 stars, its originality and reverential love for H.P Lovecraft deserved a pro More...
Ask and it's given
Engines, steampunk, faeries, contagious madness and Lovecraft, the perfect formula to keep this girl happy forever.
Many of you that had to put up with my incessant bitching during my reading of The Iron Thorn, might be shocked to see a 4 stars rating. I just couldn't bring myself to condemn this book to the spineless pits of 2 or 3 stars, its originality and reverential love for H.P Lovecraft deserved a pro More...
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Jan 04, 2012
Isamlq
rated it:
It's a good thing this has a little over 500 pages, otherwise it would have been too much. The author throws in everything! And surprise of surprises, I enjoyed it! I am not saying it was perfect. In fact, there is a specific clump of pages I could have just done without. But all in all, IRON THORN was quite satisfying.
One complaint though: the reader shouldn’t be tasked with having to figure out how to say the lead’s name. I mean, “Aoife”. It took me several tires to figure out how More...
One complaint though: the reader shouldn’t be tasked with having to figure out how to say the lead’s name. I mean, “Aoife”. It took me several tires to figure out how More...
4 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 18, 2011
◕ ◡ ◕ Arooj
rated it: 
The unexpected has happened.
I have read a historical/steampunk novel about faeries.
And actually liked it. A lot. So much that it even made it to my "books I fell hard for" list.
*dun dun DUUUUUUN*
Every time someone asks me what my least favourite type of books to read are, I always say historical. And faeries. You see, historical just isn't something I'm interested in. I find it boring. The only other historical book I actually like is The More...
I have read a historical/steampunk novel about faeries.
And actually liked it. A lot. So much that it even made it to my "books I fell hard for" list.
*dun dun DUUUUUUN*
Every time someone asks me what my least favourite type of books to read are, I always say historical. And faeries. You see, historical just isn't something I'm interested in. I find it boring. The only other historical book I actually like is The More...
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Mar 27, 2011
Morgyn
rated it:
This book was completely filled with secrets and lies with a extremely, amazing adventure. This book is about a girl named Aoife Grayson, who lives in the city of Lovecraft, MA. When someone in Aoife's family turns sixteen they become mad and start doing horrible things to themselves and everyone around them. Aoife is about to turn sixteen and she knows day by day the nercovirus is spreading through her body, just like it did to the nightjers, her mother named Nerissa, and her brother, Conrad. A
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Oct 21, 2011
Mandy
rated it:
The Iron Thorn (The Iron Codex #1), by Caitlin Kittredge
This book is a Must-Read! It’s got something for everyone: steampunk, romance, adventure, dystopian, secrets, mysteries, great characters, monsters, strange worlds, faeries, a beautiful written story, a plot with unexpected twists…
Here’s the short(ish) version of the review:
* The cover seems very fitting, it projects the grim feeling of dark fantasy in the story, while bringing across the lonely feeling Aoife More...
This book is a Must-Read! It’s got something for everyone: steampunk, romance, adventure, dystopian, secrets, mysteries, great characters, monsters, strange worlds, faeries, a beautiful written story, a plot with unexpected twists…
Here’s the short(ish) version of the review:
* The cover seems very fitting, it projects the grim feeling of dark fantasy in the story, while bringing across the lonely feeling Aoife More...
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Aug 07, 2011
Paige
rated it: 
Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.
Aoife (pronounced EE-fa) Grayson is a ward of the state and has been so since her mother was committed. Enrolled in the School of Engines so she can become an engineer, she hopes that the necrovirus that drove her mother and brother to insanity won't strike her down too. Weeks before her sixteenth birthday, a letter arrives from her brother Conrad, who ran away when he turned sixteen, asking for help. Accompanied by her friend Cal and a flirtat More...
Aoife (pronounced EE-fa) Grayson is a ward of the state and has been so since her mother was committed. Enrolled in the School of Engines so she can become an engineer, she hopes that the necrovirus that drove her mother and brother to insanity won't strike her down too. Weeks before her sixteenth birthday, a letter arrives from her brother Conrad, who ran away when he turned sixteen, asking for help. Accompanied by her friend Cal and a flirtat More...
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 26, 2012
Jessica
rated it:
I'm honestly not sure how to explain how much I love this book! I mean, really. It blew me away in all the best ways possible. I'm a huge fan of Fantasy and of Steampunk. Caitlin Kitteredge takes these two genres, throws in a bit of dystopia, and blends it together into something beautifully unique and wonderful. Looking for something to chase those reading blues away? Take this for a spin!
The Iron Thorn follows Aoife through a tough time in her life. Her family has a history of madne More...
The Iron Thorn follows Aoife through a tough time in her life. Her family has a history of madne More...
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Jan 16, 2012
Jeanbooknerd
rated it:
The Iron Thorn is the perfect book to start a series. Caitlin Kittredge’s Iron Codex series is destined to be a favorite for many. It already has presented a very riveting story plot filled with remarkable characters. I loved the setting with all of its machines, gears, clockwork, and iron bridges. It was even more fascinating reading all the details that Kittredge has put in this book.
This was my first venture in the world of steampunk and I was not a bit disappointed. I found this More...
This was my first venture in the world of steampunk and I was not a bit disappointed. I found this More...
Jan 14, 2012
Samantha
rated it:
Before I go on with the review I would just like to say that the main character's name is pronounced EE-fah. I had to look it up after a few pages because I knew without a doubt that I was pronouncing it wrong, so I figured I would save you the trouble. I had started out with something that sounded more like Oy-f.
This was my first venture into the steampunk world (and yet it still mixes in a little dystopia) and I have to say that I was quite impressed. At almost 500 pages long (hard More...
This was my first venture into the steampunk world (and yet it still mixes in a little dystopia) and I have to say that I was quite impressed. At almost 500 pages long (hard More...
Dec 31, 2011
Paradoxical
rated it:
The book starts off slowly and never seemed to pick up all that much steam for me until the 'great reveal', which was about 3/4ths of the way into the book. Until then I was rather bored and plodding through the book for no real reason. It's not that the book is poorly written or terrible, it was just rather--well, not flat, but a bit detached. A little too smooth and a little too bumpy in parts to make me fully immerse myself into it.
Aoife, the main character, leaves me a bit stymied. More...
Aoife, the main character, leaves me a bit stymied. More...
Nov 27, 2011
Jackie
rated it:
I'm torn on this one. I was really really excited about it in the beginning. The first chapter had me hooked and enthralled and then as we steadily moved away from what I felt was the opening promise of the book, her life threatened by the harsh reality of her mother's condition and subsequent incarceration inside an insane asylum, into an adventure in another world to her own, chasing after her elusive awol brother,I felt a bit gypped. I kept wanting to go back to the creepy asylum sequence set
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Nov 21, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
I am listening to this book at the moment and I think it would be better with a different narrator...or if I had read it and not listened to it. The narrator's voices for some of the characters are awful.
Overall, though, Iron Thorn wasn't bad. This is Kittredge's first YA novel so I will cut her some slack, but she does have a ways to go before she becomes a good YA author. The characters, creatures, and worlds are one-sided. The Land of Thorn is a dark, scary, bad place; the P More...
Overall, though, Iron Thorn wasn't bad. This is Kittredge's first YA novel so I will cut her some slack, but she does have a ways to go before she becomes a good YA author. The characters, creatures, and worlds are one-sided. The Land of Thorn is a dark, scary, bad place; the P More...
Sep 29, 2011
Dianne
rated it:
I just recently finished this. I read it in Kindle format, the first of the Kindle books my library was offering. I honestly didn't realize it was a YA book - I picked it because the excerpt on the library's website was so intriguing. I don't normally read YA because I'm an adult, but based on this, there's some pretty amazing stuff out there.
I really enjoyed this. The author really excelled in the worldbuilding, in my opinion. I think the story managed to pretty much use any stereot More...
I really enjoyed this. The author really excelled in the worldbuilding, in my opinion. I think the story managed to pretty much use any stereot More...
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Sep 21, 2011
Faye
rated it: 
The Iron Thorn Drinking Game: Everytime the adjectives "clockwork," "steam" " brass" are used to ensure the reader is too aware this is a "steampunk" novel, drink. Anytime someone "scrabbles for purchase," " or mentions a dirigible, drink twice. DO NOT drink anytime a jitney is mentioned; we're tryng to have fun here, not get alcohol poisoning. Oh, wait, this is a YA book, we probably shouldn't be drinking... though this book would drive mo
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(7 people liked it)
Aug 21, 2011
Wings
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 18, 2011
Sara
rated it:
Plot: 4 Stars
The Steampunk details the author brought to the table were my favorite part of this novel. Not only were all of the different vehicles and machines explained in detail, but also the social structure of the world that was built. The city of Lovecraft ran on steam and was controlled by order. There was a slight "Big Brother is watching" feel to the government agency. When Aoife makes it out of the city, on her quest to find her brother, she finds a totally different wo More...
The Steampunk details the author brought to the table were my favorite part of this novel. Not only were all of the different vehicles and machines explained in detail, but also the social structure of the world that was built. The city of Lovecraft ran on steam and was controlled by order. There was a slight "Big Brother is watching" feel to the government agency. When Aoife makes it out of the city, on her quest to find her brother, she finds a totally different wo More...
Jul 05, 2011
drey
rated it:
Caitlin Kittredge's The Iron Thorn is a YA steampunk/horror/fantasy set in the city of Lovecraft, where the Engine grinds all to dust and the necrovirus is blamed for the rampant madness and fantastical creatures that roam the nights. Aoife Grayson is about to turn sixteen, and everyone's watching to see if she'll succumb to the madness as her mother and brother did. Even her best friend Cal.
Then Aoife receives a letter from her brother Conrad, telling her to go to their father's estat More...
Then Aoife receives a letter from her brother Conrad, telling her to go to their father's estat More...
May 25, 2011
Jennifer (Books&Barks)
rated it:
The Iron Thorn was my first step into the world of steampunk, and what a first step it was! I am not unfamiliar with the writings of Kittredge, as I’m a fan of her Nocturne City and Black London novels as well. Although the latter is adult paranormal/fantasy the former is a delight in young adult fiction that can be appreciated by young and old alike, and even us middle aged folk in between.
In a world of gears and clockwork, machines and iron bridges, Aoife Grayson is a young girl wa More...
In a world of gears and clockwork, machines and iron bridges, Aoife Grayson is a young girl wa More...
May 24, 2011
I wanted to read this book for two reasons. 1. The author spells her name right. It’s so hard to find Caitlin’s that adhere to the correct spelling. 2. Steampunk. What more does a book need? I’m one of those nuts that will give anything Steampunk a try. That’s right, I watched Wild, Wild West. In theatres. You’re allowed to be disgusted by me.
There was a lot I loved about this book. The three lead characters, Aoife (pronounced “eefuh”…I had to ask the author…) Cal, and Dean, are del More...
There was a lot I loved about this book. The three lead characters, Aoife (pronounced “eefuh”…I had to ask the author…) Cal, and Dean, are del More...
May 04, 2011
Phoebe
rated it:
15-year-old Aoife lives in dread of her next birthday, just a month away, when she knows the necrovirus will begin causing her to turn mad, just like her once-beautiful mother. When she gets a letter from her missing, insane brother Conrad, urging her to save herself, Aoife knows she has to get out of the city somehow and find him; this means a dangerous journey to her father's estate, Graystone. She and her best friend Cal are helped along their path by the attractive, rough-edged Dean Harris
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Apr 27, 2011
Adrienne
rated it:
When Aoife turns 16, she's going to go crazy. She knows it will happen: her mother's in a sanitarium, her beloved brother disappeared awhile ago after he threatened her with a knife, and plenty of people have been struck down by the Necovirus (like the whole city of Seattle) which screws up human brains. Until then, Aoife has decided that she will learn everything she can about engineering, in the hope that maybe somehow she won't go crazy, and can spend her life working with machines like the g
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Mar 09, 2011
Julia
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. I liked it at first and it continued to grow on me in an organic way. One heads up to readers, the book reads more slowly than most YA fiction, though it's well worth the time spent on it. The premise of a girl destined to go mad due to the "necrovirus" in the great steam powered city of Lovecraft was enough to hook me into reading it. I saw this as purely steampunk at first (steampunk genre: older style technology & culture, but with that technology cap
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Feb 24, 2011
Ellz
rated it:
My thoughts...The Iron Thorn was my first journey into the world of Steampunk and I have to say I like what I saw.
This novel was impossible for me to put down. I was immediately drawn in by the characters. Aoife (Ee-fah) is in a race against time as she tries to help her brother. A cryptic message sends her and her friend Conrad on a journey outside the safe confines of their city. The dangers are great, as are the people. As their journey begins, they meet a guide named Dean who qu More...
This novel was impossible for me to put down. I was immediately drawn in by the characters. Aoife (Ee-fah) is in a race against time as she tries to help her brother. A cryptic message sends her and her friend Conrad on a journey outside the safe confines of their city. The dangers are great, as are the people. As their journey begins, they meet a guide named Dean who qu More...
Feb 21, 2011
Diana
rated it:
In a steampunk version of an alternate US in the 1950s, Lovecraft is the urban center of Massachusetts. It is run by Proctors who make sure that heretics are burned, myth and religion based on supernatural deities is banned, monsters prowl by night, and a necrovirus can cause insanity if it doesn't turn you into a flesh eating monster. Aoife, who never met her father and faithfully visits her insane mother in a mental institution fears her approaching sixteenth birthday because a latent necrovir
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Mar 12, 2011
Cristy
rated it:
THE IRON THORN (Iron Codex #1) ..seems a bit of steampunk meets fairytale in this bizarre book of Clockworks and Kindly Folk. Definitely different from any other story I've read before. This unique tale is odd and mysterious with spooky and dangerous creatures everywhere you turn, but nun as dangerous as the rigid government that dictates your every step and your every belief.
A long book with a bit of a slow and strange start, THE IRON THORN, although confusing at times, held my att More...
A long book with a bit of a slow and strange start, THE IRON THORN, although confusing at times, held my att More...
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May 07, 2011
ephrielle
rated it:
My favorite part about this book was the big secret that Aoife was doing everything to keep to herself. Great peril seemed only moments away from taking all that she had a hope of if only her secret got out. Then in the reveal moment it almost fizzles as not the biggest thing to hit the fan. On top of that you find out very few pages later that what she thinks was her big secret isn't. Talk about a let down. You have been so worked up over something that isn't what it seems. I thought it a
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Feb 27, 2011
Valen
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VISIT MY BLOG: thereadersheartstring.blogspot.com
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Release Date: Feb 22, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Page Count: 512
Sequel: The Iron Codex Series(?)
Available At?: Amazon, B&N and Author's Site
Steampunk, insanity and magic, love and misery!
Amazon Description:
'In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grind More...
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Release Date: Feb 22, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Page Count: 512
Sequel: The Iron Codex Series(?)
Available At?: Amazon, B&N and Author's Site
Steampunk, insanity and magic, love and misery!
Amazon Description:
'In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grind More...
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May 09, 2011
K.
rated it:
If I could have given a 3.5 stars to this book, I would have. It definitely doesn't deserve 3 stars, as the characters, world, and description are too lushly realized for that rating, but it didn't quite hold my interest throughout at the level of a 4, either.
Aoife Grayson is a scholarship student with a mad mother and disappeared brother in Lovecraft; a city perilous at night because of preying nightjars and ghouls (humans infected by a necrovirus still rampant) ruled by Proctors wh More...
Aoife Grayson is a scholarship student with a mad mother and disappeared brother in Lovecraft; a city perilous at night because of preying nightjars and ghouls (humans infected by a necrovirus still rampant) ruled by Proctors wh More...
Apr 10, 2011
Allison
rated it:
Premise 4 of 5
I had mixed feelings about this book when I first read the summery. One of those things where, looking back, I can't see why I wasn't thrilled about it, but oh well. Premise isn't everything.
Plot 5 of 5
The plot just kept moving and moving and I feel like the plot was always moving forward, and there was never a moment where I thought "Gee, I wish something would happen!" It gets good a few pages in and the excitement continues!
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I had mixed feelings about this book when I first read the summery. One of those things where, looking back, I can't see why I wasn't thrilled about it, but oh well. Premise isn't everything.
Plot 5 of 5
The plot just kept moving and moving and I feel like the plot was always moving forward, and there was never a moment where I thought "Gee, I wish something would happen!" It gets good a few pages in and the excitement continues!
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Jan 16, 2012
Karissa
rated it:
This is the first book in the Iron Codex series by Kittredge. It is the first book in a planned trilogy. The second book, The Nightmare Garden, is scheduled for a February 2012 release. This book was a wonderful blend of fantasy, steampunk, dystopia, and gothic elements. I absolutely fell in love with the world and the characters.
The city of Lovecraft is ruled by the Protors and powered by The Great Engine. The necrovirus is blamed for an epidemic of madness that affect certain More...
The city of Lovecraft is ruled by the Protors and powered by The Great Engine. The necrovirus is blamed for an epidemic of madness that affect certain More...
