Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

 

Goodreads Summary: 

Enter a fantastical world of dangerous fairies, wicked princes, and one half-human girl who discovers her entire life is a lie. This special edition of The Iron Daughter includes the bonus Guide to the Iron Fey and an exclusive excerpt from the new Iron Fey book, The Iron Raven.
Half Summer faery princess, half-human, Meghan Chase has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter faery prince she thought loved her, she is a prisoner to the Winter Queen, Mab. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real threat is 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.

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars with over 127,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fairies, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Adventure

Previous review on the series: The Iron King

Goodreads Challenge: 33/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #36 Free Space Pick any book! (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Happy Saturday readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I basically burned through two books back to back, as you can see. In case anyone is wondering, I don't sleep and it's usually because of books. Especially fantasy books that catch my interest right away. This is one of those books.

The Iron Fey is a series that's been on my to-be-read list for a while. I read the Iron King earlier this year and really liked it, so when I saw the Iron Daughter on sale, I picked it up. I really like the world that Julie Kagawa has created where the old legends of fairy realms mix with a new modern age of fairies. The idea of there being a group of iron fey because of how the human world has advanced is really fascinating. 

In a way, I'm kind of annoyed at myself for liking this series as much as I do. The fantasy and adventure are interesting. In the Iron Daughter, there was a little bit of espionage and some unexpected alliances. All of this I love. However, at its core, it's a typical YA fantasy where the Teen girl needs to save the world, but she's too busy focusing on the two boys trying to win her affections. One of which is outright trying to kill her. It plays really hard on the Romeo/Juliet star-crossed lovers trope. I want to hate it because it's cheesy and overdone. The entire time I'm screaming at Meghan in my head to get over Ash and fall for Puck. Yet, I'm so entertained that I don't care how stupid the romance aspect is. 

One thing I do like about Meghan is she's willing to fight for herself. The boys kind of seem to start the process of saving her, but something ends up happening that gets her to save herself. She's got some emerging powers that I'm really excited to get explored.  I'm excited to see where the story goes.

The Iron Daughter is a quick read and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes YA fantasy/romance. There are some aspects that frustrate me, but I love the story so much that they seem minor at best. I'm definitely going to continue on with the series. 

Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

 

Goodreads Summary: MEGHAN CHASE HAS A SECRET DESTINY�ONE SHE COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED…

Something had always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. But she could never have guessed the truth.

Meghan is the daughter of a mythical faery king…and a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Goodreads rating: 3.89 stars with over 204,000 ratings

Genre listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fae, Faeries, Magic

Goodreads Challenge: 15/30 (only 3 books behind now!)

2021 Reading Challenge: #19 Read a book with a form of royalty in the title (see the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

This book was kind of a blast from the past. Once upon a time, I used to go to the half-priced book fair in Indiana and load up on tons and tons of books. Afterward, I'd do a book haul for the books and talk about whether or not I'd want to read it. I bought this on kindle, and I kept thinking this seemed familiar. I'd usually do this with my friend Leslie and her family. Sometimes she'd give me books to clean up her own bookshelf. This was one of them, and it was featured on a book haul all the way back in 2015 when the blog was only a year old. If you're curious, you can find the haul post here. It's interesting (and a bit cringy) to see how much my writing has changed over the years. I never got around to reading it because, at some point, we moved, and I sold the majority of my physical books to make moving easier. 

I was really excited for this book in the haul post because of the cover, though I did think it was probably going to be a cheesy YA Romance that was going to be a guilty pleasure for me. Past me called it. I should probably just go ahead and stop saying that I hate romance books because I end up reading a lot of them and liking them. With The Iron King, I was instantly drawn into the world and the details. I think a lot of it was kind of cheesy and cliche, but it was still a fun read that I enjoyed quite a bit.

The things I found cliche were that Meghan was such a loner and outcast in her own world, with only Robbie as her friend. Then once she gets to Faeryland, she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle. It can't be a YA fantasy without the heroine having two boys fight over her while the world needs saving. WHO WILL TAKE ME TO PROM AFTER THE FOUL BEAST IS SLAIN? At the sound of the bell, the teenage suitors will fight. Keep it clean, gents, and no facial wounds. I don't want the pictures to be ruined.

Okay, sorry. I'm done making fun of YA heroines now. Back to why I liked the book because the above statement is what I didn't like. Meghan was bullied quite a bit, which made me feel sorry for her. Even though there was a love triangle, I liked that the book's whole premise was that she had to go on a quest to save her little brother. This is a little bit of a spoiler, but I feel that it's essential. I really appreciated that she was the one to beat the bad guy, if you will. Meghan kind of came across as whiny, but she also seemed really resourceful and determined to do things on her own. Because of this, she ended up growing on me quite a bit. 

I really liked the fairy lore that was included in this story. There's a lot of references to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I realized while reading it that I've never read that particular play. I tried to after finishing The Iron King, but my brain blatantly refused. I don't do well with classics. As intelligent as I am, just old styles of English make my brain cry. I can get through some Shakespeare plays, but it's rough. Anyway... What little knowledge I had of fairy myths made the world Julie Kagawa created fascinating. It also dawned on me that the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina  Robin was a nod to the same character that Robbie was supposed to be. 

I didn't feel overly connected to the characters. For me, the enjoying part of this story was the quest itself and the details of Faeryland. The dialogue had a healthy dose of Sarcasm from most of the characters, however. I immensely enjoyed that. I thought Grim might have been a nod to the Chesire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, which was also mentioned in the book a few times. As I said before, I'm not super versed in fairy lore or A Midsummer Night's Dream, so if the original Chesire Cat was a nod to those, I'd have no idea. Grim was probably my favorite character. Sassy Cat, that's helpful because it's amusing to him? Yes, please. 

Overall, I really enjoyed The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I added the other books to my Amazon wishlist. I could have easily bought the next book in the series, but I'm trying really hard to be good and not go into a series binge. I feel like I've already done that a ton this year. If you are a fan of YA Fantasy/Romance, I recommend this. It's not like some excellent work of literature, but it's short and entertaining with an exciting world.

Book Review: Lucky Charm by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: New witch Emma Hart is at her wit’s end and, this time, it’s not the result of her vampire ghost roommate, her snarky owl, or her feelings for a certain fallen angel. Key members of Spellbound society are acting like children, and it’s wreaking havoc on the town’s regulation-happy infrastructure. When Emma is turned invisible during the investigation, she realizes that the spell was no accident and that someone is out to silence her—permanently.
Lucky Charm is the fourth book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.
This is a full-length, humorous cozy mystery novel.

Goodreads Rating: 4.39 stars with over 1,000 ratings
Genre listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Witches
Number of Pages: 190
Book in series: 4/10
Previous reviews for the series: Curse the Day. Doom and Broom, Spell's Bells
Goodreads Challenge: 25/30

Book Review: 

I think it's safe to say that I'm addicted to the Spellbound series by Annabel Chase. Every time I finish one I have to dive into the very next book. I keep telling myself I'm going to read something else, but obviously, I have not. I keep staring at my unread bookshelf and mentally apologizing to it. On the bright side, I'm at least getting close to meeting my Goodreads Challenge for the year. The 2018 Reading Challenge, not so much. Which reminds me, I should probably start working on 2019's. 

A little recap on the series for those of you just tuning in: Emma Hart finds herself stuck in Spellbound, a cursed Paranormal town, thanks to Fallen Angel Daniel Starr. To boot she's found out, she's a witch and has been placed in remedial witch classes to get her up to speed, Oh, and she's also taken over the position of the town's public defender that was vacated when her vampire predecessor was murdered and became a ghost that only she can see. 

As much as I enjoyed Lucky Charm, it definitely wasn't my favorite book in the series so far. I didn't really get a good feel for the mystery at hand in this one. It felt like an afterthought to all the chaos that happened in the book. I don't even remember who she had to defend (or why) in this one. I will say that having a bunch of well-respected council members spelled to act like children was fairly entertaining. I think that Emma taking charge the way she did also really secured her place in Spellbound. 

I think what I enjoyed most about this cozy paranormal mystery is that Emma learns a lot about who she is. She gets to figure out why she's so different from the other witches in Spellbound, and how powerful she could actually be. I feel like because of this her bond with Sedgewick is strengthened. By the way that Owl amuses me. I love sassy side-kicks! 

As I write this review, I'm already mostly done with the fifth book. A new love interest is introduced in the very last part of this book, and it had me intrigued. I'm a sucker. There are ten books in this series, so far. I have a feeling I'm not going anywhere else in the literary world until I finish this series. Luckily all of the books are pretty short, and I'm getting through them in a couple of days time. It's a good series to get into if you want something to binge, something quick to read, like paranormal or cozy mysteries, want something that's slightly humorous. The entire series is on Kindle Unlimited, which is making it extremely easy for me to binge. I think as of right now, each of the books is around $3.99 each.

Book Review of Doom and Broom and Spell's Bells by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: 
Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

Emma Hart hasn’t had a moment’s peace since her arrival in Spellbound. Her fear of heights hits an all-time high when she’s tasked with mastering a broomstick. It doesn’t help that Lady Weatherby seems determined to make basic witch training feel more like the magical ninja warrior championships.

When a werewolf is found dead and Daniel is named as the prime suspect, Emma takes the initiative to prove that the angel’s halo is firmly intact, once again stepping on the hooves of the cranky centaur, Sheriff Hugo.

The heat is on as Emma struggles to get a grip on her broomstick and identify the killer before it’s too late.

Doom and Broom is the second book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.
Goodreads Rating: 4.33 stars with over 1,100 ratings
Number of Pages: 294
Book in series: 2/10

Goodreads Summary: Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

When a sleeping dwarf is found entombed in a glass coffin and remedial witch Sophie is blamed, Emma Hart must defend her friend while trying to get to the bottom of the enchantment. The investigation lands Emma smack dab in the middle of Spellbound’s matchmaking scene, where plenty of the town’s residents are eager to find her an appropriate suitor.

Emma knows it's time to kick her witchy skills up a notch if she expects to survive Thursday night speed dating and keep sweet Sophie from a life in paranormal prison.

Spell's Bells is the third book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.

Goodreads Rating: 4.36 stars with over 1,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Paranormal, Supernatural, Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Fantasy
Get the Books: Doom and Broom Spell's Bells
Goodreads Challenge: 23 and 24 out of 30.
Number of Pages: 274
Book in series: 3/10
Previous Review: Curse the Day

Book Review:

You may be wondering what's going on with the format above. Well, the thing is I have problems. I downloaded Doom and Broom from Kindle Unlimited right after finishing Curse the Day, the first book in the Spellbound Series. I finished the cozy mystery either late Friday night or Saturday night and read Spell's Bells until 4 am in the morning. When I finally put it down, I was about 88% finished with it. Since I read both books back to back like that they've merged in my brain, so I figure I'll do one post for them. Plus, I'm lazy.

So, as you can probably tell from the binging, I adore this series. I think I relate to Emma with the whole working and going to school full-time thing. There's a lot of details that make the town of Spellbound enjoyable to read. I can tell that Annabel Chase put a lot of effort into including a broad mix of species in her stories. I like that she's slowly getting into Emma's background as far as being a witch goes. I think that's what I want to read the most. Towards the end of Spell's Bells, there is some interesting foreshadowing going on.

Daniel's growing on me the past two books. I won't say I'm entirely for team Daniel, but he's a better option than some of the other choices that she's presented with. I do feel like she's using the Vampire friend a lot though. I can't remember his name at this moment in time. I guess he's not making a huge impact in the story if I can't remember the name.

I'm keeping this short and sweet tonight. I'm recommending the series for anyone who needs something quick and enjoyable to binge read on Kindle. The books are under 300 pages. The stories move quickly. There's good detail, but not so much that it bogs the story down. The characters are enjoyable for the most part. Interesting mysteries. I won't say they're complete shockers, but the conclusions seem reasonable. I will say that I pegged who the murder was in Doom and Broom fairly easily. I was admittedly wrong about the crime in Spell's Bells.


Here's a couple of quotes I liked from the books: 

"This was supposed to be the remedial class. We should all suck equally." -Somewhere around 12% in Doom and Broom

"I had people I cared about, then I risked losing them. In my experience, the negatives far outweighed the positives." -Somewhere around 57% in Doom and Broom

"Maybe you want to be tall, but your DNA has other plans."- Somewhere around 73% in Doom and Broom. (Also, my life.)

"Unsurprisingly, he was mistaken. I never set out to make him look like an idiot. He managed to do that all by himself." Somewhere around 7% in Spell's Bells.

""I'm warning you, Silas. Get your genie butt out of here before I shove you inside the nearest lamp.” She gave him a pointed look. “And I won’t be rubbing it.” - Somewhere around 27% in Spell's Bells. I audibly cackled at this one, I think. 

I'm giving both books 4 moons :)

Book Review: Curse the Day by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: 

Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

The only magic Emma Hart believes in is caffeine and the power of the dryer to lose one sock per load. A public interest lawyer buried under a mound of student debt, Emma’s whole life has been one turn of bad luck after another.

Her streak seems to continue when she gets lost on the way to see a client in the remote Pocono Mountains. A chance encounter with a suicidal angel lands her in Spellbound, a town where supernaturals have been cursed to remain for centuries--probably not the best time for Emma to discover that she's actually a witch.

Between the recent murder of the town’s public defender, a goblin accused of theft, remedial witch classes, and the attention of one smoking hot vampire, Emma struggles to navigate this unfamiliar terrain without losing her mind...or her life.

Curse the Day is the first book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.

This is a full-length, humorous paranormal cozy mystery novel.

Goodreads Rating: 4.19 stars with just over 1,400 reviews

Genre Listing: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Get the Book: Amazon
Number of Pages: 290 pages
Book in series: 1/10

Goodreads Challenge: 22/30

2018 Reading Challenge #3, A Cozy Mystery. See the full challenge here

Book Review:

After I finished up Thunderhead, I wanted to start something quick and relatively easy to read. I figured it was a good time to knock out the Cozy Mystery category for the 2018 reading challenge. It took me a while to find one, but I'm glad I took my time and decided on Curse the Day by Anabel Chase. It's around 290 pages and is fairly fast-paced. I finished it in a day. Which with my current insanely busy schedule is pretty impressive. (When I say busy, I'm not kidding. I work full time, go to school full time, run a jewelry business, and run this blog. Send help in the form of coffee!)

Curse the Day by Annabel Chase was an enjoyable cozy paranormal mystery story that was entertaining from the start. I found Emma to be a likable main character. Her inner monologues with herself are pretty funny. I found myself laughing (out loud, even) quite often while reading this story. I enjoyed that she gets shoved into a remedial witch class with several misfits who take her under their wing. I ADORED that she gets them to watch The Craft. It's one of my favorite movies. Oh, and there are several Harry Potter references in the story. 😍

Anabel provided a nice variety of paranormal species in this one story. The entire town is paranormal, so I was glad to see it wasn't just the typical weres, vamps, and witches. These types are there, but there's also goblins, harpies, fairies, incubus/succubus, elves, gorgon, and of course a grumpy hairless cat that's an insult to all cats. (That's a reference to the book. It'll make sense if you read it.)

I like that Emma's background is a mystery. It sets up the series for exciting twists and turns, especially since she's not quite like the other witches in Spellbound. I imagine it'll be an ongoing mystery in each book. I will say I thought the actual conclusion of who the killer/thief was in Curse the Day came out kind of abruptly. It's revealed around 80% into the book, and while it makes sense, the reveal didn't necessarily wow or surprise me. I will say I'm glad that it was a logical character choice instead of some random off the wall surprise with nothing leading up to it.

There are a couple of potential love interests already lined up, but both make me roll my eyes. The suitors so far are the typical love interest of "He's so HAWT" and zero depth. I'm reserving judgment for now. Maybe they'll grow on me. One of them certainly isn't going away any time soon.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and already started on book two. Now hopefully I can get a chance to finish it soon. I recommend it if you like cozy mysteries, paranormal books, or need something quick to get you out of a reading slump. The entire series is on Kindle Unlimited for those of you needing a series to binge on.

I only had one part that I highlighted during my read, but it's a good one.

"Sometimes we seem to forget that the entire reason we're trapped here is because we mistreated someone. It's important that we strive to do better and look out for one another." - located around 70% of the book.

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Book Review of Influential Magic by Deanna Chase

Goodreads Summary:  It’s tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires… especially when their very existence drains your life-force.
Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death, Willow’s life is threatened, and the director saddles her with a new partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other specimen of the undead.

To save Willow’s life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.

Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

Goodreads Rating: 3.8 with over 1,700 ratings
Genre Listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Fairies, Vampires, Romance
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository

Book Review:

I'm probably going to gush a lot about this book. I've had it on my Kindle forever, and I wish I had read it sooner. The world that Deanna Chase creates in Influential Magic is amazing. I'm a sucker for a well-detailed world, and this world delivered. 

Influential Magic is different than any fairy/fae book I've read previously. I thought that this book put a fascinating spin on the culture, and put so much care and thought into developing Willow's vampire-ridden world. I thought it was interesting how there wasn't much need for the paranormal to hide. They were out in the open and magic seemed like it was just a regular thing. 

I was completely absorbed in the details of this book, and I don't feel like I can talk about them enough. Deanna Chase went as far as even discussing the unique clothing Willow had to wear for her wings. I loved the fact that it explained how certain things weakened her and nature recharged Willow, to the point where her house had an enchanted tree growing on the inside where she slept.

How Willow's magic worked was fascinating, and I enjoyed how each fairy/fae had their unique abilities. Willow's ability to enhance plants was impressive to me, and I liked how she used it to build a successful bakery and uses her product to try and help the community.

It's not often that I get to say a book completely surprised me. There were so many twists and turns in this book that I had no idea where it was going. I was impressed because usually, I can somewhat predict what's going to happen, but I couldn't predict much at all in this one.

I appreciated the relationships in this book. I know, that's probably shocking considering my normal rampages about romance in books. Both of Willow's relationships made sense. Her relationship with David served its purpose and came full circle. She pined for him, but it wasn't because of how pretty he was. She talked about how sweet and caring he had been in their relationship. I'm so happy with how things developed between Willow and Tal. I love that they started out as mostly flirting, but never pursued anything for the sake of Willow's brother Beau. I adore that they started out as friends and grew into something a bit more. I'm a sucker for those types of relationships. 

I liked Willow as the main character. She didn't like being treated like a Damsel in Distress and hated the secrets that were forming to protect her. However, she also accepted that she wasn't a match for Vampires and Witches. She tried to do things her way, though, which I appreciated. I also liked how she thought things through before acting and didn't just jump in making things worse. I loved her little sidekick Link. I thought his shifter ability to just turn from a regular dog to a wolf was a different take on shifters.

Phoebe was an interesting witch, and I liked how she would do just about anything to save Willow. She was a good side character, and I liked her different spells she used. For most of the book, I thought that "Aunt" Maude was vile, like Delores Umbridge level of vile. Yes, you read that right.

I don't have a single bad thing to say about this book. I truly enjoyed it, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!