Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Daughter

By: Julie Kagawa

Published by: Harlequin Teen

Publication date: August 1, 2010

304 pages

I bought this book


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.

Julie Kagawa, I'm on to you, so you may as well 'fess up....

You're a Faery aren't you?? Because there is just no way you would be able to describe the Nevernever in so much detail unless you had actually been there. I will be expecting an email shortly on how to get to the nearest trod so I can visit the land of Fae myself....

(*WARNING* This review will be slightly spoilerish so if you want to be completely surprised, come back and let me know what you thought after you have read the book. But by all means, read this series!!!!)

I read The Iron King not too long ago and fell in love with the world and the characters Julie Kagawa created (visited? met?) and guess what? I loved The Iron Daughter even more. While all the magic of the first book is present and accounted for here, what I really enjoyed this time around was getting to know the cast of characters even better. I love Meghan's sense of right and wrong and how she is bound and determined to always do the right thing, even when the right thing isn't the easy thing to do (and isn't that really true to life a lot of the time?) She's finding her voice and isn't afraid to use it.

And Ash...I have to say, the one teeny tiny thing that bothered me a little in the first book was how easily he seemed to have put his first love out of his mind for Meghan, but here we find that that is not the case at all. She is still very much in his thoughts and not forgotten and this did a lot to bring me closer to Team Ash. Closer. Not there. Yes, I am still Team Puck y'all. Maybe it's because I am 42 and the thought of all the drama and angst associated with forbidden love just makes me...well...tired. I want solid, dependable, knows what he wants Puck (not saying I wouldn't be open to a little royal dalliance before pledging my hand to the Puckster...Ash IS pretty hot =)

Speaking of Puck, he eventually makes his return (with some of THE most romantic lines ever...I may have swooned a lil) and Meghan realizes she has two really amazing guys in her life. Who will she choose? Who does she love? Will she follow her heart and just where will that take her?

The rest of the action in The Iron Daughter revolves around our trio trying to retrieve (say that three times fast) the Scepter of the Seasons, which has been stolen from the Winter Court. Blaming Oberon, Queen Mab declares war on the Summer Court. Meghan knows the truth behind the Scepter's disappearance however and realizes that it is up to her to get it back if she wants to prevent Winter and Summer from destroying each other and leaving The Nevernever vulnerable to the Iron fey. Along the way, we meet the Dark Muse, Leanansidhe, bringer of creative inspiration at a very high cost. She's not someone you would wanna make deals with, but she makes one heck of a Faery Godmother. And we certainly can't forget Grimalkin...oh how I adore that cat. When questioned how he is able to do the things he does, he simply replies "I'm a cat." 'Nuff said.

I've had some fun with this review because I had so much fun reading the book. But in all seriousness, I have to say Julie Kagawa is a writer of immense, incredible talent. I've never had an author make me cry with a single word. A single non-cap-locked word. That's storytelling genius. That's The Iron Daughter.