Jane is a governess forced to take a position with a family out in the country, caring for a young girl with special needs. Due to her war injuries, which left Jane with a fae curse in her face which leaks rage and affects everyone around her unless she covers it with an iron mask, she cannot find employment anywhere else. The child, Dorie, has her own fae issues, as well as a charming and mysterious father who accepts Jane despite her curse. But Jane grows to suspect that something odd is going on with Edward's form of employment, as well as Dorie's abilities, and is determined to stop a fae incursion from happening again. 
 Reading Ironskin was an interesting experience that went through several stages. At first it took me a bit to get into it because I was distracted by the clear Jane Eyre parallels (I wasn't expecting them). I spent the entire middle of the book wanting to re-read Jane Eyre. And then things took a radical turn and it was less like Jane Eyre, though the parallels were still there, and more its own book with its own plot and tensions and focus, and that's when it got really good. 
 The idea of the fae war, and setting the book five years after it's over, was really interesting and allowed Connolly to explore the aftermath of war and its innocent victims. Jane and her sister Helen lost their brother and parents to the war, and they've each developed different coping mechanisms for the trauma. 
 The issue with following the basic plotline of Jane Eyre though, was that comparisons were insidious, and I found the emotional depth of Ironskin fell short of Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre fell in love with Edward Rochester a bit at a time until she realized it and had no idea what to do with it. Jane Eliot flirts with Edward Rochart, hoping he'll find her pretty since he doesn't seem repulsed by her curse, but the lightning bolt realization of her love for him comes out of the blue, and she has no hesitation about courting him. 
 Generally, however, Ironskin was a good read (though I'm almost through with Copperhead and I daresay it's a better book).