Book Description
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.
Review
Book 2 in The Iron Fey Series
Most young girls would fall head over heels for a book about a normal girl who turns out to be a faerie princess, gets pursued by two gorgeous faery guys (one is a prince and the other is the most famous faery ever), gets to go to her school dance with said gorgeous guys, has not one but two makeover scenes, and finally gets to ride a unicorn into battle!
I’m a huge fan of paranormal YA even though I’m well into my twenties, and there are many great titles that readers of all ages love. I wanted this book to be another addition to that list, but when your not exactly thirteen anymore, you might find THE IRON DAUGHTER somewhat lacking.
Like the first book in The Iron Fey series, The Iron King, the main plot and unique world building of THE IRON DAUGHTER are excellent. After the demise of the Iron King in the previous book, the Iron fey are divided and half are planning another assault to takeover Faerie, destroying both the human and faerie worlds in the process. Megan and her friends (Ash, Puck, Grimilkin, and a few others who might surprise you) take up the quest of stopping them. A string of somewhat disjointed scenes (see the first paragraph) lead them to a massive battle scene that easily trumps The Iron King’s excellent final fight.
I had hoped that Meghan’s adventures would have matured her and given her more insight into the guy she claims to love. Sadly, she was as juvenile as ever mouthing off and foolishly jumping to the wrong conclusions time after time after time. Which made it all the harder to understand why Puck openly threw his hat in the race for Meghan’s heart in this book.
I liked both books in this series, but found they shared the same strengths (great meta-narrative and creative world building) and weaknesses (juvenile main character and a string of filler scenes). The ending was again the strongest part of the book and it’s making me gloss over some of the rougher elements of THE IRON DAUGHTER and has me excited to read the conclusion to this trilogy, The Iron Queen, when it releases in February 2011.
Sexual Content: Kissing.
My Rating (out of 5):
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from THE IRON DAUGHTER
Previous books in the series:
- Winter's Passage eBook (novella)
Product Details
Reading level: Young Adult - Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (August 1, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0373210132
- ISBN-13: 978-0373210138
- Cover Art: N/A
I haven't read this 2nd installment yet (and I don't think I will), since I was really not into the 1st. Like you've pointed out, Meghan was very juvenile. Also, the love between her and Ash was so forced, shallow, unbelievable. At least with Puck, I could kinda see it, given the fact that they were apparently best friends for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, what is up with the romance in YA novels lately. I just finished reading and reviewing Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers, and it really made me stop and think about the ugly trend I've been seeing lately. Majority of the romances are so superficial. It's either love-at-first-sight or the whole soulmates-destined-for-one-another things without anything substantial to back it up. These characters barely know anything about each other, barely share any genuine none-hormone-induced moments together and BAM! they're in desperate never ending love. So many times, I don't even recall the heroine mentioning what she likes about the guy beyond his physical attributes, but somehow she's "in love". I just don't think this sends the right message to teen readers, especially young girls.
Anyways, so for the rant. Thank you for the review!
Marg - That is a particularly annoying trend in YA books. Paranormals have a little wiggle room because of the whole magical element, but even then it can feel like a cop out. I recently read Personal Demons too and even though I really like it, you're right about instant love. Hopefully this is a trend that won't last.
ReplyDeleteLove that opending paragraph, just had me shaking with laughter. No I'm so curious to read the first book.
ReplyDeleteShera - The first book is better IMO, especially if you're a fan of the movie Labyrinth. Sadly there are no unicorn war horses :)
ReplyDeleteI read about... half of the second book (thanks to NetGalley) before I gave up. There's no doubt about it: Julie's writing is great. I loved the world in this series, but Meghan annoyed me way too much. So much, in fact, that I've given up with this series. I'm convinced that she isn't going to grow as a character, and I'm tired of hearing about her mindlessly following Ash around like some lost puppy dog that he continually kicks.
ReplyDeletePlus, I don't remember the faery woman's name now, but in the galley she said "darling" way too many times to the point where I wanted to scream.
Shame on me. I bought this one as soon as it was released but I have yet to read it!=) I will have to come back and read your review!=)
ReplyDeleteWow! That was some bad spelling.
ReplyDeleteLabyrinth, I'm going to assume it's the one with the puppets. That movie was wacked. Don't get me wrong I was giggling constantly, but that movie is only made for sleep overs with lots of sugar.
Tori - Darling! That is one of my annoying pet names, especially when coming from another women. It drove me nuts too.
ReplyDeleteChas - My reviews are always spoiler free, but I tend to avoid reviews of books I already plan on reading. I don't want to go into a book with someone else's opinion already set.
Shera - I'm constantly displaying my spelling ignorance for the world to see :) Labyrinth was a childhood favorite and I still enjoy it as an adult. Definitely a trippy film, but in a good way.
ReplyDelete