The Iron Hex (The Iron Hex Trilogy #1) by Victoria S. Walsh
3 Stars!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an eARC of this book for review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.
The premise of this book is intriguing, but I feel like the execution missed a bit. This is the author's debut and she's definitely got the points down, but I feel like the book read a little younger than she was going for (personally felt a little more YA/maybe NA than straight adult).
Overall the amnesia plot was intriguing, especially when you find out how it came into play. The idea on why it came into play was also interesting, but it also felt like there was a lot missing. And granted, because of the nature of said amnesia, there is a lot that we as the reader wouldn't be privy to because Eira and co didn't know, but still. While I liked getting the different POVs, I did feel like Rhona's POV was almost a separate book. Not saying it wasn't important, because watching her start to question things, and getting the reveals she did did parallel/help show another side of some of the things Eira and Hugo were dealing with, it also just felt separate somehow. I'm not honestly sure what it was, maybe a tonal difference? Not sure, but I kind of feel like her POV chapters might have been better as like a novella maybe? To then flesh things out a tiny bit more.
Some of the twists, I saw coming, although maybe not in the way they were revealed. (See other reviews for the spoiler)
Like I mentioned earlier, the author does have some room to grow, but I'll admit I'm curious as to what direction things go in the rest of the trilogy. Especially after that cliffhanger where I'm guessing there's still a few pieces missing.
Book releases August 4th, 2026
Other reviews:
Storygraph
Goodreads
