Tori's Review: The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: ♚♚♚
Pages: 359
Published by Harlequin Teen on January 1, 2010
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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.

You know that series that doesn't impress you that much, but you keep reading for the sake of finishing the series and because you have to know what happens or if it gets better? Well, The Iron Fey is that series for me. If you've read my review of The Iron King, then you'd know that I wasn't all that impressed with The Iron Fey's first book. Surprisingly, I liked this one more, hence the extra half star/crown. 

Just like last time, Meghan annoyed me. Someone needs to tell that girl that Ash is not the center of the universe. Primarily, this is the only part of this book series that really annoys me. Obsessing over Ash lost this book 1.5 stars/crowns. The first half was so irritating just because of Meghan's infatuation over Ash. In my opinion (Ash fans, please don't gouge my eyes out), Puck is a much better match for Meghan. They've known each other longer, and I think he compliments her well. He's always there for her when she needs him, despite the fact that she's all for Ash. The thing is that Puck knows patience. He even said himself that he was going to wait for Meghan. Oh, yeah, and there's the fact that he doesn't reject her every 50 pages.

Yes, there's still time for me to switch ships. I did it with the Shatter Me trilogy, and I can do it again.

Honestly, I wish I could look this aspect over since I'm so engrossed in the Nevernever, but I really can't. I absolutely hate clingy main characters. So much. Although, Kagawa creates such an intricate world, and I believe it. I believe that the fae could be running around the place, disguising themselves at humans. Kagawa's world is very addicting as is her writing. No matter how much I dislike Meghan and Ash, I can't stop reading the books. And this is literally what keeps me coming back for more.

I put the next two books on hold. As well as the novella book. As well as the first two books in the spin-off series. I'm so marathoning the books. As I said, they're so addicting.

I have to say that, yes, the first half of the book is Meghan obsessing over Ash, but after page 60 or so, things got a lot better (for me, anyway), because Puck showed up! I was missing Puck since he got injured in the previous book, but now he's back, and I'm loving him. Meghan's love *cough* for Ash remained while he was gone, and when Ash came back (because Ash always comes back, right?) all of Meghan's progress toward obsessing over Ash less vanished. Back to square one.

In the end, this is a good series. I'm pretty much the only person that's majorly ticked off by Meghan and Ash it seems, and I feel like I'm reading a completely different book than everyone else who's in love with Meghan and Ash. Oh, well. I heard the next book, The Iron Queen is a lot better, and I can't wait to continue on with the series to see what happens with Meghan (and Ash)!

(I just need to clarify that I am not an Ash hater. I like him; I do. I just don't like how clingy Meghan becomes when she's around him.)

Lindsay's Review: Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun

Ink by Amanda Sun
Series: Paper Gods #1
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 326
Published by Harlequin Teen on June 25th, 2013
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On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

Dono yō ni shite iru? Don't know what that says? Don't worry! I'm just asking how are you in Japanese. I actually learned a lot of simple phrases while reading the book and if you know me in real life you're probably sick of me shouting out random things in Japanese.

Now, as much as I hate to admit it, I think that the reason I truly loved this book is because it took place in Japan. I love everything about the culture and the fashion, and Ink made me truly feel like I was really there in Japan. I felt like I was biking down the streets, staring at the sakura trees or in the school, feeling like a black sheep in a field of white.

Amanda Sun combines English and Japanese perfectly, making the words flow while also translating for the reader to understand. There's even a glossary at the back, but I found I didn't even look at it until I finished the book because Ink was so easy to understand. Also, the drawings throughout the book, both actual pictures and doodles, fit well and didn't take away from the story. As the pages kept turning I was genuinely trying to slow down because I didn't want it to end so soon, but I had to fight with myself because I absolutely needed to know what was going to happen next.

Katie is a main character I can relate to. When she's upset, I can really sympathize with her and feel what she's going through. I felt her struggle personally and loved her as a main character no matter what actions she took. 

"You're right," he said. "I'm sorry. Let me draw something to make it up to you."

"Draw yourself getting smacked in the face."

And Tomo as a love interest, despite my caution about how an author would integrate two languages together for romance, was perfect. Everything he did was justified, and unlike typical bad boys, he actually felt real.

I really don't have one bad thing to say about the book, the plot, or the writing. It was all fantastic in my opinion. The only thing I don't like? That I have to wait until the end of June to get a copy of the next book in the series! I want it in my hands right now!

Review: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: ★★★
Pages: 363
Published by Harlequin Teen on February 1, 2010
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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.

Meghan Chase is just an ordinary girl. But wait. That's not right, is it? Every book starts out like that! No, Meghan Chase is not an ordinary girl. She's half fey, which basically means she's half faery. Faeries thrive simply off human imagination, which is an interesting aspect. I haven't read more than one or two faery books, and The Iron King is definitely a nice start. Meghan and her best friend Robbie go on an adventure after Meghan discovers that Robbie's a little more than just her typical, red-haired best friend that likes to prank and joke around. He's actually Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck. And Robbie's true identity isn't even touching the base of what this book has to offer.

Don't let my star rating fool you! I wish I could give this book five stars; it's just that based on my rating scale and all the problems that I have with The Iron King, it wouldn't be fair in comparison to my other reviews and ratings. This book was enjoyable to an extent, and I'm glad that I finally got around to reading it. I have to admit that I probably wouldn't have read this book for another year or so if it hadn't been for the email recommendation that I got from a viewer of this book, which I was ecstatic about. I'm sorry I don't have that much nice to say about the book that this person recommended to me. I wish I liked it more than I did!

Julie Kagawa is one of my favorite authors after The Immortal Rules series. The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure are beautifully written and the characters are amazing and the plot and everything is just great and the romance was done amazingly and just that series is so good. So naturally, I thought that The Iron King would be just as great. Yeah, well, it wasn't. I think that there are three components in this novel that convince people that they're in love with it.

1. Ash and Puck. (Do not mistake this with Ash and Meghan.)

2. Grimalkin.

3. Action.

Notice that Meghan Chase is not on that list. That is because Meghan Chase is an annoying little brat that only cares about herself. In short, I think Meghan Chase is stupid. Her actions may seem valiant at first, but then when I really think about them, they're stupid. She refuses to leave Ash behind just because he's fighting for her when she's supposed to be saving her brother? Like, ohmygodno. How stupid can she get? I mean, Meghan, your brother might be dying! You've traveled all this way to kill the Iron King! And then you get close--so close--and oh god the hot prince is dying you must give up your whole quest just to watch him die because you can't do anything to help him because you're helpless.

Yeah, not buying it.

And this leads me into my next point. (I'm not even going to talk about how she completely disregards Puck the entire book. Liiiike, bitch, no. He's amazing, okay?) Ash and Meghan's relationship. They don't deserve a ship name. And I ship everyone! Anyway, Ash and Meghan's relationship was so fake. I honestly thought that Ash was going to be the sexy one out while Meghan made out with Puck. I would've been totally fine with that. But instead, after days of knowing each other, Meghan is already sucking face with Ash.

And that kiss? What was that? It was so...random. I didn't feel anything for the two while reading it. I had no desire for them to kiss. Their relationship--or lack of--seemed so inconvenient for Kagawa, like she forced it or something because, hey, YA needs romance. I would've liked this book a lot more if Kagawa just used this book to build tension between the two rather than rush them into things. That's what series are for--to gradually build up, not to rush into with a blindfold on.

Grim, Ash, Puck, the action, and the imagery is what saved this book for me. The plotting was okay, I suppose. Things were way too predictable for me. All the "plot twists" were clear as day even without foreshadowing. The "twists" that Kagawa added were just basic plot twists that every knows to avoid. The other thing that I liked about The Iron King was the dialogue. It was realistic in my opinion, which is a big deal to me. And Puck. He was hilarious. I'll show you one of my favorite lines (from Puck, obviously).

"Oh, we're playing nice now?" Puck remained seated, looking anything but compliant. "Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?"

Gotta love Puck!

In conclusion, this book was worth the read. I may seem like I'm bashing it, but really, I'm not the best at pointing out a book's strengths without raving. I'm better at finding the things I don't like and complaining about them, which is pretty much what all my reviews consist of. Like I said, I liked Grim, Ash, Puck, the action, and the imagery; I just didn't like Ash and Meghan's relationship and the predictability of the plot. It's not a waste of money, if that's what you're thinking about reading this review. I just don't have many strong feelings about this book other than ASH AND MEGHAN, LIKE THAT WAS JUST SO WRONG NO.

Tori's Waiting on Wednesday: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #3
Genre: Paranormal, Dystopia, Young Adult
Pages: N/A
Published by Harlequin Teen in 2014

There is no summary, wahhh wahhh.

Tori's Review: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #2
Genre: Vampires, Young Adult, Dystopia
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 434
Published by Harlequin Teen on April 30, 2013
Date Finished: August 13, 2013
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Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.
Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.