Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Iron Pendulum by Megan Curd

2015 Reading Challenge

1. A book set in the future: Iron Pendulum by Megan Curd (Periodic, #2)

Iron Pendulum is the second book in Megan Curd's The Periodic Series. I initially started reading this series as I obtained the first book, Steel Lily free on my Kobo. I will admit that I didn't love Steel Lily but I was pleasantly surprised that for a free book it was pretty good. Some of the free books on Kobo are awful but then have good Goodreads reviews and I'm just moaning "WHY??" at the computer. But I digress, I can discuss other people's taste in books at another time, I'm attempting to review Iron Pendulum here. If I'm honest, I'm not completely sure I would have continued with the next book but it was only $4NZ and I was in the mood for an alright dystopian young adult book. With that bleak beginning let the review begin! (F.Y.I.To properly review Iron Pendulum I may need to discuss Steel Lily and divulge some spoilers but I will attempt to do that as little as possible... )

Steel Lily and Iron Pendulum are both set in a post-WWIII apocalyptic United States. The population has dramatically decreased due to a nuclear war between the Alliance and the Resistance. The war has caused a rapid increase in carbon dioxide making the outside world uninhabitable. What is left of the population of the world live in dome like structures that cover entire cities. The nuclear radiation has caused mutation in a few which has made these people "Elementals" as they can manipulate the elements. Our protagonist, a young 14 year old by the name of Avery Pike is one of these "Elementals" and the most powerful. Classic young adult fiction.

 In Steel Lily, we are initially led to believe that there is only one dome left, Dome Four. Avery provides steam through her abilities to power Dome Four. However, she is rather rebellious with a big heart and cannot stand the corruption of Dome Four especially within the Polatzi (the police force) and the huge class divide between the Traditionals and the residents of Wutherford Tower. This part of the story ends when Avery and her best friend, Alice are all but kidnapped by a dashing teenager with dreads by the name of Jaxon (#LoveInterest) to Dome Seven to attend an academy for Elementals. It becomes clear that Dome Seven is just as corrupt as Dome Four and lots of events and twists happen and a group that we have come to know, led by Avery, ends up in the Alliance's Headquarters. The group had thought to have been destroyed by the war . This is where Steel Lily finishes and Iron Pendulum begins. 

Iron Pendulum begins with Avery dealing with events that happened in the first book and enjoying her newfound relationship with the ever charming, wise-cracking Jaxon. The Alliance wants to infiltrate Dome Four, discover the corruption within and potentially make an alliance with the Dome. So who do you think is best for the job? Why a bunch of teenages of course! (#YACliche) Avery and her friends are given the job to infiltrate Dome Four. She will "resume" her old life as steam provider while attempting to unearth the corruption, help the people of Dome Four and help the Alliance. 

I would say I enjoyed Iron Pendulum more than Steel Lily. I think Curd's writing improved, the storyline felt a lot smoother and less jumpy. In Steel Lily, there was a lot of jumping from one drama to another whereas in Iron Pendulum there was a lot more tension building. I also think the steampunk theme that runs throughout the series was a bit jarring initially in Steel Lily only because it was so obvious and because I'm not a huge fan of steampunk.  

I adore Avery and Jaxon's relationship. They are both wise-crackers, always at the edge of being rude. They have this amazing rapport, Curd did an excellent job on their dialogue, it is quite funny. I also loved that although Avery and Jaxon seemed to have an instant connection, the old love at first sight archetype, Avery was still in control of herself. I get very frustrated with heroines losing their ability to control themselves over the love interest even against their better judgment. However, Avery could see this attraction for Jaxon but she initially fought it and remained wary of Jaxon until she could trust him. This all occurred in Steel Lily, in Iron Pendulum we see the growth in their relationship and the dependence they have for each other. They feel the jealousy and overcome it because the trust each other. That was incredibly refreshing. I hate love triangles so I was glad the outside characters were there to test relationship's strength not break or alter it.

The main storyline was quite fast paced but with room to build tension. It saw Avery dealing with the backlash of her impulsive actions, more responsibility and more emotion. Iron Pendulum had just as many twists as Steel Lily. However, they were more easy to guess, whereas in Steel Lily, the main twist came as a huge shock. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable read, there were a few inconsistency that bothered me but that is mainly brought down to the fact that I'm a tad pedantic. The characterisations were great, they had flaws so they acted like real people. The storyline was good, it flowed nicely. Curd sets the scenes really well, the descriptive language was quite beautiful and I'm sure if you love steampunk you'd really enjoy it. 

Although this is a fairly positive review, I still didn't hugely love the book or series but I can't quite put my finger on why that is. I've struggled with young adult books in the past because I found them too shallow but in this one the characters are more realistic and they deal with emotion in a normal way so I'm unsure. I even looked through other Goodreads reviews of it, not to plagiarize I swear... I was hoping someone else had pinpointed what I could not but alas, that had not happened. So if you have read it and know what I'm talking about I'd love for you to explain it to me!  Therefore, I'm going to give a 3.5 out 5 stars for a mark. I do plan on reading the next book when it comes out, it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and I have to know how it is resolved! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves young adult dystopian books and especially to anyone who loves steampunk.

Thank you and see you next time for another installment of Jenny Read A Book And Will Write About It For Your Entertainment (hopefully). Oh God, I'm still cheesy... Sorry, you guys will just have to deal with the brie or maybe feta. Whatever, I feel like. I'm hungry. Byeeee 
3.5/5 stars
Jenny



1 comment:

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