The plot was extremely fast-paced, to the point where it did feel a little jarring jumping into it. This does make sense since it’s based on Anastasia, which is a historical fiction with just a touch of fantasy. The writing style was descriptive and very fun to read, but despite the technology and science aspects, a lot of this book focused on court and politics. This isn’t a bad thing, the focus is instead on the plot and characters, which I enjoyed.

This was something I expected going in, considering Ashley Poston had previously only published a contemporary and she really just had to jump in and learn to do it. While the locations the characters went to were explained well, there isn’t much explanation of the rest of the universe. Since this is a sci-fi story, there are a few different planets and species to understand, however, the setting was never really that big of an aspect of the book. When Robb and Ana collide while searching for the same coordinates, Ana has no choice but to journey to the past to discover things about her she never would have thought could be true. The same rebellion that killed the royal family including the young Ananke, who was thought to be the Goddess herself. Jax is the pilot of the outlaw ship the Dossier, and Robb is an Ironblood, a royal mess, who is looking to see if his father survived the rebellion so many years ago. She was found with D09, also known as Di, a Metal who is suffering from severe glitches and may not be able to function for much longer. First, there is Ana, who was found as a child with no memories of her past and raised by a crew of outlaws.

I’ve recently become obsessed with Anastasia, so this premise really did hold the key to my heart. Heart of Iron follows four different characters and is a loose, sci-fi retelling of Anastasia. (anyone else singing In A Crowd Of Thousands after reading this quote? Just me? Okay…) But at the heart, this book is truly about home, love, family. Review In A Nutshell: Heart of Iron is an extremely fast-paced read, full of mystery, adventure, and action, all set in a fascinating sci-fi universe.

Heart of iron ashley poston