YA Fantasy: The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

First off: introduction to the world of The Iron Thorn, at least as it appears at the beginning of the book. It's a steampunk setting, about 1950. Lovecraft, Massachusetts, is a town run by clockwork - literally. Its four engines beneath the ground keep the city going, and they also help protect its inhabitants from the necrovirus and its evil carriers - the nightjars, ghouls, shoggoths, etc. that lurk in dark alleys and hide beneath the streets. Reason and science reign under the intimidating Proctors; magic and superstition are deemed heretical and punishable by imprisonment in jails or madhouses, burning, or death. Ravens and other spies keep watch over the city's inhabitants to seek out any heretical leanings.

Now for the plot: Fifteen-year-old Aoife Grayson has a lot to worry about. She's a ward of the state and the only girl at the School of Engineering; her mother's locked in an asylum, her beloved brother - who, in his madness, tried to kill her - is on the run, and her sixteenth birthday is coming up, with the implication that she, too, will go insane. But then she gets a note from Conrad, her brother. "Help. Find the witches' alphabet. Save yourself." So Aoife and her only friend, Cal, escape from the city of Lovecraft to find Conrad in Arkham, a neighboring town that is home to Aoife's ancestral house. With the aid of Dean, a heretical guide they find in the secret marketplace of Lovecraft, the trio sets out to rescue Conrad, discover the mysteries of the Grayson home, and unlock the secrets that the Proctors of Lovecraft have sought to hide for so long.

First off, I expected The Iron Thorn to be a science fiction, dystopian story. To my disappointment, it's actually fantasy, at least in my little categorical world. It is still steampunk, and there are dystopian elements, such as the Proctors who rule Lovecraft with an iron hand and one confrontation that reminded me of a scene in Brave New World (the rest of the book, interestingly enough, reminded me of A Great and Terrible Beauty). Besides this initial disappointment, however, the book was great! For all nearly 500 pages, I was interested and had problems putting the book down. I found out the plot twists when Aoife did, not even a moment sooner. That said, most of the many plot twists made perfect sense, but one or two were like "did the author have this in mind from the beginning? 'Cause there's not any lead up to that..." Another thing that I liked, besides the great storyline, was how it ended. The events of the book were mostly tied up by the conclusion, and a new chapter was opened at the end that will be continued in the next book of the series...which I will be very impatiently awaiting. By the way, I want Aoife's house. It's run by clockwork, has a lot of hidden spaces and tricks, and a large library. It's awesome.

My ARC of The Iron Thorn was received through Random Buzzers, a program of Random House. This book went on sale February 22, 2011.