SHOW BOOK DETAILS
I love an author that can create extraordinarily vivid settings whilst not taking focus off the story at hand. Kagawa is fantastic at this, and not once did I feel overwhelmed by the descriptive style. Though the pacing did feel a little sluggish at times, The Iron Daughter never got boring. It's just so easy to get lost in this world.
In all honesty, I was hoping to learn more about life in the courts in this sequel, and while we did spend some time with the Winter fey, it wasn't enough. Before long, Meghan had returned to the big bad world outside and Tir Na Nog was a thing of memory. The Iron Daughter finds Meghan determined to locate the Scepter of the Seasons that has been stolen from under the nose of both Summer and Winter and bring the tentative peace back to the Nevernever. Of course, nothing is ever easy where the Iron fey are concerned and Meghan's journey takes a few unpleasant turns. I found myself completely absorbed in the story and can't wait to see what happens next. After some things that Virus said towards the end, I have a pretty good idea, but I'm curious as to the events that will unfold and how Kagawa will go about making it happen.
Ironhorse makes a reappearance in this novel and, surprisingly enough, he's a prominent feature throughout most of the book. For reasons unknown, I found myself intrigued by him in The Iron King, though he was barely a character at all. He's much more fleshed out in this installment, and I have high hopes that he will return in The Iron Queen.
Despite how much I loved Ironhorse, however, I can safely say that Ash is still my favourite character (barring a certain cat, of course). We see a completely different side to him in this book, and I adored him more and more with each page. Though he's still cool and brooding for the most part, other emotions start making themselves known as the story progresses. It's easy to see his struggle - Winter prince falling for Summer princess? Definitely not a good situation to be in. His conflicting emotions were definitely the strongest part of the character development in this sequel. On the other hand, Puck grated on me this time around. I thought he was great in The Iron King, but his feelings for Meghan truly pissed me off. I couldn't even begin to explain why, but there you go. Hopefully Kagawa can bring back the Puck I love in the next book.
Julie Kagawa is definitely one of the best authors when it comes to descriptive scenes and vivid settings, but one area that she could have worked a little better in this book was the romance. We caught a glimpse of a relationship in The Iron King, and I mentioned in my review that it seemed a little sudden and unrealistic. Unfortunately, Kagawa followed the same path that many other YA authors go down - the love triangle route. Personally, I believe this book should have focused more on Meghan and Ash's relationship, rather than incorporate a third point. It's painfully obvious who Meghan is going to end up with, so why did she do this? To cap it all, the relationship between Meghan and Ash still feels somehow wrong to me, so I'm genuinely hoping that Kagawa pulls out all the stops in The Iron Queen and finally gives me some emotion that feels real.
Despite my annoyance at certain aspects of this book, The Iron Daughter was definitely the strong sequel I was hoping for. If you enjoyed The Iron King, I highly recommend carrying on with this series. Julie Kagawa is a fantastic author, and I'm very excited to see what happens in the next installment.
Despite my annoyance at certain aspects of this book, The Iron Daughter was definitely the strong sequel I was hoping for. If you enjoyed The Iron King, I highly recommend carrying on with this series. Julie Kagawa is a fantastic author, and I'm very excited to see what happens in the next installment.
