Review by Ronny
The Iron Hex is a fantastical start to what is sure to be an epic fantasy series.
Favourite Quote:
Something about Hugo’s proximity had her feeling warmer than usual, yet a shiver ran through her body when she watched him look her up and down quickly once more before smiling, his lips curling higher on one side and his eyes crinkling at the edges. He was handsome, but something about him had her feeling uneasy, like she was prey being circled.
Book Synopsis:
She doesn’t remember her past. But some memories come with a cost.
Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur—but with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she’s managed to remain unnoticed by the empire’s witch hunters.
Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.
Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something…and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.
Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent—and deeper into a past she can’t recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire’s capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire’s forces as they draw ever closer…if she can remember how to control it in time.
Review:
First, I just have to say how excited I am that Victoria is a Canadian author and lives in my neck of the woods. We always love promoting Canadian authors, and the fact that Victoria lives near me makes it feel even more magical. Enemies to lovers (check), road trip (check), dangerous and unknown magical system (check), and an ending that will leave you wanting more (check). This book feels like it was made for me. It has some of my favourite tropes and scenarios that just wind me up in the best possible way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It’s fun, interesting, and bursting with yearning forbidden romance.
Overall, this is an easy fantasy book to read, and what I mean by this is that the world-building details are on the lighter side, which I loved. Victoria did a fabulous job of giving her readers the information they needed to understand the world they are exploring and the story that is unfolding on its pages. She delivered the information at a great pace and in a manner that didn’t feel like info dumping. I loved the world that Victoria had created. We find ourselves in the Iron Empire a few years after a major revolution that saw the royal family executed and witches hunted down and killed. I’m not always a big fan of fantasies that have major political elements, but in this case I didn’t mind it. The political elements blended beautifully together with the other sub-plotlines and at the end weaved itself into the main story, aka Eira and Hug’s storyline, in such a manner that left me on the edge of my seat. Victoria is really setting the stage for the bigger conflict that will be unfolding in future books. I liked the magical system that she created. The fact that witchcraft and witches are forbidden heightened that sense of danger. The magical system is interesting and not too confusing. I was able to keep my bearings the entire time that I read this book.
I enjoyed the characters in this book very much. Eira is suffering from amnesia and has no knowledge of her life prior to three years ago. Eira finds herself able to do various types of magic, which is unheard of in the magical world. Eira is a great FMC; she is brave, bold, and isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with Hugo. Her journey in this book is centred around getting her memories back and finding the lost princess who just so happens to be her best friend. Hugo is that typical male hero who has some dark, tragic past that leaves him broken and feeling like he is undeserving of love. I like Hugo; he is a flawed hero. He played a role in hunting down and killing witches, and that period of time showed readers how easy it can be to be swept up and manipulated by ideology that is being created by powers in charge. His journey is more of an inner one. He is on a quest to make things right, while also battling those demons from his past.
This is definitely a romantasy. That yearning and forbidden romance between Eira and Hugo is often front and center in the storyline. I am a sucker for a good enemy-to-lovers romance. I loved the chemistry between these two. It has that delicious tension and dialogue that often exists between two characters that hate/ distrust each other. That sharp banter is always catnip to my soul. I am struggling to talk about the growing chemistry between Eira and Hugo because their relationship growth is tied so perfectly to the story that it makes it hard to explain what makes this romance so great without revealing too many spoilers. What I will say is that there are some spicy moments in this book; we get some fan-favourite only-one-bed, only-one-horse scenes, we get the pining, those yearning glances, and so much more. The romance was really well done.
The Iron Hex is the beginning of an epic romantasy series, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.
Thank you, Harper Collins Canada, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
