Review of The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Title: The Iron Witch
Author: Karen Mahoney
Published by: Flux
Pages: 290
Source: Own
Rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads: When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma. When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey.

I've always been interested in Alchemy so I was excited to hear about a young adult book mixing alchemy with other paranormal aspects.  Donna belonged to a group of alchemists called The Order of the Dragon whose mission is to find a way to cheat death.  Soon Donna's involvement with the order puts her and her friends lives in danger. 

I like the unique take on faeries that Karen Mahoney created.  It was interesting to hear about the wood elves and other various creatures involved throughout The Iron Witch.  Some of these creatures were so vicious that I'm sure they'll haunt my dreams along with Donna's.

The characters fell a little flat for me.  I felt I didn't really get to know any of them and hence didn't feel a strong connection to them.  I liked the relationships between Navin and Donna and also between Donna and Xan, but I think with a little more character development they could have been stellar.

I liked that this book hints at a lot of different areas including alchemy, the order, faeries, etc.  I felt there was just enough information to keep me engaged but I hope the next book in the series really gives us some more information and delves into these topics.