IRON by Madisyn Carlin

IRON by Madisyn Carlin  

| a bookish review |

Hello, Sweet Friend! 

In today’s post I’m sharing my book review on IRON by Madisyn Carlin! This was SUCH a good book and perfect for annotating (I used up so many tabs (I finished a bunch too))! I love this book and cannot wait to read the next book in the series which is now here!!!! 

KEY is officially here (it came out TODAY) and I cannot wait to share my review with you all later this week (once I finish the book)! Already it is SO good! All the ocean elements remind me of when I lived by the ocean and…ahh! I love it so much already! 

Now that we have talked about KEY, let's get into this review!!! 

THE BOOK REVIEW 

“It was more than naïve foolishness. This faith went deeper, like the roots to an unmovable tree. The type of faith that provided surly, confidence. The type of faith that allowed Char to look evil in the face and still know she was held in the Creator’s hands.”

— Madisyn Carlin, IRON 

Rating: ★★★★★

Cleanness: ★★★* 

I. Love. This. BOOK! Madisyn writes such good books!  If you were here for CROWN’s release last month then you know how much I love Madisyn’s writing! The faith content was amazing and so present in this story and THE BANTER & COMEDY!!! *chefs kiss* There were so many times I was laughing out loud because there is such incredible comedy and banter in this story (next time I annotate a Carlin book, I’ll need a tab for comedy and banter alone)! I don’t laugh aloud when reading books, it just doesn’t happen, but Madisyn has cracked the code and I love it! 

Writing: 

I love Madisyn’s writing style. She writes in a way that is easy to follow and get sucked into the story (there were a few nights that I read past my bedtime which if you know me then you know how much of a planner I am and how much I follow a sleep plan so…you know this was a good book)! I was so invested in these characters and when I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about the story and where it could be going! I love how Madisyn used the fairytale of Cinderella and stayed true to it while also not being predictable. There were so many things I couldn’t have guessed with the story and plot twists that I never would have thought of, which I loved. I think this is my favorite of the reverse reimagining (the guy is the Cinderella character with the princess the Prince Charming character) Cinderella stories I have ever read so that says a lot to me! 

I also loved how Red’s detective work played out and how it felt realistic even with how long the cases went and how long it actually would take to track down villains and everything. Sometimes in books it can feel very fast and rushed and unrealistic but that was not at all the case with IRON! I also liked how when a character got injured and it was serious that it actually hurt and had to be taken care of and the wounds weren’t forgotten like I’ve seen done in a lot of books. 

I love how much faith was a part of this story! I will say that Chamonix is incredible and her faith was so refreshing and wonderful! Something I liked in this story was seeing the characters struggling and dealing with questions about God (some that I’ve struggled with in the past myself) and seeing how that affected them. I really loved how it was handled and written! For the faith aspects in this book alone I would recommend it, but I even more recommend it because of the characters (I LOVE the characters)! 

I already talked about the incredible banter in the beginning so let's talk about the characters!!! *squealing* My favorite part! 

Characters: 

Redwyn! As this book begins with Red, she is the first character I’ll talk about! Red is such a relatable character. I loved how she was a strong female character but she still felt emotions and she struggled and she had insecurities and she felt so human. If there is one thing Madisyn is good at in writing (besides exceptional banter and faith content) it's the humanity and realness of her characters. 

Red struggled a lot with control and doing things in her own power and in her own strength because she believed that she was the most capable (I very much related to her in this and in learning to trust others and to trust in God’s plan and knowing He has it all under control)! I loved her—and how snarky and sarcastic she was but then so lovable. I also love how she and Char are like sisters together and everything with the matchmaking and sibling love and banter was just so sweet! I also loved how Red was basically the fairy godmother character (that made me so happy)! 

Chamonix! I love Char to pieces! She is so sweet and strong and full of faith! She is such an inspiring character and a role model! I also liked that even though she had breathing problems, she wasn’t going to let that define her and that it wasn’t forgotten. Sometimes I’ve read in books how a main character has some kind of illness or physical problem but then it’s forgotten halfway through the book but that wasn’t the case with Char. I loved how her strong faith helped both Red and Carter’s walk with the Beginning (God). Her faith was so inspiring! 

CARTER!!! Ahh, I love Carter! He is so sweet and protective! He is just amazing! I love how selfless he is and how much he cared for Char and Red and all the kidnapped children. He was a strong noble protector and I loved how Char believed in him and made him want to be a better man. Carter of all the characters struggled with the Beginning (God) the most. He struggled with trust and loss and all these misbeliefs and I think it was really well written. I loved his coming back to the Beginning (God) and watching him trust in Him again and give up control and being the protector. My heart melted. I also loved that his and Red’s relationship was purely platonic! I feel like we need more strong friendships in books! 

Carter and Char together are so precious! They are one of my favorite book couples now! I just loved all their moments together and how much they loved and trusted each other and how their relationship was built on friendship! It's so good and had me squealing! 

Side Note: I also love that in the back of the book there is an “Author’s Note” where Madisyn talked about how she does not believe in “insta-love” which I also don’t believe in. I loved seeing how she wrote about the characters building a relationship and friendship before they ever said “I love you”! *clapping* I love that (it is also why, friends-to-lovers is my favorite trope! *whispers* it feels realistic and healthy))! Now I wanna write a whole blog post on this topic of insta-love (why it doesn’t work and how to make it work). Back to the review! 

I loved seeing Calvin and Isadora from CROWN again!!! The tea moment made me laugh so much! I loved having them back and seeing what good parents they are and how they essentially adopted Red. *heart eyes* 

I LOVED the redemption arcs in this story!!! I didn’t know what to think of Denton at the start of the book but now I love his character and the fact that he is good and he and Carter are now building a relationship as real brothers! I love it!  I’m SO excited to start reading KEY, aka Denton’s story! I’m so excited! 

The wolfmen were awesome! They are SO cool! They had literal wolves (which is my favorite animal)! Ahh! They are just so cool! I don't know how else to describe them. 

I really really hope they show up in Red’s next book! I also agree with one reviewer who said that they shipped Red and Lycus together—I do the same! I feel like because Red hated them so much in the beginning but then learned to trust and respect them (mostly, I think she said they were tolerable by the end of the book) that there is a whole story to be explored (even if they don’t end up together, I still want to know what happens to them because we don’t know what happens to the wolfmen after IRON ends and I just really want to know)! 

I also really liked how much horses took a part of the story and how their names were nods to the Cinderella story!!! Gus, Cinders, and Ella all made me so happy!  

So all in all, I loved this book and am very much looking forward to reading KEY and the next book in the series (*whispers* it’s a really cool name) and all the others to come in this series! 

Some Favorite Quotes (I have so many favorite quotes in this book! You can tell I’ve been annotating because of the sheer amount of quotes I underlined and highlighted. XD This isn’t even half of the quotes I underlined but they are some of my favorites (that don’t involve major spoilers)):

“Peace. He gives us peace.” 

“Introducing Princess Chamonix of Veerham and weak lungs.”

“Red had speculated they were allergic to emotions.”

“Trust Me.”

A dangerous request. Trusting Red usually resulted in a near-death experience.

“You have that expression again.”

“What expression?”

“The one indicating you’re plotting someone’s demise.”

Red huffed. “Plotting is different from actually carrying out the plan.”  

“The Master Artist saw the entire canvas, whereas Chamonix saw only a smudge of paint. The Beginning knew what would happen, and when, how, and why.” 

“Life was precious, valuable, and not something to cast aside.” 

“You should talk to him, Chamonix. He makes horrible first impressions, but I promise he is one of the more tolerable candidates.” 

“Despite what we think and feel, He is in control.” 

“Beginning, this is not amusing.” 

“Carter’s lungs stuttered when he looked down. Char gazed at him like he was a hero.” 

“Never apologize for crying, dear child. We are given tears for a reason.” 

“It is not by our own strength we persevere, but His.”

“You have an iron will, Redwyn. It's not in your nature to accept defeat. Use that stubbornness and persevere.” 

“I have a wonderful disposition.”

“For a cactus.”

“…he possessed a protector’s spirit. He’d do everything he could to safeguard them.”

“She made him want to be a hero.”

“She possessed a gentle soul, a healer’s heart, and a strong faith.” 

“I don’t know who told you you weren’t a hero, but they were wrong.” 

“She still had a family.”

“The wolfmen were lunatics.” 

“Why was she so touchy? Exhaustion, perhaps? She wasn't hungry, so that couldn’t be the cause.” [I cannot tell you how accurate this is of me XD] 

Something cunning gleamed in Lycus’ eyes. “You underestimate my wolves.” 

“…you are worth much, much more than you can fathom.” 

“I think you are here to protect us.”

“I’m not a protector.”

“You are. You just don’t recognize it in yourself.” 

“She wanted to control the situation, but in truth, she’d never been in control to begin with.” 

“I understand now.”

“Beginning, please give me strength.” 

“And then…” and then she grew to love him. 

“Romantic love, she was finding out, was more than the giddiness and swooning. It was deep and abiding. Steadfast and loyal. 

“Now, please go before you pass your sickness to me.”

“What sickness?”

“The crying sickness.” 

“What would she do with all the stubborn men in her life? At the moment, beating them over the head with a crunch sounded most pleasant. 

*Cleanness: this is a really clean book! 

Romance is completely clean (there wasn’t even a kiss which…I’m both okay with and then wish there was a kiss, XD). The language was also clean. 

The only things to look out for is violence, fight scenes, injuries, blood, many beatings, torture, abuse, kidnappings, child & human trafficking, murder, and loss. 

Otherwise, this is a clean book and I highly recommend reading! 

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To read more bookish content make sure to check my blog https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com & my instagram @fablerosemc !!

PINTEREST BOARD: 

Of course I had to make a Pinterest board for this wonderful book! So without further ado, the Pinterest board link! Have fun! 

https://www.pinterest.com/fablerosemc/book-%2B-fandoms-part-ii/iron-by-madisyn-carlin/ 

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• January 2023 Book Reviews  

• My Favorite Books 2022  

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Discussion Time

Thank you so much for reading this book review! Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you were able to possibly find a new book to read. 

I want to hear from you! Meet me in the comments and tell me what you thought of today’s post? Have you read Madisyn Carlin’s books? Do you want to? What is your favorite retelling? Anything good you’ve read lately? Is there a topic you want me to cover? I would love to chat and pray for you! 

If you have any questions or want to talk (or have a prayer request), make sure to comment down below! Be sure to subscribe to this blog to stay in the know because I post new content here every week. ALSO, If you want to hear more about my writing and what I’m reading, make sure you are subscribed because I am doing special updates for BLOG SUBSCRIBERS ONLY! 

XOXO Moriyah 🤎