Copperhead by Tina Connolly

Title: Copperhead

Author: Tina Connolly

Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: Yes, Ironskin #2

Pages: 318
Copyright: 2013
Publisher: Tor

Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from Good Reads
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.

Feelings:
Let me start by saying I didn't think I was going to like this book as much because Helen seemed a little bit like a stuck up woman who thinks she is always right and that money is most important. I actually ended up liking this book more than the first one and I was surprised I did. The reason I liked it more I think was that Helen as she changes throughout the course of the book actually becomes a stronger person and she realizes the past mistakes and tries to learn from them. This isn't to say she doesn't make more mistakes but she seems a little more human than Jane did and I liked that.

Something else that bothered me in the other book was the relationship between Jane and Edward and how fast it happened. This book has a romantic leaning to and I felt like it was more developed and I was able to believe it more. I'm not going to spoil anything but the last page in the book as a line that every time I see it in a novel makes me a little annoyed. Really is that the best you could do? "Came up for air"? I really hate that line and I wish it hadn't been used on the last page because now the romance part of the book is going to be flawed for me.

That is my complaint with the book though. I really enjoyed the rest of it and will be interested to see what the last book is like. I recommend this book to those that enjoy fantasy and a slightly more mature version of young adult.