Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa - Leona

Summary from Goodreads:    

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.

In The Iron Daughter we get to see even more of the amazing world of the Fey. Julie Kagawa once again manages to surprise me with her fluency of writing and the wonderful images that she creates with her words.

Meghan's character takes a blow early on and at points I felt like screaming at her. She did some really stupid things that made me cover my eyes and hang my head in shame. After this point we see her character go from strength to strength. 

This book does not fall prey to the dreaded curse of the second book. Basically, it's when the second book in a series is really bad! This book may even be better than the first one! I know, I said it. Relationships are developed further and we discover more of the rules and wonderful places within the book.

Puck is the same sarcastic boy that we loved from The Iron King! He's even better this time around!

Ash makes a lot of difficult choices this time round and it makes us, the reader, wonder why he made them! We see his feelings more in this one and we learn more about his past!

Julie Kagawa is fast becoming one of my favourite authors because she can create magical worlds that I would love to live in.....kinda! 

Go read this series if you haven't already!

Favourite quotes:

"Your kind of blind, you know?" Puck whispered, smiling to soften his words. “I wouldn’t defy Oberon for just anyone. But, for you...” He leaned forward, touching his forehead to mine. “I’d come back from the dead for you." 

"I was minding my own buisness long before you and the princess started humping like rabbits." 

"But I can't...I won't...give her up. Not now, when I've just found her."

"How is Oberon these days? Still being henpecked by that basilisk of a wife?"

"Don't insult the basilisk...." 

"You look like crap, prince. Did you miss me?"

"Yes," he murmured, his voice so low I barely caught it. "She's worth it."

"You know Mab will tear you apart for this."

"I know."

"I know you'd risk everything to protect us, and that's what worries me. You still don't know enough about this world to be properly terrified. Things are going to get screwed eight ways from Sunday, and you're making goo-goo eyes at the enemy! I heard what happened in Machina's realm and yes, it scared the hell out of me. I love you, dammit. I'm not going to watch you get torn apart when everything goes bad."

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa - Leona

Summary from Goodreads:
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


I was completely captivated by this book from the get go and cannot believe I didn't read this before now! It has been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year and I never read it! I was an idiot for not reading it!

Meghan is an amazing main character and one that you can completely relate to. Megan has always felt different. I couldn't understand the way in which her family treated her, it didn't make sense until later on the book. The fact that she remained focused on her goal even when everything seemed to be going wrong was remarkable and I really admired her for it!

Kagawa did a superb job of creating this magical world, unlike anything I have ever read about before. I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of books that center on faeries and goblins and things like that but I absolutely loved this one! Kagawa is a very strong writer and can create beautiful images with the words she writes. She is a credit to her profession!

Ash and Puck are amazing characters and I cannot pick between them! It is usually so easy for me to decide on the characters that I prefer but in this case it is IMPOSSIBLE! Kagawa gives us different reasons to love and loathe these characters. Puck brought a sense of humor to the book but it was not over done like it is in some books! I may be slightly in love with both characters! 

Each character was perfect and I really cannot fault anything within this book! This book will always hold a special place in my heart!

I really can't say enough good things about this book! It was so addictive that I stayed up into the early hours of the morning so that I could finish it! I honestly do not know why I didn't read this before! It is an absolute MUST read and I am dying to read The Iron Daughter, book 2 in the Iron Fey series! I think it's time for a trip to the library!

Some of my favourite quotes:

“Ladies and Felines,” he stated grandly, grasping the doorknob, “Welcome to Tir Na Nog. Land of endless winter and shitloads of snow.” 

“Oh, we're playing nice now? Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?” 

“Touch her, and I'll freeze your testicles off and put them in a jar. Understand?” 

“Bravo," said Grimalkin, peering down from Cold Tom's chest. "The Winter prince and Oberon's jester agreeing on something. The world must be ending.” 

“No, no. We can kill each other later.” 

“Ash blinked. "Are you raiding the cellars now, Goodfellow?"
"Me? Stealing?" Puck flashed a devious grin and popped another fruit into his mouth. "In the house of my ancient enemy? What gave you that idea?" He plucked another fruit and tossed it to me with a wink.”  

“Knock, knock!" he called in a high, singsong voice.
For a moment, silence. Then a thud and a crash, as if something heavy had been hurled at the door. "Go away!" snarled the voice from within.
"Ah, no. That's not how the joke goes," called Rob. "I say 'knock, knock', and you're supposed to answer with 'who's there?'"
"Fuck off!"
Nope, that's still wrong." Robbie seemed unperturbed. I, however, was horrified at Ethan's language, though I knew it wasn't him. "Here," continued Rob in an amiable voice, "I'll go through the whole thing, so you'll know how to answer next time." He cleared his throat and pounded at the door again. "Knock, knock!" he bellowed. "Who's there? Puck! Puck who? Puck, who will turn you into a squealing pig and stuff you in the oven if you don't get out of our way!" And with that, he banged the door open.” 

“Metallic trees. That's new. If you see any steel dryads, be sure to tell me so I can run away screaming."

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa - Megan

Synopsis from Goodreads
In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Just as I was beginning to think that the vampire genre had finally emptied it's bowl, Julie Kagawa turns the tables on us and delivers a thrilling new story that you'll want to sink your teeth into. I was sceptical at first considering the book was based on the original vampire stories without the whole glitz and glamour of Twilight or The Vampire Diaries but Kagawa proves that her imagination has endless boundaries!

In New Convington, vampires are greatly feared and instead of admiring them, everyone wants to keep as far away from them as possible. After a virus ravages the earth's population, vampires rise to power and the remaining humans become their blood cattle. Unregistereds - like our protagonist, Allison - struggle to survive in the Fringe because, technically, they don't 'exist' so they aren't allowed any food or resources that come from the Inner City.

The book commences strongly, with the rules and regulations of New Convington clearly outlined so we get an understanding for the law system. It took no time at all for Kagawa to firmly grab my attention as she introduced me to this dark and dangerous world. The world-building was impeccably structured with the plot moving forward at a comfortable pace with no forced or rushed events occurring. The fluency of the writing had me engaged throughout because there's nothing I love more than an author who can actually write!

The characterisation was superb. I've noticed that some people seem to have a problem with Allie's choice to become a vampire - considering the fact that her hate for them is clearly stated in the first chapter - but, as told to us during this scene, Allie wanted to live. I mean, she's spent the majority of her life barely existing, so naturally her survival skills would kick in and urge her to go down the immortal path. Allie's determination to not feed on a human was commendable but she also had the sense to understand that sooner or later she would need to sink her fangs into someone or the Hunger would send her on a crazy killing spree. Her loyalty was also torn between her master Kanin and the group journeying to Eden but she balances both, with her rescue mission for Kanin unfolding in the sequel which I'm actually pretty excited for due to the cliffhanger at the end of this book!

The romance was as sweet as sugar; the fact that we didn't meet Zeke (also known as, Ezekiel Crosse) until halfway through the book made it that much better as it gave Kagawa enough time to fully create this world. With no insta-love and no love-triangles in sight, the relationship between Allie and Zeke spread its wings gradually and their growing trust for each other was expertly handled as we came to the climax of the story.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it has definitely lived up to my expectations. I really couldn't recommend this more.

Rating: 5/5 stars