The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)

I feel like I might not be in the most popular opinion regarding the second book in the Iron Fey series. I still really liked this book; I 100% agree with others who say they could not stand Meghan. She was HORRIBLE! What happened to the Meghan, who was going to save her brother no matter what? The Meghan who ran headfirst into trouble if it meant saving someone she loved? Well, she is gone; all she does is wallow in self-pity of Prince Ash\’s alleged abandonment. I wanted to bang my head against the wall the entirety of her time in the Winter Court. If I had to listen to her ask and wonder where Ash was any longer, I probably would have DNF\’ed this. Luckily, about 20% in, shit goes down, and the Iron Fey come and ruin everything (but maybe they really saved the book?). Just like that, we are back onto another quest with Meghan, Puck, Ironhorse, and how could we forget Grim! Meghan was still pretty horrible the rest of the book, but she did become more tolerable. I am not sure I am a fan of her and Ash. Also, where the heck did her confusion about Puck come from? I am pretty sure she stated multiple times in the past book that they were \”just friends,\” but now she is not sure if she loves him or not?? Ash and Puck should both run in the opposite direction and find someone who does not have some crisis every five seconds. Grim is great for always keeping her in check by saying things like \”stupid human\” or \”stop talking.\” He was really only expressing what we were all thinking. Ironhorse, I think he was my favorite character this time. He is definitely interesting and loud, but I think he (along with Puck) are the two most reliable characters in this book. Ironhorse has his own morals and values, and nothing will deter him from them. He pledges to help Meghan get the scepter back and to prevent any spoilers; that is all I will say. Big fan. I also think the Summer and Winter Courts need to figure their issues out. They both take such a myopic view of the world, and they fail to see the bigger picture. I think that this will ultimately come back to hurt both courts in the future books, especially with Ash and Meghan banished.

So as my ARC, TBR, and required summer reading book pile continue to manifest itself into a size that I can no longer tame, I am here literally re-reading the first book of series and giving books second chances. Recently, I have Leigh Bardugo a second chance with her Grishaverse, and that ended with me devouring her works. Now I\’m doing the same with Julie Kagawa\’s Iron Fey series. The Iron Fey books reminded me a lot of the Obsidian books by Jennifer L. Armentrout. These books are definitely very indie like, but there is an undeniable reason why they\’re still so popular, because of how addicting they are. Books like Iron Daughter doesn\’t really live up with the Sarah J. Maas books, or other books that feel \”less indie\”. But these books are still able to capture the reader\’s attention in a very different way. These books are able to temporarily put down our \”critical reading side\”, and just allow our reader side to enjoy books like this as guilty readings. It\’s books like this that although it\’s definitely far from perfect, I am still giving it a really good score just how enjoyable they are. I dig everything in this book. The romance, plot, and even the fantasy world-building. I really, really appreciate Meghan\’s growth from book one to book two. I originally quit the series simply because I cannot handle Meghan anymore. Her stupidity makes me cringe at my core. Although there are a few moments at the beginning where you just want to what the book over her head, I am so relieved to see scenes like this diminishing as the book progressed. I don\’t know why, but the idea of \”forbidden love\” always fills me with cringe and reminds me of cheesiness. I don\’t know why. If you\’re afraid of this trope and don\’t want to read this book/series because you feel like it\’s going to be cheesy, don\’t worry too much. It actually wasn\’t that bad. This book definitely didn\’t have instant -love, and the brief hate-love relationship at the beginning of the first book (and this book) dilutes any real cringeyness this trope can bring. I know there are people out there that absolutely despises this trope, so I\’m going to kind of give out a little statement for people who hate-triangle love: bear through it. I feel like there is not going to be any real triangle-relationship, looking at the way the story is going. Meghan already picked Ash. So yeah, I highly doubt Puck and Meghan would truly go anywhere. If you\’re looking for a fun read an is not particularly keen, against, or craving specific genres, this book and this series is for you. Also, if you enjoy a hate-love relationship that doesn\’t last too long (the ship become canon very quickly), you\’ll enjoy this book and series too. This book definitely did exactly what the second book was supposed to do: make me want to continue the series.

Iron Daughter is the second (full) book in the Iron Fey series. At the end of Iron King, Meghan keeps her promise to Prince Ash by going back with him to the Winter Court. There she is handed over to Queen Mab and kept as a guest/prisoner. While shes being held the Sceptre is handed over by the Summer Court as a sign of the changing seasons. Meghan is let out of her room to enjoy the party that ensues and during the celebration of the start of winter the sceptre is stolen by Tertius, who is now working for the False King in the Iron Kingdom. During the theft Prince Sage is killed and before waiting for an explanation from Meghan, Queen Mab concludes that the Summer Court stole back the sceptre and readies her subjects for war against Summer. Believing that Megahn was somehow involved, Queen Mab freezes her leaving her alive yet unable to breath. Shes freed by Prince Ash and then the pair of them are caught by Prince Rowan. In order to protect Meghan, Ash wounds Rowan and believing hes killed him they flee from the Winter court and try to escape into the Summer realm. Now on a mission to find the sceptre and steal it back from the Iron Fey and hand it back to Winter to prevent a war between them they run into Puck. Lastly they meet up with Grimalkin and Ironhorse who, has no loyalty to the new False Iron King and swears his allegiance to Meghan to help her find the sceptre. This was a great continuation of the Iron Fey story. In this book we get to see Meghan get some ideas of the kind of power that she possesses. She has power over Iron glamour which gives some indication as to where this story is heading in the next two books. She also realises the depth of her feelings for Ash relationships between Winter and Summer are forbidden and anyone who does enter into something like this is exiled. We see Ash struggle with his feelings for Meghan too. They both admit that they love each other but can never be together. Ashs struggle was well written and really tugged at the heartstrings he fought against everything he knew and held dear but Meghan represented something that he never thought he would find again. The other character that I absolutely loved in this book was Ironhorse. He was loyal to a fault. Once the Iron King, Machina, was defeated he had no loyalty to the kingdom. He would only be loyal to the new Iron King the identity of which is hinted at this book. Ironhorse was a great ally for Meghan and their friendship was really nice and I loved watching it develop during this story. I am really looking forward to finding out what happens in the next book following the events that happened at the end of this one.

Abandoned by the prince she thought loved her, Megan is slowly freezing in the Winter court. She stuck by her oath to Ash and agreed to go with him back to Tir Na Nog in payment for his help on the journey to find her brother. Megan is hated within the Winter Court. Accused of lying about the impending threat of the Iron fey and the daughter of Winter\’s enemy, she has every reason to fear the Unseelie fey. When the Sceptre of the Seasons is stolen from the Winter Court, Summer is quickly blamed, and war soon to follow. Only Megan knows the truth, that it was Iron behind the theft, with traitors inside the court aiding the Iron fey. Megan knows she must retrieve the Sceptre before both courts destroy each other when instead they should be allying. Iron Daughter didn\’t feel like a sequel. It stood just as strong as the first book in the series, and in a way, supports the first. We get more background development and character growth, making it even more easy to fall for Ash and Puck. Megan herself is a stronger character, though she herself would never admit it. We see plenty of action in Iron Daughter, impossible situations and deadly missions. Megan is more than adequately equipped with help on her travels, with unlikely protectors and feline guides cropping up. This is one of the best YA fantasy series out there. It is expertly written with extremely loveable characters and a storyline to keep you on the edge of your seat. And the kissing…oh, Lord, the kissing.,,

In this second installement of the Iron Fey series, we return to the world of the NeverNever in order for Meghan to fulfill her contract. You may remember from the previous books (and the short novella inbetween the first and second books – Winter\’s Passage) that Meghan made a deal with the Unseelie, or winter, prince Ash that if he helped her to rescue her brother from the Iron King, Machina, she would go with him to the winter court without trouble. Well now Meghan has to keep that promise and she\’s not too happy about it. The Winter Court and ruler, Queen Mab, is just a little too frosty for her liking. But more than that Queen Mab is a cruel queen with every intention of making Meghan\’s stay as awful as possible; with the help of Ash\’s two brothers. As if that wasn\’t bad enough, now Prince Ash, the guy she thought loved her, wants nothing to do with her and makes no secret of it. The story really kicks off when the Iron Fey infiltrate the Winter Court leaving casualties behind and stealing the Sceptre of the Seasons (This Sceptre has infinite power to those who control it and is passed between the winter and summer courts at the passing of the seasons). The problem is, nobody believes her; the Iron Fey are not thought to exist by the Winter and Summer Courts. I don\’t want to give too much away but from this point we see Meghan set off on her most challenging adventure yet to reclaim the Sceptre and prove her honesty. So who will help her? Well along the way we revisit Grimalkin, the witty and slightly grumpy cat, who I was thrilled to read more about! Additionally, we of course learn about the fate of Robin \”Puck\” GoodFellow, who after the previous book was left injured and recovering. I really like the characters in this book. Puck never fails to make me laugh aloud, resulting in some very funny looks, as does Grim. But the love triangle between Ash, Meghan and Puck also keeps me hooked throughout; I\’m finding it especially difficult to decide who I prefer of the two! But the best part of this novel, and of the series? It\’s got to be the new take on the world of the Fey. Humans for centuries believed in the stories of the Fey, keeping them alive in their belief, but with new generations comes new technology and so the Iron Fey are created. This is such a fantastic concept and at first I thought these books were named \”Iron…\” because of the well known idea that faeries are adverse to Iron but of course this is not the case. I really think Kagawa has come up with a truly brilliant idea by mixing traditional faerie legend as we mostly know it with evil and corrupt techno-faeries. So overall, I\’m happy to say that this book doesn\’t suffer from what I like to call \”middle-book-syndrome\” and is by no means a filler leading onto the next book. Before stumbling across this series I hadn\’t really enjoyed the faerie world but Kagawa has completely changed my mind! New ideas, new characters and Meghan\’s developing powers kept me glued to this book from start to finish. I more than recommend this book and this series to young adults and adults alike. A must-read! Hope this helps.

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