Review: Julie Kagawa – The Iron Knight

Title: The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #4
Harlequin Teen
Rating: 2.5 / 5

“My name–my True Name–is Ashallayn’ darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…”To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase–a half human, half fey slip of a girl–smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end–a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

WARNING: Here be spoilers! Even more spoilers. A lot of spoilers. Maybe.

The most disappointing of the series. I was hoping for a more intriguing tale in Ash’s journey to get his soul, but instead what I got was, well, pretty standard faire for epic journey to get to point B stories. Lots and lots of travelling, oh and some stuff happened in between.

Truthfully, I had seen some ratings and reviews from people I follow on goodreads that claimed this one was the best of the series. So, of course, I went into it extremely pumped. I was expecting something totally epic, especially since I had liked The Iron Queen so much. Unfortunately, The Iron Knight didn’t quite deliver for me. So much so, that I asked myself a couple times if I wasn’t reading a different book.

I really, really wanted to be impressed. Instead, I found Ash wavering between his old love and his current love, Puck making weird pop-culture references, and OMG Ariella is back from the dead. Or she was never dead. Or something.

Anyway, Ash wavers very much back and forth between his love for Ariella, the Girl Who Was Dead, and Meghan, the Girl Who Is Now Queen of the Iron Fey. There’s a moment where Ash even admits that he wishes Ariella had never “died”, but then realizes why it had happened, no matter how much he wishes it differently, and my hope died a little for Ash. It’s all nice and stuff that he realizes that things can’t change, what’s done is done, etc etc., but truthfully, he shouldn’t have thought it at all. He has Meghan now. At least, the whole point of his trip is to make sure he has Meghan. Oh, Ash. (I seemed to be thinking this a lot during the series.)

Really, the wavering and the fact that Ash seemed to need to remind himself so often that he was doing this entire thing for Meghan was really off-putting. Ariella seemed to either be testing him, or she really didn’t want him to succeed at his quest. And I really, really didn’t like her.

As always Grimalkin was awesome, and Puck was, well, he was Puck. And really, they were this book’s saving grace, because I think I’d have put it down and moved on if it wasn’t for them. Also, the Wolf, because I was greatly entertained with the banter between him and Grim.

Reading things from Ash’s point of view was a big change, too. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first. Turned out it wasn’t that bad, and was actually pretty convincing. Sometimes female authors try to do a male point of view and it just doesn’t work, but for me, Kagawa’s ‘Ash’ voice worked just fine.

A second read-through made the book a little more tolerable, but it was nowhere near as good as I had initially wanted it to be. Which, all in all, is unfortunate, because I really wanted to like this. I really, really did. I’m hoping that the next book in the series, which picks up with Meghan’s brother, is better.

BFTA Review: Karen Marie Moning – Darkfever

Title: Darkfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever #1
Dell (Random House)
Rating: 4/5
Read for: 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge // 2011 Urban Fantasy Challenge

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands…

There’s been a lot of raving about the Fever series around the blogosphere, and for good reason. I can’t say enough about how much I loved this book, and I have to get my hands on books 2 and 3 immediately.
Okay, so I did have one slight problem, and that was how Mac kept talking about the past, in Georgia, and how different it was. It was frustrating sometimes, and I really just wanted her to get over it, but…
It’s a whole new ball-game, at least for me in terms of subject. I’m very used to reading vampires and werewolves, so it was a really nice change of pace for me with the fae, and especially the lore behind them.
I also found both Jericho and V’lane intriguing, and I look forward to seeing more of them in the upcoming books.

Originally posted 26 March 2011.

Review: Julie Kagawa – The Iron Queen

Title: The Iron Queen
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #3
Harlequin Teen
Rating: 4 / 5

My name is Meghan Chase.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back.

WARNING: Here be even more spoilers!

Review: Julie Kagawa – The Iron Daughter

Title: The Iron Daughter
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Harlequin Teen
Rating: 3.5 / 5

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey–ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

WARNING: Here be spoilers!

I’ve cut the rest of the review, so unless you’re linked directly to it, all spoilers will be hidden unless you select to read it all.

Review: Julie Kagawa – The Iron King

Title: The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #1
Harlequin Teen
Rating: 3.5 / 5

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny–one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth–that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Sooo… Truthfully? I’m not so much into Meghan. Really, I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I get it. She’s new to the Nevernever, and she’s trying to learn all the rules on the fly, but she sometimes comes across as too…. stubborn. I’m not sure if that’s the word I’m looking for, but there was something about her I didn’t like.

But let me talk about what I did like, because holy cow there’s a lot.

I really, really loved how different the fae are from humans. No emotions, no conscience, nothing. If they want it, they take it. No regret, no remorse. Really, Oberon’s conversation with Meghan when she comes to the Summer Court sums it up:

“I did not.” Oberon’s look was pitiless, unrepentant. “What do I care for human rituals? I need no permission to take what I want. Besides, had she been truly happy, I would not have been able to sway her.” (p 111)

Oberon’s talking about when he met Meghan’s mom, but this kind of reflects the entire feeling the fae have towards humans. Complete disregard. Humans are nothing compared to the immortal, beautiful fae. Just a blip in time. I love it. So effing much!

So let’s talk about Puck and Ash, because apparently they’re the draw (I really don’t get the trend in YA for romantic triangles. One person has to lose, eventually. I have yet to see a happy ending for all three in a triangle, and no, Jacob from Twilight doesn’t count as a happy ending. It really, really doesn’t). During book one, I had such mixed feelings regarding both of them. They both did things that made me go, “whut?”

Nothing more-so than Ash’s conversation with Meghan when the Winter Court comes to the Summer Court:

“War?” Something cold touched my cheek, and I glanced up to see snowflakes swirling in a lightning-riddled sky. It was eerily beautiful, and I shivered. “What will happen then?”
Ash stepped closer. His fingers came up to brush the hair from my face, sending an electric shock through me from my spine to my toes. His cool breath tickled my ear as he leaned in.
“I’ll kill you,” he whispered, and walked away, joining his brothers at the table. He did not look back. (p 141-142)

Oh, Ash.

So Ash is supposed to be the “mysterious” character who, in reality, is an ass who people are inexplicably attracted to, and while I guess I can get the physical attraction, anything like the conversation above would have had my mental brakes screeching.

Again. Oh, Ash.

Of course, further in the book, we get a little glimpse of Ash behind all the jerkiness:

“Never again,” he muttered, almost to himself. His eyes were still closed, and I wasn’t sure he knew I was there. “I will not watch that happen again. I won’t… lose another… like that. I can’t…” (p 232)

And it was at this point that I started to maybe have a little sympathy for Ash. It doesn’t excuse him being a jerk, especially to Meghan, but his past garners him a little sympathy from me, at any rate.

And Puck. Oh, Puck. My feelings for Puck bounced back and forth repeatedly throughout the series. Sometimes I like him because he does his little tricks, then he does something so jerk-ish that I just loose all liking for him and I have to start from scratch with him.

I’d talk more about Puck, but for some reason, all my highlights and notes are about Ash. Go figure.

I also want to say that Kagawa paints a beautiful picture of the Nevernever, describing the characters and scenery in beautiful detail. The one thing that I didn’t get was much personality, in particular from Ash, and I have a note wondering about insta-love, because all Meghan talks about is how “hot” he is (for lack of a better word).

I also want to say a quick word on the rules of the Nevernever (don’t say ‘thank you’, don’t make promises, etc). On my first read-through of the book, I by-passed it. I didn’t think too much of it (as Meghan tends to do). On the second read-through, my brain went “wtf?” Meghan gets into a lot of trouble because of these rules. And while it was fun watching her work her way out, I also got a little frustrated for the characters; it must suck to live so restrictively. Then again, it’s probably all they know.

The “rules” thing comes into play much, much more in later books, and it gets much more interesting watching Meghan learn to navigate the world of the fae.