kblincoln's review against another edition
5.0
**I read an ARC of Silverblind, expected publication is October 2014
This third book in the series picks up more than a decade after the end of Copperhead with the adopted children of the heroines of the first two books.
Dorie is the half-fey daughter/step-daughter of Edward and Jane Rochart from the first book Ironskin. She grew up with Tam Grimmsby, the orphaned child of the big bad in Copperhead who was raised by Helen and Rook (the heroes of Copperhead.)
Only they're actually not speaking to each other, because Dorie did something bad to him fey-related when they were 15. So after being rejected from a coveted research position with the Queen's Lab because she's a girl, Dorie changes her shape to a boy and goes out wyvern-hunting to prove that she can do the research job-- and ends up meeting with Tam.
That reunion is actually just a sub-thread of the story. Really, as the other two books are in this series, its about human (or should I say "creature") rights and admitting what you are when what you are is not what society usually reveres. In Ironskin, its the fey-cursed, in Copperhead its the dwarrven, and in Silverblind its the fey, the endangered wyvern, and even LBGT acceptance-- in the shape of Dorie's friend, Jack, an artist who is in the closet.
Dorie and Tam are on a mission to save the remaining Ironskin. It has something to do with the wyvern, but they aren't the only ones hunting the wyvern. The head of the Queen's Lab has a use for the wyvern related to regaining the fey power-packs they lost at the end of Ironskin.
And there's, of course, basilisks and multiple worlds.
I don't recommend reading Silverblind unless you've read the other two books-- there's far too many undercurrents you won't get unless you read the other two first. And really there's almost too many currents for me to keep track of! Will Tam figure out Dorian is Dorie? Will he forgive her for whatever happened when they were 15? Will the wyvern be hunted to extinction? The mystery of the Queen's Lab use of the wyvern? Will Dorie pay her rent before getting kicked out of her apartment? Can she save the Ironskin? Will the new Silvermen with silver tattoos on their palms hurt Dorie or her loved ones?
I have to admit I got a little lost about 2/3 of the way through the book trying to keep a hold of all the threads. The saving of the Ironskin, which was very exciting at first, seemed like an afterthought in the exciting wake of the danger surrounding Dorie's discovery of where the fey really came from and the Queen's Lab attempt to control her.
But I should have trusted the author.
Just when I thought the story couldn't possibly tie up all the lose ends-- it somehow manages to give a glorious, lyrical, yet still acknowledging the painful results of the decisions made by Dorie and Tam ending to the story that not only ties up all the questions of the fey, the wyvern, and all of Dorie's loved ones, but also manages to tie in the legendary ballad of Tam Lin in a clever way that made me exclaim out loud "that's so cool!" (and got me a weird look from my husband sitting nearby). I can't say more about the Tam Lin tie-in without giving stuff away, suffice it to say that it made me go back and re-read all the monographs at the starts of the chapter with new eyes.
I love it when authors twist things at the end so you have to go back and reevaluate what you thought you were reading! So the book gets the 5 stars despite a bit of fuzziness in the middle.
While there's a bit of romance in this book, it's very, very tame (fine for younger YA readers) and most of the book is focused on the action and plotting.
Excellent ending to a cool series.
This third book in the series picks up more than a decade after the end of Copperhead with the adopted children of the heroines of the first two books.
Dorie is the half-fey daughter/step-daughter of Edward and Jane Rochart from the first book Ironskin. She grew up with Tam Grimmsby, the orphaned child of the big bad in Copperhead who was raised by Helen and Rook (the heroes of Copperhead.)
Only they're actually not speaking to each other, because Dorie did something bad to him fey-related when they were 15. So after being rejected from a coveted research position with the Queen's Lab because she's a girl, Dorie changes her shape to a boy and goes out wyvern-hunting to prove that she can do the research job-- and ends up meeting with Tam.
That reunion is actually just a sub-thread of the story. Really, as the other two books are in this series, its about human (or should I say "creature") rights and admitting what you are when what you are is not what society usually reveres. In Ironskin, its the fey-cursed, in Copperhead its the dwarrven, and in Silverblind its the fey, the endangered wyvern, and even LBGT acceptance-- in the shape of Dorie's friend, Jack, an artist who is in the closet.
Dorie and Tam are on a mission to save the remaining Ironskin. It has something to do with the wyvern, but they aren't the only ones hunting the wyvern. The head of the Queen's Lab has a use for the wyvern related to regaining the fey power-packs they lost at the end of Ironskin.
And there's, of course, basilisks and multiple worlds.
I don't recommend reading Silverblind unless you've read the other two books-- there's far too many undercurrents you won't get unless you read the other two first. And really there's almost too many currents for me to keep track of! Will Tam figure out Dorian is Dorie? Will he forgive her for whatever happened when they were 15? Will the wyvern be hunted to extinction? The mystery of the Queen's Lab use of the wyvern? Will Dorie pay her rent before getting kicked out of her apartment? Can she save the Ironskin? Will the new Silvermen with silver tattoos on their palms hurt Dorie or her loved ones?
I have to admit I got a little lost about 2/3 of the way through the book trying to keep a hold of all the threads. The saving of the Ironskin, which was very exciting at first, seemed like an afterthought in the exciting wake of the danger surrounding Dorie's discovery of where the fey really came from and the Queen's Lab attempt to control her.
But I should have trusted the author.
Just when I thought the story couldn't possibly tie up all the lose ends-- it somehow manages to give a glorious, lyrical, yet still acknowledging the painful results of the decisions made by Dorie and Tam ending to the story that not only ties up all the questions of the fey, the wyvern, and all of Dorie's loved ones, but also manages to tie in the legendary ballad of Tam Lin in a clever way that made me exclaim out loud "that's so cool!" (and got me a weird look from my husband sitting nearby). I can't say more about the Tam Lin tie-in without giving stuff away, suffice it to say that it made me go back and re-read all the monographs at the starts of the chapter with new eyes.
I love it when authors twist things at the end so you have to go back and reevaluate what you thought you were reading! So the book gets the 5 stars despite a bit of fuzziness in the middle.
While there's a bit of romance in this book, it's very, very tame (fine for younger YA readers) and most of the book is focused on the action and plotting.
Excellent ending to a cool series.
kwugirl's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised by how much I liked this! It's better than the first two, I feel like you can see the author grow as a writer as the trilogy progresses (though note it's not really a trilogy so much as 3 chronological stories set in the same world with characters from the same family...there aren't really huge cliffhangers between the books) Anyway the plotting, pacing, and character development are all pretty good, and I liked you started getting answers about what was actually going on by about 2/3 of the way through. Thinking back on it, there are some plot points that are a little glossed over but overall it hangs together pretty well.
baronessekat's review against another edition
3.0
When I picked up this book, I had no idea it was the third in a series. Luckily it was written so that it could be read as a stand alone and what references were made to previous books, as well as the world building were easy to understand and follow.
I'm not quite sure how to categorize this book... I would guess that Victorian Fantasy/AU would be the best description.
2 decades after the Human/Fae war, Dori is trying to make it on her own in a human world, while trying to hide her half-fae nature. She wants nothing more than to be allowed to be a field researcher for one of the firms that does... for lack of a better term... crypto-biology and studying Wyverns, Hydras and finding the herbal medical remedies that were "lost" after the war.
But she finds that these firms do not want to hire women to be field researchers. If they hire them at all it's for secretarial and public relations/fundraising positions. So Dori uses her fae magic to change her appearance into a man and gets her dream job. Only the dream job is not studying wyverns, it's capturing their eggs for a purpose that she can only guess is nefarious. So she and her friends need to stop what's happening, while still trying to stay a step or two in front of the authorities, who have deemed all things Fae as illegal.
It was an OK book. I'm not sure if I will look up the first two in the series or not. But I'm not sorry I read this one.
I'm not quite sure how to categorize this book... I would guess that Victorian Fantasy/AU would be the best description.
2 decades after the Human/Fae war, Dori is trying to make it on her own in a human world, while trying to hide her half-fae nature. She wants nothing more than to be allowed to be a field researcher for one of the firms that does... for lack of a better term... crypto-biology and studying Wyverns, Hydras and finding the herbal medical remedies that were "lost" after the war.
But she finds that these firms do not want to hire women to be field researchers. If they hire them at all it's for secretarial and public relations/fundraising positions. So Dori uses her fae magic to change her appearance into a man and gets her dream job. Only the dream job is not studying wyverns, it's capturing their eggs for a purpose that she can only guess is nefarious. So she and her friends need to stop what's happening, while still trying to stay a step or two in front of the authorities, who have deemed all things Fae as illegal.
It was an OK book. I'm not sure if I will look up the first two in the series or not. But I'm not sorry I read this one.
skundrik87's review
3.0
The character of these books seem to change with every one. A little unnerving, but still a very solid series.
keu482's review
5.0
This one seems to be a loose retelling of the Tam Lin story, and I'm so angry with myself for taking so long to figure it out. Dorie is a little hard to warm up to as a protagonist, she tends to be a little self righteous. The side characters are a joy, and I have a crazy love for Tam but it took me a while to love Dorie too but I got there. This book ramps up the senseless violence, a lot of what happens doesn't seem to be necessary to the plot and a character gets fridged. One thing I learned from that is that fridging sucks when it happens to guys too, something I had suspected but never saw for myself.
lizshayne's review
3.0
Glad I finally stumbled over the last book in this series - the library lost my hold and then I had a kid and so it goes - an enjoyable read that, thank God, had nothing whatsoever to do with Wuthering Heights.
And Connolly managed to do the thing where one characters keeps a piece of knowledge from another character even though it's a really bad idea to do so without making me want to punch them or making it feel like a plot contrivance rather than the kind of decision a normal person would make under the circumstances.
Also, baby wyverns are called woglets. Awww!
And Connolly managed to do the thing where one characters keeps a piece of knowledge from another character even though it's a really bad idea to do so without making me want to punch them or making it feel like a plot contrivance rather than the kind of decision a normal person would make under the circumstances.
Also, baby wyverns are called woglets. Awww!
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