Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Buddy Read with Micheline of Lunar Rainbows Reviews

To Sum It Up: Feyre is back at the Spring Court, covertly plotting to undermine both it and its High Lord while also discovering what the King of Hybern has planned next for Prythian and the human lands below the wall. War is inevitable, but even that may not be enough to convince all the High Lords to set aside their usual squabbling among themselves and unite against their common enemy, Hybern. Feyre, Rhys, and their family are ready to stand against the massive invading Hybern army, even if they cannot rally any other courts to their side.

Review: After reading seven Sarah J. Maas books and being utterly annihilated by Empire of Storms last year, I prepared for the absolute, rock-bottom worst going into A Court of Wings and Ruin. I expected the Ruin part of the title to describe what was left of my heart after reading this because that’s become the norm post-Maas books.

Surprisingly, I don’t feel too wrecked. While there are plenty of intense, heart-stopping moments throughout A Court of Wings and Ruin (like the end of every chapter), I’m not the shattered wreck I was at the end of Empire of Storms. Fine, I may have almost cried a few times during A Court of Wings and Ruin. Maas certainly knows how to squeeze the reader’s heart to its bursting point.

A Court of Mist and Fury ended on one hell of a tumultuous note, with Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, being turned into Fae against their will and Feyre headed back to the Spring Court, vowing to make Tamlin pay for allying with the King of Hybern in exchange for the latter’s aid in finding her. A Court of Wings and Ruin picks up with Feyre back at the Spring Court, outwardly acting like she’s relieved to have been “rescued” from Rhysand and the Night Court. Meanwhile, Feyre is collecting intel on what Hybern is plotting and setting up the Spring Court to collapse around Tamlin. This second part of her plan has unforeseen consequences down the road, however, and I thought it was important to show that Feyre could still make mistakes after becoming the insanely powerful High Lady of the Night Court. As much as I love badass heroines, I also like to see them grounded and not ridiculously perfect. Maas does an excellent job here of keeping Feyre a well-rounded protagonist.

The hell that is war hits hard in A Court of Wings and Ruin, as Prythian braces itself for Hybern’s invasion. The battle isn’t only against an external enemy, either. The Fae High Lords, accustomed to years and years of infighting between the courts, must decide who represents the bigger threat: Hybern, which stands to destroy both Fae and humans alike, or their fellow High Lords. Even if the courts somehow manage to band together, they face a formidable foe, especially with the King of Hybern wielding the crazy powerful Cauldron.

Maas always writes fantastic action scenes, and they’re as pulse-pounding as usual in A Court of Wings and Ruin. She vividly conveys the sheer terror and chaos of battle. I frequently had to avert my gaze from further down the page, especially whenever I reached the end of a chapter, because I feared so damn much for Feyre, Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Amren, and even Feyre’s sisters. Awaiting the outcome of each confrontation with Hybern on the battlefield was almost too much to handle. Feyre, Rhys, and their friends are a family, and they’re all prepared to sacrifice themselves if it means saving everyone else.

My only quibble with the book was the same one I had with Empire of Storms: the pacing. Both novels clock in at about 700 pages, and to me, both could have told their stories a bit more succinctly. I’m not sure what the original plan was for the number of books in this series, but A Court of Wings and Ruin tries to both bring this story to a close while also setting up possible plotlines for future books. Sometimes the flow between the two didn’t feel quite seamless, but the ending was very satisfying nonetheless, and I’m curious to see the direction the series heads in from here.

All in All: Taking on a 700-page book is absolutely daunting for me these days, but being back in this world with these beloved characters was like going home to catch up with old friends. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans looking to get their fix between books/season should definitely give this series a shot.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Feyre is the main provider for her impoverished family; without her and her hunting skills, they would all surely starve to death. But they’re forced to face that exact scenario when Feyre kills a faerie, and she must give up her life in the mortal world as punishment. She is to live out her days in the faerie realm of Prythian among creatures that once counted humans as their subjects. Gradually, however, Feyre realizes that Tamlin, the powerful Fae who has brought her to Prythian, isn’t cruel like so many of the other faeries. He’s actually working to save his world from a blight that threatens to destroy it and possibly the mortal world as well, and his determination gives Feyre pause to rethink the way she’s viewed the Fae her entire life.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015, and for a very good reason—it’s Sarah J. Maas! Well, let me tell you, Maas delivers on every level with this novel: the Beauty and the Beast elements, the world-building, the characters, and, oh my God—the romance!

I really don’t consider myself much of a romantic, but this book did all sorts of crazy things to my heart. My favorite romances are of the slow-burning variety, and this one is exquisitely so and expertly developed. I will never, ever grow tired of relationships that take their time and build up bit by bit, the type that won’t let you quit reading because the next page might be the one where that four letter L word FINALLY gets spoken. If all romances were as beautifully written as this one is, I’d read them ALL THE TIME. Can you tell that I still haven’t gotten over this one yet? Yeah, it’s going to stay with me for a good, long while.

I can’t sing the praises of Sarah J. Maas’s gift for world-building nearly enough. A sizeable part of A Court of Thorns and Roses takes place on a sprawling estate that befits a fairytale retelling. I almost drooled over the description of the study/library. For all of the majesty of the estate, both interior and exterior, however, the faerie realm of Prythian is rife with danger in the form of all manner of terrifying creatures. The noble High Fae may be devastatingly beautiful to behold, but their cruelty and nonstop scheming against humans and each other are indicative of the monsters most of them truly are (with one notable exception we’ll discuss in a few). The Court politics are brutal—and often fatal. This is a world that constantly keeps you on the lookout for clues as to what’s really going on because these are faeries we’re dealing with; you know that nothing is ever simple or as it appears to be. I loved every story twist and marveled at the overall brilliant plotting of the book.

Our heroine Feyre’s journey from barely eking out a living in the human world to taking on everything that the Fae throw at her is nothing short of amazing. The opening of the novel finds Feyre struggling to feed her rather ungrateful family, but by the action-packed finale, she emerges one formidable, not-to-be-trifled-with woman. It’s not easy being a human surrounded by treacherous and extremely powerful Fae, but Feyre taps into that strength that’s enabled her to endure years of hardship, and she holds her own in Prythian through sheer force of will.

I had a severe case of the swoons for Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court and the faerie responsible for taking Feyre to Prythian as punishment for killing one of his sentinels. But Tamlin isn’t like the other Fae; his title and position are more of a burden to him than anything, and he takes no joy in playing Court games, although they’re unavoidable. Oh, Tamlin can be scary as hell when he shape shifts into his beast form, but there’s a genuinely kind soul underneath, and that duality just wins my heart every. Time.

I also grew very, very fond of Tamlin’s friend, Lucien. He crosses the firmly demarcated Court lines to remain loyal to Tamlin, and his snark is freaking hilarious. My feelings toward another High Fae, Rhysand, are much more conflicted. Rhys is very much the type of faerie you don’t want to bargain with unless desperation is your only option. He oozes danger, yet I can’t help finding him fascinating. I think it’s because he seems to have some shades of gray to his character, and I just love characters who walk the middle moral ground like that.

What is it about really, really good books that makes them so damn hard to review sometimes? Well, I tried. But my puny words are nowhere near sufficient to capture why you need to read A Court of Thorns and Roses. Right. Now!

All in All: A Court of Thorns and Roses is absolutely worthy of all of the buzz it’s received. If you love fantasy, faeries, and/or fairytale retellings, do not wait to read this!

The Forgotten Ones Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Laura Howard's The Forgotten Ones, organized by Xpresso Book Tours! I have a review for you today, plus there's a giveaway for you to enter below. Also be sure to follow the rest of the tour by checking out the tour schedule.

The Forgotten Ones (The Danaan Trilogy #1)
By Laura Howard
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

* A copy was provided for review for the blog tour.

Synopsis: Allison O’Malley’s plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she’s been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison’s mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn’t trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother’s sanity.

Review: At first glance, The Forgotten Ones is a poignant story about Allison O’Malley, a young woman who’s resigned herself to a life of caring for her schizophrenic mother. There’s much more to Allison’s mother’s condition than meets the eye, though, and it involves the Tuatha de Danaan, also known as fairies. The novel is a deft mix of contemporary and Celtic folklore, with the latter element introduced in a gradual manner that smoothly bridges the two facets of the book.

Even if the novel hadn’t incorporated fantasy into it, I still would have found Allison’s story compelling. Being a caregiver for a parent was something that I could completely relate to, and I really felt for her because of everything she was sacrificing, including a potential relationship with her longtime mutual crush, Ethan. Allison is determined to put her mom before anything and anyone else, and it was sad watching her try not to grow too attached to Ethan.

Luckily for Allison, she has the support of a close-knit family. Her strong relationship with her grandparents was especially moving. They’ve been looking after both her and her mother for years, and Allison wants nothing more than to ease their load. Allison’s family life becomes even more complicated, however, when Liam, the father she’s never met, suddenly shows up, claiming that he can help her mother.

It’s at this point that the fantasy aspect picks up, and, having Irish roots on both sides of my family, I really liked how the book went with a Celtic take on fairies. Allison quickly learns that not all of the Danaan are harmless, and one jealous, vengeful Danaan in particular has had a large hand in what happened to Allison's mother, Elizabeth. We get to meet quite a few Danaans as well as travel to their realm, Tír na n’Óg, and both this world and its inhabitants are fascinating. Despite some of the fairies seeming to bear no ill will toward humans, they don’t give off the sense that they’re entirely trustworthy, either. By the sound of the novel’s open ending, it appears that Allison isn’t finished dealing with them, which made me happy in a way because I’d definitely like to revisit Tír na n’Óg.

From the outset, Allison was a very relatable protagonist, and that initial connection with her drew me into her story quickly. The fantasy element was also well done, with a fresh, Celtic twist to it. The Forgotten Ones is a reminder that, though fairies can be cunning and wreak all sorts of havoc for the humans some of them enjoy preying on, they certainly add spark to a narrative.

All in All: If you’re looking for something a little different in a fairy book, try this one. It’s neither a straightforward contemporary nor a straightforward fantasy but rather a nice combination of the two.

About Laura Howard

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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Hold Tight Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

I'm excited to be a part of the blog tour for Cherie Colyer's Hold Tight, organized by AToMR Tours! I have a review of Hold Tight for you today, and you can enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a print copy of Hold Tight and the previous book, Embrace, (open to U.S. and Canada) or an eBook copy of Embrace (open internationally). Also be sure to follow the rest of the tour by checking out the tour schedule.

Hold Tight (Embrace #2)
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publication Date: August 20, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

* A copy was provided for review for the blog tour.

Synopsis: What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want . . . and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend—and fellow witch—can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist . . . and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

Review: I really enjoyed reading Cherie Colyer’s Embrace last year, and I was thrilled when I heard that there was going to be a sequel. Embrace was such a fresh take on witches and magic, and I loved how the book slowly revealed what sort of paranormal activity was going on. The mystery element was so much fun, and I looked forward to seeing what kinds of surprises awaited me in Hold Tight.

Madison, Isaac, Kaylee, and Josh are all back, and I really love the friendship between the four of them. Just as Embrace did, Hold Tight presents a balanced portrait of these characters; sure, the supernatural is very real for them, but we get to see them as regular teenagers, too. It’s the latter side of her life that ends up causing trouble for Madison. When juggling school, helping out at home, and dating Isaac start becoming overwhelming, she secretly borrows Isaac’s fae book and summons a faery to help her around the house. At first the arrangement with Brea, the faery who appears, seems fine, but all too soon Madison learns that one has to exercise extreme caution when dealing with these creatures.

The faeries depicted here are more the type who’ll trick you into abandoning the human world for theirs than the kind who grant wishes with no expectation of something in return. One faery in particular has an ax to grind with Isaac and is determined to exact revenge. The fae are a welcome addition to the series as adversaries, and pretty formidable ones at that, yet they don’t steal the book away from the witches. There’s still plenty of spell casting and other witchcraft, and it’s a thrill watching it go up against fae magic.

I’d hoped that there would be a twist in Hold Tight à la finding out that Isaac was a witch in Embrace, and Hold Tight didn’t disappoint in delivering one. A certain character totally caught me off guard; it was apparent that this individual was hiding something very important, but I never would have guessed what it was. I did try to puzzle it out, but I wasn’t all that upset over my lack of sleuthing skills because I really liked being surprised.

The tone of Hold Tight grows quite serious in places, and Madison faces some of her biggest challenges to date. Her trials, and she does undergo a lot here, only strengthen her, though. That’s precisely the sort of character development I like to see with a series, and this series moves forward very nicely.

All in All: Hold Tight is a strong follow-up to Embrace that deftly adds some troublesome faeries to its existing paranormal element. I’d love to see the series continue, especially with this book’s introduction of an intriguing new character who wasn’t at all what I’d thought.

About Cherie Colyer

Cherie Colyer is the author of YA paranormal thriller/romance, EMBRACE (available now), and HOLD TIGHT (August 2013), from Omnific Publishing. Check out her website and blog for news on her books and bonus material. Follow Cherie on Twitter and/or Facebook for updates on writing, book and special offers.

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Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement
By Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill

To Sum It Up:

Malcolm “Mackie” Doyle knows that he’s not like everyone else in the town of Gentry. Blood, stainless steel, and consecrated ground all make him sick, lately even more so than they have in the past. Mackie isn’t human, and the world where he really comes from is stranger than anything he could have imagined. It’s a world in which two supernatural sisters rule rival houses, and blood sacrifices are required to keep Gentry thriving. The sisters urge Mackie to return to his real home if he wants to survive, but it’s not a place he sees himself belonging to, either.

Review:

It’s official: Brenna Yovanoff is one of my favorite paranormal authors. Her worlds have this assuredness to them that makes them seem 100% possible. No matter what the premise of the book is, she makes it work completely.

I read Yovanoff’s novels in reverse order of publication, and of the three, I thought The Replacement had the oddest story. The protagonist, Mackie Doyle, learns that he’s a changeling and was left in the place of the real, and human, Malcolm Doyle as a baby. The more Mackie found out about the paranormal world he really came from, the more bizarre the story became. And I loved how creepy it was. There’s a whole population of strange, supernatural beings living underneath the town of Gentry, and they’re strange beings, indeed. I was a little freaked out by both the Morrigan and the Lady, sisters who head up rival factions called the House of Mayhem and the House of Misery, respectively. I was completely freaked out by the Cutter, a gentleman in the employ of the House of Misery who delights in using his lethal claws (hence his name). Imagine what must have gone through Mackie’s mind upon discovering that these are the types of folks he should feel at home amongst. Yeah—awkward, to say the least.

Two things that I really love about Yovanoff’s books, besides her brilliant prose, are how complex her main characters are and her portrayal of strong sibling bonds. Mackie has never truly fit in with the humans of Gentry, but he’s attached enough to them to be appalled by what his “kind” do with the human babies they take. Mackie is an oddity even among changelings because it’s the sickly ones who are swapped with the humans, and Mackie has survived longer than most. But then, he’s grown up loved by his human sister, Emma, who’s always known what he is and has loved him anyway. Mackie loves Emma, too, and their relationship reminded me a lot of Daphne and Obie from Yovanoff’s The Space Between, as well as Hannah and Ariel from Paper Valentine.

This is one of the weirdest books I’ve read, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. The Replacement is unique, imaginative, and, like Yovanoff’s other two novels, a standalone. Finding YA paranormal titles that aren’t rehashes of the same old subjects can sometimes pose a challenge, so if you’re seeking a read that’s quite different, I highly recommend trying The Replacement. Or The Space Between. Or Paper Valentine. Oh, just read all of them.

All in All:

Although there are elements of faerie lore here, like changelings, The Replacement is more its own special type of book, which made it all the more interesting to read. There’s no simple categorization for characters like the Cutter, whom I’m still severely creeped out by.

Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)
By Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To Sum It Up:

Ethan Chase can see the fey, and this unwanted ability has already cost him dearly. He’s spent his life pushing away anyone who might get too close to him because of the danger that the Sight seems to draw to him. Ethan never thought he’d find himself helping the very beings he hates, but when a new threat to the fey also poses one to him and his family, Ethan has no choice but to once again become involved in a world that he’s fought so hard to avoid.

Review:

After having my ups and downs with the original Iron Fey series, I wasn’t sure if I’d reach the point where I'd want to check out The Lost Prince. The Iron Knight concluded on a strong enough note for me to carry on reading about the world of Faery, though, and so I picked up the spin-off.

Initially, I wasn’t sure that I’d made the right decision to read this after all because I wasn’t digging Ethan Chase, the now teenage younger brother of The Iron Fey’s Meghan, as a narrator. Ethan has a colossal boulder on his shoulder, and he’s one angry young man. He blames the fey for just about everything that has ever gone wrong in his life, including getting kicked out of school a few times. Of course, there’s also the rather large issue of his sister being unable to see her family in the mortal world due to her responsibilities as the Iron Queen. Because his ability to see the fey often brings trouble, Ethan doesn’t want anyone to get close to him. This means he acts like a supreme jerk most of the time, pushing people away for what he thinks is their own safety. Although his intentions are good, my patience for his attitude dwindled quickly, and that’s why I didn’t see myself reading future books in this series.

Fortunately, Ethan mellows out some, and I found myself quite invested in the story once it shifted to the Iron Realm. Several familiar faces from the original Iron Fey series pop up (including the ever-wise Grimalkin—yay!), and I was even happy to see those whom I wasn’t exactly fond of in the other books (like Leanansidhe). The nice thing about this little reunion is that the old characters don’t overshadow the new ones, and their appearances don’t feel forced, like they’ve only been included for nostalgia’s sake.

I was a bit worried that The Lost Prince was going to wind up with a love triangle in an Ash-Meghan-Puck redux, but hooray! No love triangle! I was also a little leery of Keirran, a fey with some rather famous parents, turning into the Puck of this series because of his penchant for getting into mischief. But in another welcome surprise, Keirran was his own character. In fact, he ended up being my favorite character. Yeah, I can’t resist a charmer with a wicked glint in his eye.

After having to endure Ethan’s surliness for a good portion of the book, I really didn’t expect to enjoy The Lost Prince, but I did. Once Ethan realized he didn’t have to be so darn angry all the time, the story picked up considerably. Ethan, Keirran, and Ethan’s classmate, Kenzie, make a pretty good team, and I look forward to reading more of their adventures.

All in All:

The Lost Prince is a solid start to this spin-off series. The book smoothly transitions from its Iron Fey origins into a new story arc that should be intriguing to see play out.

Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4)
By Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To Sum It Up:

Separated from Meghan by the poisonous Iron realm, Ash embarks on a journey to gain his soul and become mortal so that he can be with her. His quest is one of the utmost difficulty, though. First, he and his companions, which include his nemesis, Puck, must travel to the very end of the Nevernever, a dangerous undertaking in itself. The trials that await Ash at the End of the World, however, are the most daunting challenge he’s ever had to face. To attain mortality, he must confront his past and future, both of which he needs to come to terms with if he hopes to ever see Meghan again.

Review:

The Iron Fey series has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me up to this point. Neither The Iron Daughter nor The Iron Queen quite measured up to The Iron King. The constant throughout the books, and what has kept me reading them, is the stellar creativity of this world. I’ve always felt like I’ve wanted to love the characters, but I just haven’t been able to become emotionally invested in them. This is especially true for the Winter prince, Ash, who narrates The Iron Knight. He’s intrigued me from the start of the series, yet I don’t feel that I’ve ever gotten a good sense of him as a character, how he thinks and what motivates his actions. I’d hoped that reading from his point of view at last in The Iron Knight would give me the insight into his character that I’d been seeking. While a good portion of the novel follows the task-by-task structure of the previous books, once Ash commenced his trials to earn his soul, I finally connected with the series.

Besides the potential to get inside of Ash’s head, I was also eager to read this because one of his traveling companions is none other than Puck, probably the last face Ash wants to see in his party. I’d expected a slightly more standoffish demonstration of the enmity between them other than Puck calling Ash “ice-boy” over and over. The exchanges between a sardonic-as-ever Grimalkin the cat and the Big Bad Wolf were much more amusing. By now I’ve grown accustomed to the characters in these books needing to complete a string of subtasks before tackling their main goal. Ash’s secondary missions feature plenty of action, but to me, they were only a warm-up to the trials that would prove whether or not he was worthy of his soul. It was this part of the book that I found riveting because of its emotional punch, something that was rather elusive for me in the other books.

To gain his soul, Ash must pass a group of tests that give him an all too realistic understanding of what it means to be mortal. They’re all grueling, but one struck me in particular. Ash revisits his past misdeeds in excruciating detail, and not only do we see the cruelty that he was once capable of, but also how much he’s changed for the better. I thought that what Ash went through during the trials represented some of the most dramatic and moving moments of the entire series. Their combined impact quite floored me, as did one character’s very poignant sacrifice. Seeing everything that he endured, I wanted Ash to succeed in his quest. I hadn’t felt this compelled to root so hard for a character in this series before.

Although I think that The Iron Knight could have explored Ash’s character further, this was easily the book out of the four that tugged the most at my heartstrings. Ash’s trials were so engrossing to read about, and overall, I thought this was a strong conclusion to the series.

All in All:

I wasn’t sure what my final opinion of this was going to be. Ash and his little group had several smaller adventures as they made their way to the End of the World, but while there was enough action afoot, Ash himself remained somewhat of an enigma. I wouldn’t go so far as to describe The Iron Knight as a character study of Ash, but I do think that this is as emotionally raw as I’ve ever seen him.

Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3)
By Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To Sum It Up:

Exiled by their respective faery courts, Meghan and Ash find themselves in the mortal world. It’s not long, though, before they’re pulled back into Faery. The new Iron King is hunting Meghan, and the Iron fey are at war with both the Summer and Winter Courts. Their only hope of preventing the destruction of the Nevernever is Meghan. Unwilling to see those she loves get hurt in the forthcoming battle, Meghan is prepared to do anything to protect them, including sacrificing her own life to save theirs.

Review:

While The Iron King, the first book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series, remains my favorite so far, The Iron Queen is definitely a step up from The Iron Daughter. My main gripe about the latter was Meghan’s Ash-centric view of the world and how she couldn’t function without him. Thankfully, she stands on her own two feet in The Iron Queen, which is also much more action-packed than its predecessor.

Although Meghan doesn’t quite fit my notion of a kick-ass heroine, I have to give her credit for backing up her tough talk with her actions in this book. She learns how to use a weapon and isn’t afraid to fight. What she does fear, though, is losing Ash and Puck, and this puts her into martyr mode, where she takes it upon herself to defeat the Iron King in order to keep anyone from dying for her. I really don’t mean to sound like I’m picking on poor Meghan; it’s just that she seems to get caught in these obsessive thought patterns that I’m not very patient with. In The Iron Daughter, she moped over not being with Ash. Here, she repeats over and over again how she can’t allow Ash and Puck to die because of her. Meghan has always had the potential to be a heroine of considerable strength, glimmers of which shine through here and there, but she’s never quite managed to summon it consistently.

As there was in The Iron Daughter, once again we have a lull in the story involving the self-proclaimed queen of the Faery exiles, Leanansidhe. This time, the gang crashes at her cabin in the woods. The thought of Leanansidhe owning this type of property sort of made me laugh because I never pictured her as the outdoorsy type. Fortunately, once the action picks up, it remains pretty intense for a while. There are some great battle scenes in the book, and they’re brought to life with some of the most vivid imagery in the series. Kagawa’s world-building has been first-rate from the start, and that extends to the epic showdown in The Iron Queen between the now allied Summer and Winter Courts and the Iron fey.

On the whole, I felt that, though not perfect, The Iron Queen was a stronger entry in the series than The Iron Daughter was. The characters still journey about from subtask to subtask with a lengthy stopover, but the fight sequences are worth the wait. Most importantly, Meghan demonstrates the mettle that she was missing in the previous book, which in turn made this a more compelling read than her last adventure.

All in All:

After finding The Iron Daughter on the disappointing side, I was a bit leery of reading this. It did take a while for The Iron Queen to build up momentum, but I quite liked the climactic battle as well as the ending.

Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)
By Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To Sum It Up:

Meghan has rescued her kidnapped younger brother from the land of Faery, but now it is time for her to repay the debt she owes to the Winter prince, Ash. She has to accompany him back to the Winter Court, where, as a daughter of the Summer King, Oberon, she is surrounded by faeries who despise her. Summer and Winter are inching ever closer to war, but it’s a new threat from the Iron fey that poses the greatest danger. Meghan must rely on allies with questionable loyalties as she tries to convince the Courts to stop fighting with each other and instead unite against their common enemy.

Review:

The Iron King was one of the first books that I reviewed, and looking back on it, I think I tried a little too hard to love it as much as so many other readers do. I still really like the world and how incredibly imaginative it is, but the characters came up short for me this time in The Iron Daughter, especially Meghan. She seemed like a stranger compared to the determined young woman who set out to save her brother in The Iron King. I found myself willing her to pull herself together for a good deal of The Iron Daughter, and it didn’t quite work.

I had pretty high expectations going into this book, with Meghan having to uphold her end of the contract she made with Ash when she was trying to find her brother. Meghan has to go to the Winter Court, where she can expect nonstop withering glares from its queen, Mab. I was intrigued to see what else awaited Meghan in such a hostile environment but was disappointed that 1) she didn’t spend as much time as I’d thought she would there, and 2) most of that time, and most of the book, was spent moping over/pining for Ash. Ash won’t look at her. Ash is avoiding her. Ash doesn’t love her. As I said before, the girl who faced the Iron King has gone missing; in her place is this whiny Meghan who’s completely dependent on a guy whom I feel I still barely know, even after two books. I admit that I found Ash’s broody demeanor kind of cool (no Winter prince pun intended) in the first book, but at this point, I’d like to see that there’s more to his character than intense stares and brandishing a sword every once in a while.

The pacing of the book also felt a little off to me. There’s the main story line revolving around the Iron fey’s latest scheme, but to me, it sometimes got lost amid the multiple subplots. The story really dragged once Meghan and crew found themselves in the Between, the realm in the middle of the mortal and faery worlds and the domain of Leanansidhe, the self-styled queen of the faery exiles. I didn’t think that Meghan and her companions were ever going to leave this place, and I was very happy when they finally hit the road.

The talking cat, Grimalkin, has become my favorite character because he’s truly the voice of reason. He doesn’t mince words and points out all of the other characters’ blunders, often voicing my own opinions of their actions. I find Grim very entertaining, and his wry observations were definitely the highlight of this book.

The Iron Daughter has some solid elements to it, the strongest by far being its whimsical world where anything is possible, but they just didn’t combine into a story that gripped my interest. With this being the second book in the series, I also needed to see the characters continue to develop, but they were pretty much the same ones I met in the first book, except for Meghan, whose character takes some steps backwards here. Still, there’s a charm to this series that appeals to me, and I do enjoy Grim’s sarcasm.

All in All:

I didn’t find this as enchanting as The Iron King, primarily because of how Meghan goes to pieces over Ash. Definitely not what I like to see in a heroine.

Review: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely #1)
By Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperTeen

To Sum It Up: The ability to see faeries has always been part of Aislinn Foy’s life. Raised by her grandmother, Aislinn has been taught to never acknowledge or attract the attention of these dangerous creatures. Aislinn has done her best to live by these rules, but they are of no help to her when the fey’s Summer King, Keenan, decides to make her his queen. He believes that Aislinn can help him restore his power and prevent his sadistic mother, the Winter Queen, from making summer disappear forever. Even after learning what’s at stake, Aislinn still isn’t sure that she’s willing to sacrifice everything about her mortal life, especially her friend Seth, to become part of the very world that she’s always feared.

Review: Meh. Wicked Lovely started out interesting enough, with a scene depicting the consequences of not being the girl who’s destined to be the Summer Queen. Several chapters later, though, I was still trying to sort out how the whole Winter Girl/Summer Queen/Winter Staff thing worked. Choppy exposition and characters who floated along without leaving much of an impact made this a mediocre read for me.

As a heroine, Aislinn isn’t anything special. Whereas the Summer Queen test is explained in dribs and drabs, it’s blatantly clear that Aislinn wants nothing to do with the fey world. Consequently, once she finds out that Keenan is pursuing her to be his queen, Aislinn spends a lot of time fleeing from him. The following cycle develops: encounter Keenan, run away. Encounter Keenan, run away. Repeat a few times more. What really got me about Aislinn, though, was when she accepted a drink from a faery. For someone who’s so afraid of faeries and constantly reminds herself of the rules to avoid trouble with them, you’d think that she’d know a lot better than to eat or drink anything that they offer. She doesn’t.

Fortunately for Aislinn, her best friend Seth is there to comfort her when she’s had a rough day being chased by Keenan and other faeries. When the relationship headed for let’s-be-more-than-friends territory, I really got frustrated with the book. I did not buy Aislinn and Seth as a couple. At all. He’s a good listener and a supportive friend, but nothing really stands out about him.

Keenan wasn’t that much more appealing as a romantic interest, although I felt a bit sorry for him because his mother, Beira, is such a witch to him (and everyone in general). For me, the best scenes/dialogue in the book were between these two characters. If the interactions between other characters had crackled this much, the book would have held my attention better.

The character who I became most invested in was Donia, the last girl who failed the Summer Queen test and must remain the Winter Girl until someone else attempts the test. Her story was both absorbing and sad, and I thought that she was the best written character. Personally, I would have preferred it if Wicked Lovely had focused on Keenan’s courtship of Donia and how she became Winter Girl (with a few guest appearances by Beira for comic relief). Unlike Aislinn and Seth, Donia and Keenan definitely had chemistry between them.

All in All: I don't like giving up on a series, even when the first book doesn’t blow me away. The only series that I’ve abandoned so far is The Vampire Diaries, and that was after the third book. Maybe it’s because I always hope that the next book will be an improvement, and if I quit before reading it, I’ll regret it. Wicked Lovely had a solid hook but just didn’t deliver fully. I’m curious to see if the follow-up does, so I’ll hang in there for at least one more book.

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1)
By Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Paperback
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Meghan Chase's life has never been exactly normal. On her sixth birthday, her father vanished without a trace. Ten years later and now living in a remote area in the Louisiana bayou, Meghan is about to experience an unforgettable sixteenth birthday. Her brother Ethan is kidnapped and replaced with a faery changeling, and her best friend Robbie Goodfell reveals himself to be none other than the legendary trickster, Puck. Together they set off for the faery world of the Nevernever in search of Ethan. Meghan soon finds herself face-to-face with the faery king, Oberon, who she is stunned to learn is her real father. When the fey courts edge closer to war, Meghan becomes caught in the middle, all while still trying to rescue her brother from an evil force that threatens the Nevernever itself.

Review: I loved the world of The Iron King. It seamlessly blended fairytale with reality. This is my favorite kind of fantasy book, in which the fantasy elements are written so vividly as to appear perfectly plausible. Why can't a talking cat with a wicked sense of humor and the ability to disappear at will exist?

The Iron King boasts a great cast of characters. Despite all of the trials that Meghan faces during her journey, she maintains her focus on saving Ethan and doesn't spiral into self-pity. Going into this book, I wasn't sure if I would need to reread Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which famously features Oberon, Titania, and Puck. I think that their depictions in The Iron King stand on their own and don't require the reader to have already been familiar with them. (Actually, most of what I know about those characters comes from their appearances on the 90's cartoon Gargoyles. That was a great show!) Julie Kagawa's Puck is especially interesting. He's as cunning as ever, but he also shows off some serious fighting skills. Most importantly, he genuinely cares about Meghan. Puck's rival in the sarcasm department is the sly cat, Grimalkin. Grim pulls double duty as comic relief and keen observer. I hope that Grim and Puck share many more scenes together in the rest of the series.

Of course, this review wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Winter prince, Ash. Now, I have a HUGE weakness for ridiculously handsome, brooding, male characters whose stony exteriors can only be cracked by the love of a good female protagonist, preferably after much squabbling. Does Ash meet those criteria? Absolutely. My only quibble is his shift from personifying “Winter prince” (resisting the urge to make a comparison with thawing ice here) to lowering his emotional defenses. At first the change was gradual, but then suddenly it seemed like it had skipped a few stages. As I said, though, this is a nitpick.

Finally, I thought that the story of how the Iron fey came into existence was very original. It added a creative, modern twist to faery lore that also makes the reader consider the potential consequences of our ever increasing reliance on technology.

All in All: I borrowed this from the library but definitely need to buy a copy of my own, along with the rest of the books in the series!