The Wrath of the Fey

"'I have to be on top of my game 

if I'm going to kill things for you, right?'"

--Julie Kagawa, The Iron Daughter

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 359 pages

Release Date: August 1st, 2010

Find on Goodreads-- The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Yeeeeeeah...So I read this in like...roughly 6 hours...including eating and bathroom breaks...I am completely enthralled by these books. Thank you book friends for convincing me. I went in with minimal expectations because, honestly, I did not think I would enjoy reading about the faery world and I DO NOT say this often but...I was wrong. This world is cruel and harsh and brutal but ever so beautiful and charming and enchanting. And that is how I feel about these books so far...enchanted (second favorite word of mine btw). Gah, just so good! So The Iron Daughter picks up where The Iron King left off...obviously :) Meghan is stuck in the Unseelie Court but our beloved (third favorite word in the world) is gone. She hasn't seen him since she got there...what a bastard. THEN when she is finally summoned by the Queen, Ash comes back from a hunt for the Iron Fey and he is beyond cruel to her. Demeaning, mean, hurtful, just plain rude! Meghan. Is. Crushed. She internally tells herself to turn to iron inside to avoid further heartbreak but don't count Ash out yet. In a surprising turn of events he ends up saving her (can't give too much away if you haven't read it yet) and they escape in order to search for an item that was stolen by the Iron Fey. From there...well, just go read it, that's all you're getting from me ;)

This book was fantastic. I felt so in tune with Meghan's character and her emotions that I truly felt transported to the Nevernever. I feel like some female characters that I read about do not have the rationalization to make the decisions they make; such as turning away a love interest for no good reason and I'm sitting there reading in agony as to why she is being so stupid kind of thing. But this book I felt like Meghan made rational decisions in regards to the situation at hand. When Ash was horrible to her she shut down. She was pissed and hurt and angry as all hell. I was internally screaming at that dirty bastard, too! How could he say those things!? Even though he did warn her, still...sheesh take back some of that chill. Give her a sly wink or a smirk or something. 

All is kind of explained...eventually...with that said, I loved seeing Ash and Meghan's relationship develop in this book. The agony. The state of their love being forbidden. I get it. You're on opposite sides, but what the hell?! You're all faeries. I feel like this was an amazing way for Kagawa to put forth the question of prejudice towards relationships of different races. People are people, faeries are faeries, can't we all just get along? Why can't they get married? This underlying theme of racism (specie-ism?) throughout the books is brilliant. It puts forth an adult topic of conversation and molds it into a way for young adults to understand more easily. I cannot get enough of authors that take complex adult themes and presents them in a simplistic way that teenagers and adults alike can discuss. Brilliant.

Puck was another surprise for me in this book. I am not usually a fan of the friend who pines over the protagonist. LOVE The Mortal Instruments but I never rooted for Simon to be with Clary. Not a fan. Friend zone. Respect the friend zone. This is just me and how I function in my head, but once a guy is in my friend zone, I cannot see him a different way. I would feel pressure and awkwardness and bullied into something I never saw or wanted. BUT I love Puck. I mean, I'm rooting for Ash, don't get me wrong, but I did not get annoyed when he tried to take things to the next level with Meghan. It seemed more natural and real than other story lines of the same nature.

And what else was awesome?...A surprise ally that you never saw coming. I will NOT ruin this little tidbit of the plot if you haven't read it. But I LOOOOOVED this!!! Heart-wrenching and a few tears of joy. Grimalkin is also so darn funny! I love his impromptu appearances and stating the obvious remarks. He cracked me up...ya know...cuz he's a cat... :)

I cannot WAIT to read The Iron Queen! Even though I LOVED LOVED LOVED the ending of this book, I still want more of the story...did I mention I loved the ending?? No? Oh, well in that case it was beautiful :)

5/5 Stars...Where is the next book? Oh...sitting right next to me...here I go :)