Read Harder: HEART OF IRON by Ashley Poston

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read Harder Challenge: new-to-you ya or mg series

I first heard of Ashley Poston when Geekerella came across my radar. A modern Cinderella retelling about a geek girl and a movie star steeped in fandom? Yes, please. I read Geekerella very soon after discovering it. It wasn’t the geekily ever after/all my dreams came true I hoped it would be, but still, I enjoyed it. Poston went on my watch list.

At the beginning of February, Goodreads sent me the new books from authors you’ve read email for the month. Poston was right at the top with Heart of Iron. The premise looked intriguing, so I decided I’d try it when it came out at the end of the month.

And I’m glad I did. I’ve been on an intensive world-building kick lately, and Heart of Iron delivers in spades. The political setup of the universe, the descriptions of ships and planets, the entire goddess mythology—it was all so well done. Going in, I didn’t realize this was a series. Based on that and from the description, I expected a first-person narration from Ana with many declarations of undying love set against a scifi background. What I got was so much more than the romance I thought. Ana is just one of many points of view in this complex and brilliant tale. Everyone has something to lose, down to the most side minor characters, and the ending left me startled breathless at how this could even happen.

The characters in Heart of Iron are so real. Even D09, the Metal who supposedly cannot feel emotions (who can obviously feel emotions), is exquisitely three-dimensional. Ana’s crew is family, if not by blood, and their bonds are felt so strongly. Side note: I really want the captain’s hair.

Rob goes through such a transformation in this story, dealing with hard truths and really finding his own. I wanted to kill his mother and, for that matter, all the villains. They were terrible, horrible people I got behind hating easily. The lengths some of them went to…I won’t spoil. Just be prepared to glare a lot.

So, now that I know this is a series, I’m eagerly anticipating the next one.

And for my dopy moment of the month, I totally did not realize this was an Anastasia retelling until I saw something on Twitter. So, if you enjoy this, also read the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, which I realized were retellings before reading them. Carry on.




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