Review: The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Genre: YA fantasy

Pub. Date: October 29, 2013

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all. -Goodreads

4 Stars

*Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Prior to reading this, there was this teeny tiny part of me that was hoping, hoping that Kagawa would give more attention to her old characters, the characters many of us hold dearly. Alas, I was disappointed. They were barely given any attention.

The logical part of my brain is agreeing with her, and I definitely see why she would not pay such close attention to the old characters, but still. I am proud of her that she has enough maturity as an author to let go of the original characters, but at the same time, allowing roughly only three chapters to Puck and Grim is saddening if not a bit of a letdown.

Anyhow, on to the book. There was all the action, betrayal, magic, suspense, and all that good stuff we expect from the Fey world. Really, could we expect anything less? It’s Julie Freaking Kagawa.

I've read somewhere that to be a successful author/writer, you have to pay attention to details. This is exactly what Kagawa does; her writing is descriptive, giving us a clear depiction of how the world of the Fey looks. As in the other books, her writing and world-building are simply impeccable.

The characters have grown tremendously between this novel and the previous installment. Ethan doesn't spend 99% of his day brooding, he shows a bit more maturity, and I don’t abhor dislike him as much as I did in The Iron Prince. The other characters matured and were more deeply developed as well. While a lot of people do hate Keirran, I am intrigued by his character. He’s probably the most interesting individual out of this whole series.

Admittedly, at first the novel was a bit difficult to get into. But once the action started, I could not take my eyes off the page. However, for those of you that have been following Kagawa’s books, as I have, I can’t help but feel that the series is becoming somewhat predictable. It’s not very obvious, but I could kind of guess what would happen during some occurrences, and during others, I felt that they found a solution to their problems unrealistically quickly. Nevertheless, The Iron Traitor is a very solid second installment.

The cliffhanger was, and still is, tortuous. [How did I not see that coming? The title makes it SO OBVIOUS. (hide spoiler)]

For those that haven’t read anything by Julie Kagawa, you probably should pick up one of her books pronto. Although it is susceptible to hackneyed characteristics in some of her books, the grandeur of Julie Kagawa’s storytelling is unbeatable, and it will be hard not to be immersed in the world of the Nevernever.

Stacking the Shelves (5)

I feel like I've gotten some pretty great books this week. (Don't I always feel like that?) So, here's what I got:

From the library:

1. Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas

2. Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey

3. Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta

Loaned: 

1. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (review)

2. The Lord of the Rings, Parts 1,2, and 3, by J.R.R. Tolkien (I have only read The Hobbit, don't judge)

From Netgalley:

 

1. The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa

2. Witchstruck, by Victoria Lamb

3. Indelible, by Dawn Metcalf

4. Berlin Wolf, by Mark Florida-James

What's on your STS? Make sure to link in the comments below!

Review: The Eternity Cure, by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Genre: Dystopia/ paranormal

Pub. Date: April 30, 2013

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike. -Goodreads

Well. How did I forget to review this book?

*shrugs* I guess laziness does that to you.

Julie Kagawa, I must say, you’ve redeemed yourself. I should never have doubted your brilliance. Ever.

I don’t even know what I loved most about this book.

The action, or the suspense?

Zeke, or Kanin?

I didn’t think it was possible, but I loved Kanin even more in this book. We were just given a glimpse of him in the first book, but no worries, he is present for a majority of the novel.

There was a huge twist that I would never have anticipated during this book. I won’t say anything to ruin it, but let’s just say I got very angry over said revelation.

Do I even need to bring up how well the world-building was pulled off? Don’t worry, folks, this book lives up to the dystopian genre, and does not ignore the importance of world-building.

I liked seeing Zeke’s maturity in this book. In the previous novel, he had a childish personality of sorts; he was innocent and maybe a bit naïve. After the horrible events he witnessed, he has matured a lot, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of his new character, I felt it was fitting given the circumstances.

Jackal was hilarious. You can’t help but grow fond of this irritating character. He was, hands down, my absolute favorite character. His dry humor and sarcasm brings light to this otherwise bleak novel.

Oh, and that last scene? That gave me chills. It was too horrific, too scary to imagine. The villain was vile and evil and… villainous. He’s not lame like other villains I have come across; this guy’s legit.

Because of my fondness and affection for Zeke, the end pretty much ripped my heart apart. Just be prepared when you begin this book to have an overload of feels.

What a gripping novel. I’m surprised I was able to write a review.

4.5 stars

Review: The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: YA dystopia
Pub. Date: April 24, 2012

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

Julie Kagawa never fails to amaze me with her storytelling. Her novels will pull you into the world that she has superbly created with her beautifully detailed writing.

As hard as it is to admit, this book was, in summary, a disappointment. With my standards set so high, I was expecting something with more pizzazz (I can’t think of a better word, so I’ll just use that weird one).

It's not like the author did not do a good job in portraying vampires as how they are supposed to be portrayed. It's not that the story wasn't written well or the characters were flat or whatever. It's that I was not that affected by this story. Yes, the middle part was totally epic, but the rest... I don't know. It just was not that notable or magnificent, to me.

I guess a good way to put this is that this book will be easily forgotten, blurring in with the other insignificant books.

It causes me utmost pain to be giving Kagawa's book, an author whom I have been a major fan of, a rating of less than 4 stars. But I feel like there are other books out there worthy of 4 stars, more so than The Immortal Rules.

The only two characters that I truly felt a connection with are Caleb and Allie, not so much the others. And Caleb only because of how young and cute he is, and I have a soft spot for little kids. Zeke, while sweet and kind, was a little too perfect in my opinion, and was not that interesting to read about. Kanin was very mysterious and we know absolutely nothing about him besides what was revealed near the end. But I think that this was intentionally done in order to expand on his character in book 2. Kagawa did a good job with developing Allison as a main character, but neglected the other characters by not putting as much effort into them.

I can’t find any solid justification for rating this book 3.5 stars, other than the fact that I felt so disconnected from a majority of the characters. Though, I think that not being able to connect with the characters takes a lot away from the reading experience. So I guess that is a good enough reason.

I’m sorry Julie Kagawa, AKA one of my favorite authors of one of my favorite series, for giving your book 3.5 stars. I truly am. Still, I am firm in my belief that this book is not that great as I expected it would be.

*Cowers in a corner out of shame*

But there is still hope for book 2!

3.5/5 stars

Top Ten Tuesday #5: Top Ten Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas
What a girly assassin she is.

2. Half-Blood, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

3. Neverfall, by Brodi Ashton 

This cover is pretty and all, but it's exactly the same as the second one, only a silhouette.

4. The Iron Legends 

That is NOT how Puck looks. And why are they in such awkward positions?

5. Finale, by Becca Fitzpatrick

The cliche-ness of this cover is unbearable that I literally just burst out laughing when I saw it. What, is he going to push her of the cliff??

6. ALL of the Vampire Academy books

7. Holes. by Louis Sachar 

Is that supposed to be Stanley at the bottom...

8. Blue Bloods, by Melissa de la Cruz 

One word: Gross.

9. Paper Towns, by John Green

Wow. A picture of a girl. How utterly fascinating.

10. The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa

I simply refuse to believe that that is Keirran. 

This week we could choose ANY of the past topics. Which topic did you choose, and what's on your list? Make sure to leave your link below so I could check it out! 

Review: The Lost Prince, by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa

"Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten." -Goodreads


I had a major problem with the main character in this book, Ethan. He got on my nerves! I was not expecting cute little 4-year old Ethan from the Iron King to grow up into this irritating, mean, annoying jerk.

You know how its the trend today in the YA genre to make the main guy character to be a total jerk and then later we find out why he was acting in this jerky way, and sometimes they have a good reason? Well, in this book, Ethan's reason was just so stupid. I mean, it was understandable why he did it in the beginning, but later on, it got old. Very old, to the point where it made me want to rip my hair out. It was torture.

I loved Keirran. I found myself wishing that he was the main character, so I wouldn't have to put up with Ethan's constant brooding that he was doing for 99% of the book. And Kenzie was likable too. I liked when she would try to straighten Ethan out. You go girl! I don't really feel anything for Annwyl, since we didn't get to know much about her.

Ah, Puck. My favorite trickster. You never cease to humor me. Too bad he was only present for like 10 pages, total. I am happy that him and Ash get along now, but I missed their fighting. It was entertaining to read.

If I ever get a cat, I will name him Grimalkin. I adore this little kitty! (He would not be pleased if he heard me, a dumb human, say this.) Thankfully, he was in this book a lot. I was literally rolling on the floor laughing when he said his famous line, "I am a cat."

The concept of the Forgotten is an interesting one. The fighting scenes were epic, and the action was nonstop. If there was an award for most action-packed YA book, The Lost Prince would win it. No, scratch that, all of Kagawa's books would win that award.

Julie Kagawa's storytelling didn't fall short in this book. The world-building, character development, is perfect as always. It is as good as the Iron Fey series. Julie, you will always be a beloved author to me. But please, if you are reading this, can you please make Keirran the main character of the next book? Pretty please, with Puck awesomesauce on top?

Publication date: October 23rd, 2012
Page count: 379 pages

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars