Review: The Iron Daughter

The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)
Julie Kagawa
Paranormal, Faeries

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 can read my review of book 1, The Iron King, here.  So as you know, I was overall disappointed with the first book of this series. There was too much insta-love. And I'm not just talking about Meghan and Ash, but also Oberon (Meghan's fey father) and Meghan. The latter I felt needed a lot of delving into because it'll be important to Meghan's future in the Nevernever. 

I enjoyed this sequel a little more than the Iron King, but not so much that I'm running for book 3. Honestly, quality wise it wasn't much better- I'm  just familiar with the characters and the world now. The series isn't character based- as in, it's not the character's PERSONALITY and DECISIONS making things happen, but rather random obstacles thrown their way. The big motivation for Meghan in this installment is ASH ASH ASH. Even when he broke things off with her, he was her number one consideration. IT WAS SO ANNOYING. This isn't Mockingjay, when Peeta and Katniss legit LOVE each other and want each other alive for completely selfless reasons and those are unquestionable facts because we were right there for the whole process. Not to mention in Mockingjay there was an actual reason to worry about Peeta. Here I just couldn't buy anything Meghan did because the reason she did those things was her love for Ash WHICH I DIDN'T EVEN BUY IN THE FIRST PLACE. 

Another thing I didn't buy was Ironhorse's undying loyalty. I understood when he said he would accompany her for reasons X, Y and Z but not when five minutes later he wants to sacrifice his life for her. We were given a hint at then end for the reason of this but I wish it could have come earlier and prevented my frequent eye rolling throughout the novel. 

AND THE LOVE TRIANGLE- *growls* it's obvious who she should be with and it's obvious who she will be with and unfortunately they are not the same person. 

Once again, I felt that this book was brimming with possibilities but fell short. Fans of Julie Kagawa, do forgive me, but I think that in the hands of a different author this series would be INSANE. We could have some amazing Puck/Ash dynamic- I was sure we'd get tons after we found out the mutual history but unfortunately was disappointed. The prom scene could have been EPIC but ended up being rather boring. So much build up and not much pay off.

Ending: EYE ROLL

Rating:


My apologies for being AWOL this week. Missed you guys! Life should be easing up now and hopefully I'll be back to normal. 
Hope you had great holidays!
Esty