Review: The Iron Daughter

by Julie Kagawa
publisher: Harlequin Teen
date published: August 1, 2010
format: paperback
pages: 359
source: purchased
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

"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."

What I Thought

I was very excited to sit down to read this one. I've been putting it off for a couple of weeks in the interest of whittling down my library pile, but I finally had the chance to start it last night. While I didn't like it quite so much as The Iron King, I still liked The Iron Daughter a lot.

The characters were much the same as they were in The Iron King, though there were some that were explored more in-depth. In The Iron Daughter, we get to know Queen Mab, Prince Rowan, Prince Sage, Ironhorse, and Virus better. We also are introduced to several new characters, such as Leanansidhe, a rather fascinating character that almost seems omnipresent at times thanks to her ways with gleaning information. However, Meghan managed to annoy me a lot more this time due to her sheer stubbornness and unwillingness to look certain situations head-on and realize what they really are.

The latter half of the books is absolutely riveting. The confrontations had me literally sitting up straight, almost on the edge of my seat. I couldn't wait to see how they would overcome the situations they were in or whether the truth would eventually come to light. I wasn't disappointed. The resolutions were well enacted, yet still fraught with complications. Based upon all of the aforementioned, I can't wait to see what happens in The Iron Queen.

I had to struggle to get back into the story at first, so I couldn't quite give The Iron Daughter the 5 star review that The Iron King earned. However, I did eventually come to enjoy the book, so I rate The Iron Daughter at 4 hoots!