Weekly Reader: The Thorn Princess (Iron Crown Faerie Tales Book 1) by Bekah Harris; Captivating World Building of Faerie Kingdom Rescues Average Chosen One YA Fantasy
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: One thing to take away from The Thorn Princess, the first book in Bekah Harris' Iron Crown Faerie Tales Series is how beautiful and unique that she writes about the fairy kingdom, The Fae of the Winter Court. That is where her true writing talent lies.
It is at the Winter Court where Lyric the Fairy Queen is dying. Her magic strengthens the Court and now that she is ill, temperatures are rising and the court is left vulnerable. There are plenty of rivals that would love to take advantage of this obvious weakness, especially Lyric's sister, Alena, and the Unseelie King. Well the magic could be passed to Lyric's daughter, but there is one slight problem. Her child was kidnapped and exchanged for a human one. So her fairy daughter is out in the human world somewhere and Violet, the girl raised in the Fairy Court, is all too human.
Meanwhile, teenager Ivy Hawthorne has had some weird experiences lately. She feels that she is being followed by some sinister magical creatures like an owl who keeps following her even during the day. She also begins experiencing some strange abilities like seeing auras and demonstrating tremendous power and strength. Also, the cute new student, Bear, seems to have declared himself Ivy's new protector. Gee, I wonder why all of this is happening, don't you?
The world building of the Winter Court is dream-like with just the right touch of whimsy from fairy tales with the dark enchantment of early Celtic and Teutonic fairy lore. One of the loveliest aspects that the book in general and The Winter Court in particular reveals is of winter's beauty.
Many of the works that show Fairy Kingdoms often portray the lands in perpetual spring or summer but Harris' writing shows that there can be a great appreciation found in winter as well. The book is filled with delightful scenes of snow drenched landscapes and winter flora like hawthorne and ivy. It is reminiscent of "The Waltz of the Flowers" sequence in Disney's 1940 animated film, Fantasia in which blue winter fairies use their magic to put frost on leaves, skate along a frozen pond, and pirouette with snowflakes. Winter has a natural beauty of its own and Harris recognizes it.
Harris also portrays the Winter Court rather well with excellent characterization and recognition of their unique structure. While powerful, fairies are all too mortal as seen with Lyric's declining health. While Fairies have individual powers of their own, the queen is the heart or center of the magic. When she is sick, like now, the court around her sickens. It's similar to the Fisher King in Arthurian legend. When there is disruption in the sociopolitical order, an interruption in the natural passing of ruler and heir, that leads to disruption in the natural world. She is also emblematic of the Goddess figure who is the Earth so when she goes, Earth goes with her.
It could very well be that the dying Lyric and the melting Winter Court could be metaphors for climate change and Ivy represents the next generation who will have to live in it and strive to work through it, perhaps young environmentalists like Greta Thunberg. But I wouldn't go that far.
Lyric herself is a complex, often contradictory character. Concerned for her kingdom, but affecting a detached demeanor. Concerned about her sister's vile machinations but aching for a familial bond. Strong enough to lead the search for her daughter but aware of her diminishing strength. Wanting her daughter to take up the crown and sceptre at once, but fully aware that Ivy has a life that she must say goodbye to. Lyric is kind but icy, nurturer and dominator.
Ivy has some of that complexity as well. She has known that she doesn't fit in. Her nagging fears manifest when she uses her discovered innate powers to fight off of a bully in a very frightening way. She also learns where the woman that she believed was her mother has been all these years. This strange news of her fairy origins explains a lot but still leaves her with a lot of confusion, discomfort, and questions especially when knowing that she has no choice. She has to ascend the throne or the Winter Court is gone.
Once Ivy arrives in The Winter Court is when the book really starts to develop. She becomes acquainted with the magical characters and the inner workings including the potentially antagonistic Unseelie King and Alena. Then there's Violet, Lyric's adopted human daughter. It's not hard to feel sorry for the girl who had been raised her whole life to believe that she had great power and would succeed her mother. But when the time came, she fell short. Violet doesn't say much in this volume but it's clear there will be some conflict between the birth and adopted daughters.
Thankfully, the parts in the Winter Court make up for the dull parts in the human world of which unfortunately this book has too much of. We have the typical Mean Girl Bully, the Quirky Best Friend, Stern Teacher. All of them repetitive, all of them we have seen before. Even Ivy's romance with Bear is typical for a YA Fantasy and unfortunately there are hints of the worst sin of YA Speculative Fiction, the bane of writing existence: An upcoming Love Triangle! Seriously, we're doing this here too? I shudder to think of it.
Only when the setting takes place in The Winter Court does the book really shine with originality and pulls the book from the average to the above average pile. In fact, since the later books appear to be set entirely in the Faerie Kingdom, the series should greatly improve despite the (shudder) upcoming love triangle.
