Review: The Iron Daughter

Title:  The Iron Daughter
Series:  The Iron Fey
Author:  Julie Kagawa
Publisher:  Harlequin Teen
Pages:  359
Format:  Paperback

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:  I was excited to start another adventure with Meghan and the rest of the gang, though I was a bit concerned.  Puck was still gone, Grim had left, and Ash was acting quite cruel.  Despite those problems, the plot moved quickly from the very first page.  There was not a slow moment in this book and that really added to the heart pounding adventure.  We were also able to see a lot more of this faerie world this time around which was awesome.  I was curious in the first book about the Winter Kingdom and now that I've experienced it . . . well it's rather terrifying.  I don't think I could last five minutes in that place before I would have a panic attack.  Meghan handled that part fairly well while she dealt with other things very poorly.

I was really disappointed with Meghan when this book began.  I can understand her confusion, of course, and even her sadness.  What bothered me though was her complete dependence on Ash and her falling apart when he didn't act like he was in love with her in front of the entire Winter Court.  Meghan, think carefully about this: you are an enemy in the middle of his families territory.  Do you really think he is going to be making kissy faces and holding hands with you?  That's just not how it works in Faerie and I had thought she had learned that by now.  I could have even handled irrational anger toward him but just rolling over and crying?  No.  Luckily, she did eventually grow up and find her feet again.  I much prefer her when she is kicking ass and not letting anything get in her way.  Though I did have my problems with Ash in the beginning of the book, I understood his intentions.  I also enjoyed learning more about his past, both about Ariella and otherwise.  And, of course, I adored Puck and Grim in this book.  They never fail to crack me up.

We were introduced to some new developments in Meghan's powers and new characters!  Iron Horse, a new(ish) character, was amazing.  I thought he was just so sweet and everytime someone was rude to him I just wanted them to go leave forever.  I found it really interesting that he was so faithful to Meghan and I have my suspicions as to why but . . . we'll wait until the next book for that.  Meghan being able to control some iron at times was awesome.  I thought it definitely gave her an advantage against the Iron fey.  And it also fed my suspicion about the whole Iron Horse being faithful to her thing.   

Though I had some problems with Meghan in this book, I felt like the rest of the characters were just as amazing as ever.  I really enjoyed getting to know them more as they went on yet another heart racing adventure!  I'm excited to read the next book and, if you haven't already, I would highly recommend that you go out and buy The Iron King, the first book in this series.

Four Cards