A Curse of Ash and Iron by Christine Norris

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I had not heard of A Curse of Ash and Iron before I received the opportunity to review it, but I was extremely intrigued by the premise. This is a young adult novel written by Christine Norris.

As the story begins, we are introduced to Ben and Ellie. Despite the fact that Ben was the son of the cook in a grand home that Ellie lived in, the two were best friends of children. They were separated rather abruptly when Ellie’s stepmother fired Ben’s mother seven years earlier, but a chance meeting brings them together again. Ellie tells Ben a wild story about being enchanted by her stepmother and forced to work as a servant in her own home. Ben is a young man enamored with science and technology, and he finds the idea of magical enchantments to be absurd, but he agrees to help his old friend. As they explore the nature of the enchantment, they learn that if the curse is not broken by midnight on New Year’s Eve, the effects will become permanent, and Ellie will be bound to her stepmother forever. Read more

Mildred’s Resistance by Katie Cross

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I read Miss Mabel’s School for Girls almost a month ago, and immediately fell in love with the world of The Network. Since then, I have gone on to read the second book in the series, Antebellum Awakening. I have also read The Isadora Interviews, a novella featuring school admission interviews from some of the secondary characters.

Mildred’s Resistance is the third book in the series, and it takes place before the events of MMSFG. Mildred serves as the High Priestess in the series; essentially, she serves as the head of the government. There are several allusions to an uprising in the past, during which Mildred seized power from a witch name Evelyn. Read more

Antebellum Awakening by Katie Cross

I was provided with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Antebellum Awakening is the second novel in Katie Cross’ The Network series. The story begins two months after the events of Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, and culminates with protagonist Bianca’s seventeenth birthday. Please proceed with caution if you have not read MMSFG– it’s difficult to discuss the plot of Antebellum Awakening without discussing the events of MMSFG. Read more

The Isadora Interviews by Katie Cross

I was provided with a copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

I recently read Miss Mabel’s School For Girls by Katie Cross. This is a young adult fantasy novel about a girl named Bianca who is desperate to remove a curse from her family. If she cannot remove the curse, she will die on her 17th birthday. Bianca enrolls in Miss Mabel’s School with the hopes of being able to undo the curse. I absolutely fell in love with Miss Mabel’s School and the world of The Network. So when I received an opportunity to review the other books in the series, I was very excited.

The Isadora Interviews is a short novella that takes place before the events of Miss Mabel’s School for Girls. I would say that readers need to have read MMSFG before reading The Isadora Interviews in order to have a better familiarity with the characters. Read more