Series: The Iron Fey (Page 1 of 3)

Hmmm. I about plastered a 3.5 on here and I probably should have….but if I’m being honest, I skimmed a ton of this book in the middle. I feel bad rating this so low when I knew this was a fantasy going in, but I have just recently fallen in love with Kagawa’s writing (her dystopian/paranormal series)and I could not pass up an opportunity to read another of her works-fantasy or not. And I’m just completely optimistic-I always think I’ll get past the little bits of odd characterization and be able to zone in on what my sorry ass really came for-the romance and the action. Well, I was on two totally separate spectrums from start to finish: I liked the beginning, skimmed LOADS in the middle, and LOVED the last 30%. Oh fickle, fickle me.

“War?” Something cold touched my cheek, and I glanced up to see snowflakes swirling in a lightening-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.

I’ll start with why I decided to rush to book two….one word: Ash. Guys, I am not someone who solely bases their reviews and reasons for loving a book on a male lead, but I just did not get enough of the dark prince, Ash. Once he entered the story my eyes lit up and my imagination took hold of the story-my heart started beating faster and I started to speed read just to get more of what he was saying and doing. I just couldn’t get enough of him. And it almost seems to go hand in hand with this author (I’ve just noticed) that when the guy gets heavily involved, drama and action and malice ensue. Perhaps this is the reason I’m so drawn to her writing and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

“No one touches her,” Ash said, his voice coated with frost. “Touch her, and I’ll freeze your testicles and put them in a jar. Understand?”

I’m also not ashamed to admit that certain….creatures? don’t sit well with me. In small doses the fantasy elements are fine and, again, I realize this is strictly a fantasy, but I didn’t start to fall in love with the story until all the introductions of characters were complete and we could focus on the journey and not so much every mythical creature known to man. For instance-in book two, there’s just as many creatures, but it is a five star book at 30% (it was a five star from page one) because of the progression of the story and we already know what is going to lay ahead and what we should be expecting. There’s not a ton of info dump like in this book.

On the one hand, I can say that Kagawa is excellent at world building in both her series I have discovered, and in her other series it worked for me, for the most part. But I think I was just shocked into submission for the first 60% of introductions here and I’m just now on equal footing as the story. I take a while to fall in love with a story when I am skeptical to the premise, but I will admit that when it came time to ask myself-Okay, so do I care about what happens to these characters, and would I be upset if I stopped after book one and never found out what else there was to see?-and I came to the conclusion that, yes, I did care.

It was like a color given emotion: orange passion, vermillion lust, crimson anger, blue sorrow, a swirling, hypnotic play of sensations in my mind.

All I know to say to everyone is that this is a fun story (at least near the end) about a COMPLETELY forbidden romance where the male is a winter prince and the female is a summer princess-see the problem? Their loyalties are to their families and the kingdoms they come from and it is treason to fraternize with the enemy (romantically, that is). Ash was sent to retrieve Meghan for his mother and also the queen, and when Ash finds and attempts to capture Meghan, they make a deal to find and save her brother, and then she will go willingly with him to the queen. Deals with Faeries (sigh, I know) are unbreakable and punishable if you attempt to get around them-they will come for you one way or another.

I licked my lips and whispered, “Is this where you say you’ll kill me?”
One corner of his lip curled. “If you like,” he murmured, a flicker of amusement finally crossing his face. “Though it’s gotten far too interesting for that.”

All in all I ended up really enjoying this book and I’m loving the second. I’m all for forbidden romances and perilous, scary journies where no one is safe no matter how careful you are. I didn’t 100% connect with Meghan as a character, but already in book two I love her. The only other character I feel deserves some recognition is Grim, the cat who also struck a bargain with Meghan to help her out along the way. He was funny, witty, sarcastic, and he just kept coming back-he was loyal and fun and he was a great addition to the story. So, I’m off to read and hope that the second novel keeps the pace up-I am so hooked!

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Iron King #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Winter's Passage #1.5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Daughter #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna
The Iron Queen #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Summer's Crossing #3.5	The Iron Knight #4 Reviews: Chelsea
Iron's Prophecy #4.5 Reviews: Chelsea	The Lost Prince: Call of the Forgotten #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Traitor:Call of the Forgotten #2
The Iron Warrior:Call of the Forgotten #3

I’d sacrificed everything-family, home, a normal life-for the stupid greater good. I had worked so hard; I was trying to be brave and mature about everything, but now I had to watch while the thing I loved most was killed in front of me?

It’s so hard to write reviews for series that you are consecutively reading, especially if you don’t have access to an internet or computer on the weekends like me. So hopefully I can separate the two books I’ve been reading so close together so that I can assemble a somewhat coherent review. It turns out that after book one of this series, I have been hooked and unable to put these down no matter what I’m doing or who I’m ignoring.

When you can’t breathe, each second feels like an eternity.

The Iron Daughter was, for me, on a whole different level than book one.

Now, I loved the end of TIK, but compared to the action and forbidden romance and heartache in book two, there just isn’t a competition for me. In this installment, we start off with Meghan upholding her end of the bargain-she is residing in the Unseelie (winter fey) palace and unable to leave because of her promise to Ash (promises/pacts/vows) which can’t be broken once made. But, aside from that, she doesn’t want to break it-she has fallen in love with Ash and wants nothing more than to face the world with him at her side. There’s just one problem-once they reached the winter court, Ash no longer shows his affections for Meghan and has started treating her with disgust and disdain. He is once again the icy prince she first met not so long ago and she doesn’t know what to make of it-didn’t he share the same feelings as she? Was he not the one who saved her countless times and risked his life for her? And the biggest question: Is he just acting for the winter court to keep her safe, or was it all an act with her…to get what he wanted out of the bargain?

What would I do now? Ash despised me. Everything he’d said and done was to bring me to his queen. He was a cheat. He’d used me, to further his own ends. And the saddest part was, I still loved him.

One thing I will say is that Meghan started out a little like a lovesick puppy, but it never really annoyed me as it did others. She is hurt, confused, and she doesn’t know what she will do in the freezing palace without her ally, the boy she fell in love with. Being that she is of the summer court, she is in an environment that is hard to live in and the winter fey are less than receptive-constantly trying to toy with her, cause her problems, taunt her with her claims of love for the unattainable prince and how he could never love her in return-she has never felt more alone.

I didn’t want to face him now. I didn’t want to think that he could be gone from my life forever, vanishing into a world where I couldn’t follow.

Ash, again, stole the show for me. He is brooding, mysterious, protective, and lethal-we didn’t get him 100% of the time, but we got enough of him that I was more than happy. His decisions and proclamations of love were so swoon-worthy that I had to settle down and just. Stop. highlighting. While Ash appeared stubborn at first, we get to see his emotions unfold as the journey progresses and it makes it all the sweeter when we reach the climactic and (woot woot) perilous conclusion.

“Forgive me,” Ash murmured, and I heard the faintest of tremors beneath his voice. “But I can’t…I won’t…give her up. Not now, when I’ve just found her.”

I am so beyond ecstatic that I found Julie Kagawa and her magnificent writing. It has been a while since I have found a book that has that perfect mix of romance, action, suspense, forbidden love…and a totally handsome prince who keeps my mind occupied way more than he should. When was the last time I’ve been so excited after a book….oh wait, wasn’t it? Yes. Yes it was-it was her otheeerrr series (The Immortal Rules, The Eternity Cure) that had me desperate for more. What I love most about Kagawa is that while she throws in additional love interests, her main characters know what they want. They might look at the prospect of what else there is, but they don’t veer from what they want and need-there are no senseless love triangles or unnecessary drama. Every problem has a place and she pieces it together seemlessly. She weaves such beautiful strings of words together that continue to mesmerize and render me useless. I love this author and I love what she does with her worlds. There is no lack of creativity and there is no dilemma the same.

“…Make your choice.”
Ash looked at me. I saw pain in his eyes, and a little regret, but they shone with such emotion I felt breathless. “I already have.”

Sooo here I am in the middle of book three and I’m still completely satisfied. The fantasy has stayed even with the other elements and kept me completely at ease in my comfort zone. Now, I can only continue and hope that nothing horrible happens (well…..nothing tooooo horrible hahaha) and that we keep getting Ash and Meghan time…because I am completely and utterly hooked on their adorable relationship and the dangers they face because of it.

“They see only this outer shell, not who I really am, beneath. You have. You’ve seen me without the glamour and the illusions, even the ones I show my family, the farce I maintain just to survive. You’ve seen who I really am, and yet, you’re still here.” He brushed his thumb over my skin, leaving a trail of icy heat. “You’re here, and the only dance I want is this one.”

…..Final thought-one of the new characters tore my heart completely open and left me speechless with the loyalty that came with that alliance-HE is not one to be missed and is a completely fun addition to this compelling series. That is all…

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Iron King #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Winter's Passage #1.5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Daughter #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna
The Iron Queen #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Summer's Crossing #3.5	The Iron Knight #4 Reviews: Chelsea
Iron's Prophecy #4.5 Reviews: Chelsea	The Lost Prince: Call of the Forgotten #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Traitor:Call of the Forgotten #2
The Iron Warrior:Call of the Forgotten #3

I learned that love can transcend race and time, and that it can be beautiful and perfect and worth fighting for but also fragile and heartbreaking, and sometimes sacrifice is necessary. That sometimes it’s you against the world, and there are no easy answers. That you have to know when to hold on…and when to let go.

God. Damn. It. Damn you, Julie Kagawa! What. Was. THAT?! That is not one, but two, TWO series where she has literally (I DO MEAN LITERALLY) killed me with the endings at the pique of the series. People. I am telling you now-I love peril and I love action and I LOVE the climax of a story but rarely am I a blubbering, incoherent mess of emotion during these aforementioned scenes. In The Iron Queen I laughed, I swooned, I cried, and I literally fucking fell apart as the ending unraveled. I didn’t know what I was going to say about this book because it is just so hard to express how epic you believe it is in terms that others can interpret and apply to their own thoughts and beliefs, because once they get in their head that I think something is epic, they think surely something awesome happens that will blow them away…but everyone is different in their levels of astonishment and awe and I have learned that many times before-but I can’t deny what I thought this book was: Epic.

Ash pulled back slightly, his silver eyes bright as he stared at me, his cool breath washing over my heated face.
“You are beautiful, you know that, right?” he murmured, all seriousness, one hand gently framing my cheek. “I know I don’t say…things like that…as often as I should. I wanted to let you know.”

Book three. Oooooh book three how will I explain you spoiler free for my friends who are considering reading this series? Something happened in book two that lead to undesirable circumstances for Prince Ash and completely ideal circumstances for Meghan…to an extent. So, we start book two with Ash and Meghan…in a precarious state they never imagined possible. After the events leading to this, the Iron Kingdom, the false Iron King, and all of his minions are after Meghan so they can bring her back to their land where her power can be used to fuel the false king…and make him the strongest of all of Nevernever-which would mean the end of the summer and winter courts (Prince Ash, Grim, and Puck included) and everyone that calls Faery home.

“One more thing,” Ash said in his dangerous, soft voice as we turned away, and Glitch shot him a wary look. “If you do not return with her,” Ash continued, staring him down, “if she comes to any harm while she is with you, I will turn the entire camp into a bloodbath. That is my promise, lieutenant.”

Meghan has become a complete badass. She was good for most of the book and even most of the last book, but in this book, we see a fierce, strong-willed, and impressive girl who has done a complete turn around since book one. She had to make some tough decisions and she didn’t always know what to do, but in the end, she kicks ass, and there was no way she couldn’t have earned respect from everyone who reads of her battle against the false Iron King to save all of Nevernever. After all…the fate of the whole Fey world sits on her shoulders.

“You tell the false king he doesn’t have to send anyone to get me,” I said in the firmest voice I could manage. “I’m coming for him. I’m coming for him, and when I find him, I’m going to kill him.”

And Ash. Oh Ash. I need my review gush session for the amaaaazing Prince Ash lol. But what is so funny about Mr. Ash is that….all he does is brood and tell Puck off-AND I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF HIM! Whyyyy is this guy under my skin so deep? What is it about him that makes me squee and fangirl and obsess over him so? I don’t know what makes him so special to me, but he is. His sole purpose has become to protect Meghan, to love her, to save her from those who mean her harm-his sole existence is this human girl who came out of nowhere and turned his dark world upside down, bringing him out of a deep depression and the darkness that has plagued him for years and drawing him back into the light. He is loyal, protective and now wears his heart on his sleeve…and I love him. (If I hadn’t mentioned that before ;))

His lips touched my hair, very lightly. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he murmured. “You are my heart, my life, my entire existence.”

I don’t think I’m going to say much more…my last three or four reviews (if you include the novella) have been more than forthcoming on information and, frankly, at this point, I’ve probably said too much. All I can say and express is how shocked, happy, and surprised I am that this series has became a favorite of mine-I think this just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how out of your comfort zone a book or series is, it’s how the author writes it. It’s how that author appeals to you and draws you in and most importantly-how they execute it. An epic novel with an epic conclusion that I will not soon forget, I am anxious for book four and how Kagawa will wrap this all up. I am a jumbled ball of nerves…but it’s the best feeling in the world.

He stopped and looked down, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “And I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ll fail you like I did Ariella, that the crimes of my past will ruin any chance we have at a future. That you’ll realize who I really am, what I really am, and when I turn around you’ll be gone.”

Ugh, and AGAIN I have ran out of room to put my special quotes I had highlighted for this review and have to stop….but here are two quotes that I HAD TO SHARE…but can’t. They are spoilered-look at them at your own risk.

View Spoiler » “My name is Ashallyn’darkmyr Tallyn, third son of the Unseelie Court…Let it be known–from this day forth, I vow to protect Meghan Chase, daughter of the Summer King, with my sword, my honor, and my life. Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side. And should it fail to protect her, let my own existence be forfeit. This I swear, on my honor, my True Name, and my life. From this day on…” His voice went even softer, but I still heard it as though he whispered it into my ear. “I am yours.” « Hide Spoiler
annnnndddd the one that tore my heart out as I relentlessly sobbed-

Gaaaaaah! And that concludes a little of why I was a mess. lol.

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Iron King #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Winter's Passage #1.5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Daughter #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna
The Iron Queen #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Summer's Crossing #3.5	The Iron Knight #4 Reviews: Chelsea
Iron's Prophecy #4.5 Reviews: Chelsea	The Lost Prince: Call of the Forgotten #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Traitor:Call of the Forgotten #2
The Iron Warrior:Call of the Forgotten #3