The Iron Daughter
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Genre: Fantasy, YA, romance, paranormal, fairies
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page number: 361 pages 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.
MY REVIEW
So as my ARC, TBR, and required summer reading book pile continue to manifest itself into a size that I can no longer tame, I am here literally re-reading the first book of series and giving books second chances. Recently, I have Leigh Bardugo a second chance with her Grishaverse, and that ended with me devouring her works. Now I'm doing the same with Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series. The Iron Fey books reminded me a lot of the Obsidian books by Jennifer L. Armentrout. These books are definitely very indie like, but there is an undeniable reason why they're still so popular, because of how addicting they are. Books like Iron Daughter doesn't really live up with the Sarah J. Maas books, or other books that feel "less indie". But these books are still able to capture the reader's attention in a very different way. These books are able to temporarily put down our "critical reading side", and just allow our reader side to enjoy books like this as guilty readings. It's books like this that although it's definitely far from perfect, I am still giving it a really good score just how enjoyable they are. I dig everything in this book. The romance, plot, and even the fantasy world-building. I really, really appreciate Meghan's growth from book one to book two. I originally quit the series simply because I cannot handle Meghan anymore. Her stupidity makes me cringe at my core. Although there are a few moments at the beginning where you just want to what the book over her head, I am so relieved to see scenes like this diminishing as the book progressed. I don't know why, but the idea of "forbidden love" always fills me with cringe and reminds me of cheesiness. If you're afraid of this trope and don't want to read this book/series because you feel like it's going to be cheesy, don't worry too much. It actually wasn't that bad. This book definitely didn't have instant -love, and the brief hate-love relationship at the beginning of the first book (and this book) dilutes any real cringeyness this trope can bring. I know there are people out there that absolutely despises this trope, so I'm going to kind of give out a little statement for people who hate-triangle love: bear through it. I feel like there is not going to be any real triangle-relationship, looking at the way the story is going. Meghan already picked Ash. So yeah, I highly doubt Puck and Meghan would truly go anywhere. If you're looking for a fun read an is not particularly keen, against, or craving specific genres, this book and this series is for you. Also, if you enjoy a hate-love relationship that doesn't last too long (the ship become canon very quickly), you'll enjoy this book and series too. This book definitely did exactly what the second book was supposed to do: make me want to continue the series.
My rating:
about the author
Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel. When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.
To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.
Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.
