The Nightmare Garden: The Iron Codex Book Two [Hardcover]

Caitlin Kittredge (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 2012 | Series: The Iron Codex (Book 2)

Everything Aoife thought she knew about the world was a lie. There is no Necrovirus. And Aoife isn't going to succomb to madness because of a latent strain—she will lose her faculties because she is allergic to iron. Aoife isn't human. She is a changeling—half human and half from the land of Thorn. And time is running out for her.

When Aoife destroyed the Lovecraft engine she released the monsters from the Thorn Lands into the Iron Lands and now she must find a way to seal the gates and reverse the destruction she's ravaged on the world that's about to poison her.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

CAITLIN KITTREDGE is the author of the Nocturne City series, the Black London adventures for St. Martin's Press. She lives and writes in Massachusetts. You can visit her at CaitlinKittredge.com.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385738315
• ISBN-13: 978-0385738316
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caitlin Kittredge is the author of the Nocturne City series, as well as several short stories. She is the proud owner of an English degree, two cats, a morbid imagination, a taste for black clothing, punk rock, and comic books. She's lucky enough to write full time and watches far too many trashy horror movies. Visit her website at www.caitlinkittredge.com to learn more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Only slightly better than the last :/ April 8, 2012

By CRISTY

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN, book 2 of the Iron Codex trilogy was better than the first, no doubt about that, but honestly I still can't declare my love for this over complicated and painfully drawn out steampunk, dystopian fairy tale. I am ever so thankful to Kittredge for the slightly better pacing with this installment, but must state that even with the continued originality in the storyline; she failed to really grab me with the characters themselves. I still liked our heroin Aoife, but that was pretty much it; I liked most of the characters, equally and not really beyond that. I didn't care about them, even in the life and death situations I wasn't... I don't know, how do I put this?...I guess I wasn't "moved" by anyone or really anything. THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN, (both of the Iron Codex books really) are kinda creepy and cool and definitely unique stories...but that therein lies my issue with them, they are just that, dark stories, nothing more, nothing less. And after 900+ pages between the two books, I suppose I just expected more. More love for the characters, more emotion, more excitement, more explanations, just well... more. But with THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN you do get, yes a bit more action and a few answers, but mostly you just get more questions; which is not the kind of more I was hoping for. In the end I was once again left torn and slightly frustrated. There is so much potential in the bones of this series, that it pains me not to like it, well...for lack of a better word, more. I'm crossing my fingers hat Kittredge will pull it all together and make it all worth it in the final book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Just as overstuffed and frustrating--yet readable--as The Iron Thorn February 24, 2012

By Ashleigh VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

The Engine is destroyed, monsters and Fae can freely travel through the Gates to the Iron Land, and Aoife is on the run after a series of revelations about who she is. As she runs with her friends from both the Proctors, led by the monstrous Grey Draven, and Tremaine, who doesn't appear to be finished with her yet, the iron that drove her mother and brother insane starts to take its toll on her mind. Aoife sees only one way to fix everything she has done wrong: finding the nightmare clock and setting back time to keep it all from happening. But getting to the clock will be difficult and more than a few people will do whatever they can to keep her from it.

Aoife spent most of the book frustrating me and making me wish I could kick her. This appears to be a Kittredge specialty; I read all five of her Nocturne City books and rare were moments I didn't want to throw a barefoot Luna into an endless sea of Legos. She spends most of the book going "I can fix this! We just have to turn back time" and it strikes me as inconsistent characterization for her to be so naive and cling to that idea considering the life she has lived and what she has been through. She remains difficult to like, though it is understandable in certain ways, and the way her creeping insanity wormed its way into the narrative occasionally was perfect.

Cal and Dean, both central characters in the first book, fade into the background this time around, Cal moreso than Dean. As much as I would have liked to see Bethina developed beyond her role as Cal's love interest and Archie's maid, we learned nothing more about her. The connections Aoife had with her brother (who is, for the record, a high-level jerk), dad, and (for all intents and purposes) stepmother Valentina were tenuous at the best of times but nevertheless written well. But what was up with Valentina talking to someone suspiciously and that possible plot thread being dropped just like that?

The Nightmare Garden does improve on a few of the flaws of The Iron Thorn by speeding up the pacing and smoothing out some of the writing, but it still feels overwritten more often than I would like and lines like "I pulled out a handful of Valentina's hair curlers out of the bag and, using a careful, delicate touch, shoved them one by one between all the circuits (The Nightmare Garden, ARC p. 242)" make me raise an eyebrow. Nevertheless, this book easily evaded the Middle Book Slump and kept me entertained the entire time.

The shocking ending and the cliffhanger that goes with it hooked me for the final book of the trilogy, and I hope for Aoife to demonstrate more maturity than she has in the last two books. This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but the twist at the end of the book? I hope Aoife doesn't end up fixing it. Leaving it as is opens a new, more exciting door for her as a character than the door she would go through while trying to "fix" the twist. Once you read the book and figure out what I'm talking about, you'll know what I mean and probably hate me for it. Fans of the first book will certainly enjoy The Nightmare Garden just as much.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first one February 20, 2012

By Nori

Format:Hardcover

So, I recently reviewed the first book in the Iron Codex Series: The Iron Thorn, and I really loved the world Caitlin Kittredge created. I got this one (the sequel) courtesy of Random House Children's Books on NetGalley. And I was so excited to continue with this story.

If you haven't read the first book yet, be warned that I am about to spoil things. This book begins with Aoife, Dean, Cal, Conrad, Aoife's father and the father's girlfriend holed up in the girlfriend's family home. Everyone in Aoife's life is determined to keep Aoife safe for the time being, to train her on how to use her weird better, and to better prepare her for some tough times ahead. Aoife can't stop thinking about what she did with the gates and how now all the creatures from one land are entering another land.

She also can't stop blaming herself for leaving her mad mother behind. And despite the warnings of everyone she has ever cared about, she decides to go back toward Lovecraft, where she is famous for being the destroyer. She did destroy the engine, and practically decimate a whole city. Proctors know what she looks like and are searching for her. But, she decides to go any way. She fights monsters, meets new friends, gets captured (several times by different bad guys), gets put on various missions (one per bad guy), and learns a lot about the creation of her world and how the universe works, and even how time works.

The explanations for her universe and for time, and their connection to one man/creature was a little vague and confusing, yet so, so fascinating! I loved the whole concept of the old ones, and how the one gate was connected with dreams. And I liked that a lot was left for the reader to figure out about this. The one thing Kittredge really mastered above all else was creating this world!

Aoife's ultimate mission (the one she decides to do herself), is to find the machine that can turn back time, so she can stop herself from ever destroying the engine and leaving her mother behind. But, nothing is ever as simple as turning back time. And between her deals to the fey to hand herself (and her mother) over to them, her deals with the proctors to destroy a brotherhood against them in order to get Dean back, and a narrow escape of the only people who ever cared about her, Aoife has a lot going on and a lot to think about in this book. I loved seeing the Winter Court! And all the scenes on the submarine were so cool!

I did not like this book as much as the first one. It took me over a week to read this one, when normally a book like this is finished in a matter of a day or two. I feel like the world was just as interesting. And the story definitely had a lot of twists and turns. It was the characters that were kind of not as interesting to me any more. To start with, my favorite character, Dean, was only in about half of it. And while I love how brave and strong Aoife is, I couldn't help but think about the many ridiculously poor decisions she continued to make, even after all the mistakes made in book one. A) A character needs to grow throughout the series. And B) So many comments are made on her intelligence; yet, I couldn't help but think how rather un-intelligent she was, making rash, dangerous decisions, without any regard for her life and safety, along with the well-being of others. In a way, she kind of reminded me of a certain boy wizard.

I get that she had a tough life with her brother before. Though, we only technically get to witness one scene of her past life that demonstrates this. I would have liked to have seen more of that because then I might have felt more empathy toward Aoife and her brother. But, even with this assumed tragic past, she was way too worried about her mother! Everyone was telling her that her mother was a survivor. Her mother survived the mad house for years. And she survived living in a world of iron. Why was the possible destruction of the world along with the possible destruction of all the worlds in the universe worth risking to save her crazy mom, who'd most likely survive any way?!? I really did not get Aoife's motives. And I certainly lost most of the respect I had left for her for doing this. I mean her mother wasn't even a real mother to her. She grew up in foster care as a ward of the state! Why was her mother worth everything? And why couldn't she have learned anything from her past mistakes?

The story is good. The world is unbelievably good. I just wish the characters were more realistic and or easier to care about, especially the main character. I give this one a 7/10, and it really would have gotten a 10/10 if not for the lack of character development and growth.