Review: Copperhead by Tina Connolly

Summary:

The sequel to Tina Connolly's stunning historical fantasy debut.

Helen Huntingdon is beautiful—so beautiful she has to wear an iron mask. Six months ago her sister Jane uncovered a fey plot to take over the city. Too late for Helen, who opted for fey beauty in her face—and now has to cover her face with iron so she won’t be taken over, her personality erased by the bodiless fey.

Not that Helen would mind that some days. Stuck in a marriage with the wealthy and controlling Alistair, she lives at the edges of her life, secretly helping Jane remove the dangerous fey beauty from the wealthy society women who paid for it. But when the chancy procedure turns deadly, Jane goes missing—and is implicated in the murder.

Meanwhile, Alistair’s influential clique Copperhead—whose emblem is the poisonous copperhead hydra—is out to restore humans to their “rightful” place, even to the point of destroying the dwarvven who have always been allies.

Helen is determined to find her missing sister, as well as continue the good fight against the fey. But when that pits her against her own husband—and when she meets an enigmatic young revolutionary—she’s pushed to discover how far she’ll bend society’s rules to do what’s right. It may be more than her beauty at stake. It may be her honor...and her heart.

Publication Date: October 15, 2013

It was fantastic to return to the world Connolly had created in Ironskin. I really found the setting enchanting and I liked the unique spin on fey lore. Copperhead also cleared up some confusion I had about the fey and the Great War that had occurred between the fairies and the human population.

I was glad to see the story continued, especially after the ambiguous ending of the last novel. I had liked Jane’s sister Helen in the first book and I was happy to see her character come to the forefront of the plot. I had found Jane boring at times and I think Helen’s flighty personality added a little levity to the heaviness of the novel.

The characters from the first book were back, but I was hoping for more of the romance between Jane and Edward to be continued. There is romance in the book, but the plot isn’t driven by Helen’s love life. Copperhead was definitely not a retelling of Jane Eyre like the first book. Although readers would benefit from reading the first book, it’s not necessary. The story was easy to follow and the end finished the story arc nicely.

My only complaint would be that I felt like the plot was a little slow moving for my tastes. This was an issue I had in the first book. However, once things started to happen, the novel became a real page turner. The descriptions were beautiful and I did try to take my time and enjoy the world building efforts put in by the author.

I liked the feminist undertones of the novel and there were a lot of thought-provoking themes like how far will women go for beauty. The author is a talented writer and I loved the book’s Gothic feel.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I received a copy of the novel for review from the publisher.