Book Review of The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter

Author: Julie Kagawa

Release Date: August 1, 2010

*If you have not read The Iron King this contains spoilers*

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, iron-bound 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 alone 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.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: I loved The Iron King so when I got  my hands on the sequel I was so excited!!   It is actually going to be a trilogy so this book is part two of Meghan’s journey.  It took me no time fall right back into the world of Meghan Chase.  The only thing that took some remembering was how cruel fae can really be.  If you have not read any stories about faeries lately, stop thinking Tinkerbell!  Faeries are complex beings and not all of them have your best interest at heart, so beware.  One of the unique aspects of this series are the characters that are already familiar to you as a reader before your even begin.   Many of the fae are intertwined in multiple legends, such as Queen Mab, Oberon, Titania and Puck.  I love how characters from other worlds have entered this one and you get to see their story expand.

In this novel Meghan is once again thrown into a mission very quickly.  This time she searching for The Scepter of the Seasons, which has been stolen by the Iron Fae.  Just like the first book there are many action sequences and enough suspense to keep you reading, because you just have to find out what is going to happen.  I know I did, because it only took me two days to finish the book.  I would have been done faster, but that pesky job thing got in the ways of precious reading.  Along with the action, the romantic tension between our three main characters has returned.  In the first book we lost Puck for a while and Meghan and Ash became close through their journeys through the Iron Realm.  In this book Ash and Meghan are separated and Puck gets a chance to spend some quality time with her, which he definitely takes advantage of.  I personally love Ash, even though some of the things he says to Meghan sometimes make me wince.   After reading this book though, I think I have a better understanding of why he is saying those things.   You get some of the back story on him and it paints his life in a different light for me.  He has such tough choices to make in his life and whatever he decides people will get hurt.

I cannot talk about this book without putting in a quick word about Grimalkin, because that cat is awesome!  Plus, I am nervous that he might secretly come and haunt me if I don’t talk about him a little.  He just cracks me up every time he shows up.  He always knows what to say to piss someone off or just be really, really, cryptic!  He pops up at the most random moments and although he would never admit it, I think he is trying to help Meghan out.  I would love to spend a couple minutes in his brain just to see what he is thinking, which of course he would never allow.

Without spoiling anything, let me just say when I got towards the end of the book there were a couple of things said and done that just made my mouth drop open in surprise.  I am not going to say whether they were good or bad, but I know I did not see them coming.  There is also someone in this story who used to be an enemy and becomes a surprising alley.  I think the title of the book has some hidden meaning that is not fully explained in this book but it is hinting at something, I am just not 100% sure on what it is right now.  So I will look forward to seeing that and other mysteries explored more in the final book.

Overall, the book was great!  I think Julie has done an awesome job of weaving a magical tale full of adventure and angst that will keep you on the edge of your seat and craving more .  If you have not read The Iron King start there, then read Winters Passage, which is a short novella in between book one and two, then jump right into The Iron Daughter, you will be happy you did!