Review of Iron King (Iron Fey #1)

The Iron Fey series has been on my to-do list for a long time. After reading See Me I harbored a fascination for Fey (and this book satisfied that literary craving in spades). The series opener follows Meghan Chase, a rather unpopular girl often forgotten even by her family. Her best friend, Robbie, is the only one that seems to pay her much mind. A few chapters into the book, it is revealed that nothing is as it seems.

Page count: 272.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Price: $4.99(eBook on Amazon)/$8.61 (Paperback on Amazon).

Firstly, I have to give major props to Julie Kagawa for incorporating Shakespeare into a YA novel. On the rare occasion that a YA author chooses to mix classics into their work, it feels overly contrived. Kagawa does an excellent job of weaving in the ancient with the modern, and it fuses into a pretty little package that's entirely different from either. For starters, the secondary love interest in Robin Goodfellow, otherwise known as Puck. Other favorites from a Midsummer Night's dream take center stage with appearances from such superstars as Oberon and Titania.

Kagawa also stays true to original Fey lore, with the creation of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. She also displays many other traditional (but not as popular) Faery creatures such as Satyrs, Brownies, and Goblins. Oh my!

This book had me hooked from the start. The frumpy, low maintenance every-girl turns into a kick-ass heroine when the Fey steal her little brother, Ethan. When her brother is taken into Faery (the situation surrounding which isn't for the faint of literary hearts), Puck reveals Meghan's true nature, and takes her into Faery to find her brother.

At the beginning of their quest, they are chased by a mysterious hunter, and separated in the dangerous land of Faery. Meghan enlists the help of a talking cat, and quickly learns that nothing in Faery comes for free. Everything has a cost. There's truly no such thing as a free lunch.

With her companion's assistance she stumbles her way into the Seelie Court, and that's where the real adventure begins.

The mysterious aforementioned hunter was (Surprise!) prince of the Unseelie Court, Ash. Ash is an aloof, cold, and all around intimidating young man (at least for the first half of the novel). He vows to kill Meghan several times, and he can never seem to maintain anything but distant, vague "friendship" (kinda).

Meghan is in for a rude awakening when King Oberon refuses to allow her to leave in search of her brother. She runs away, determined to rescue him. While navigating (barely) the mysterious land she comes into contact with Ash. They both have missions to carry out. Meghan, to find her brother. Ash, to capture Meghan.

The two form a contract. Meghan will allow herself to be taken prisoner, if Ash helps her on her quest.

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This book is truly masterfully crafted and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Urban Fantasy, with a touch of romance. This novel breaks several YA stereotypes in the best of ways:

1. Kick ass female heroine (and not in a cliche way!)
2. Shakespeare!
3. Doesn't shy away from grit (I warn you that Kagawa bares no punches when it comes to violence. It's oddly refreshing).

My only complaint with the Iron King  is that the the characters seem to fall in love too quickly, and I would love to see a little bit more development on Ash's past. Overall, this book is fantastic and I hope you acquire it shortly (I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner).

Review of See Me

 I came across this book accidentally. After finishing another book, Amazon recommended See Me. I'd never heard of the author of the book, and the reviews seemed to be split down the middle. I decided to take a risk on it, and I am so glad I did.

Page Count: 315
Genre: Paranormal romance.
Publisher: Wendy Higgins (Go self publishing!)
Price: $2.99 eBook (Amazon)/$10.79 paperback (Amazon)

This book brings a whole new kind of paranormal romance to the table. I can honestly say I have never read a paranormal romance quite like this one. For starters, the main love interest is a Leprechaun. Yes, a Leprechaun. At first this struck me as incredibly weird, but after finishing it I am fully committed to Leprechaun romance books as a genre (I'm sure there's only like 3 of them, but if they're as good as See Me, I'm on board).

When I say Leperchaun, you probably think:

Oh, how sexy ;)

When you should be thinking of this:


Generally, the overall hotness of the romantic interest shouldn't affect the book (but let's be honest, we're all just a bit shallow when it comes to our fictional abs). When I found out the love interest was a Leprechaun it definitely skewed my view of the book. I almost put it back down. Even the most diligent of readers would have a hard time stomaching a romance betwixt a normal human girl, and a 3 foot tall trickster guarding a pot of gold. Higgins doesn't disappoint us though. McKale is the tallest man in the clan at 6 foot tall, sans a pot of gold, and his accent is HOTT (I'm aware that is not grammatically correct, but that boy deserves two T's).

This book is a pure romance book, with very little in the way of plot. Our heroine (Robyn) has been betrothed since near birth, and she adventures to Ireland to meet her fiance for the first time. The novel centers around them falling in love. The major conflict is a certain ridiculously gorgeous fey girl trying to steal away Robyn's leprechaun hottie.

It works surprisingly well. The lacking plot development is more than made up for by interesting characters, intricate relationships, and intense world building. Higgins does a lot in 315 pages. If you like books that showcase the characters and complex interactions between them, this is the book for you. But don't expect much in the way of action (though there is an admirable amount of character development).

This book is off the charts fluffy, in a good way. Reading it can only be described as a fluffy leprechaun hug (in the best way possible).

These are my biggest complaints:
1. The main male character's name is McKale. Like the vegetable. I can't read his name without cracking up. I actually mentally replaced his name to keep from breaking into a fit of giggles.


2. I found one of the character's rather pointlessly annoying. You'll know her when you read it. She's overly involved in ever happening in the novel, and she's totally irrelevant (and irritating).

3. This novel would have been better with more plot. I would like to see Higgins create a series around it and build a firm plot from the wonderful world she's created.

Overall, I give it 3.7 stars.With a little more focus on plot development, it could easily be a 4.5, and I recommend it to anyone who's okay with a leisurely stroll through paranormal romance.

Review of The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

 
 I recently had the pleasure of reading the debut novel of Joanna Wiebe. This book combines the 3 most popular schemes in YA right now: school romance, the paranormal, and competition of life or death. This combination made the novel an interesting read, but it's not without its problems.

Page count: 272.
Genre: YA, romance, thriller.
Publisher: BenBella Books
Price: $9.99 on Amazon.

I picked up this book expecting a lightly mysterious boarding school romp like many others. The back of the book does a very poor job of preparing you for the truth: this book is not what it seems. Even when you think you have the plot pinned down, YOU DON'T. Even after the last page I was anticipating yet another plot twist to jump from the closed book, and explode into real life. It starts of normally: Anne Merchant is a pretty regular girl, aside from being the daughter of a mortician. She's a relatively typical teen by paranormal YA standards. Almost cliche. She is sent to a boarding school for the fabulously rich, but secrets are everywhere, and Ben Zin is the typical ominous paranormal hottie that comes standard with the genre. In yet another YA cliche, Anne is almost immediately confronted by a pack of hyper-sexy, hyper-bitchy teens. These girls bare a striking resemblance of the Plastics in Mean Girls. In fact, if Twilight and Mean Girls had a baby, and that baby mated with a boarding school romance, that pretty much sums up the novel for the first 60-ish pages. Entirely forgettable.

BUT WAIT.

This novel truly redeems itself, and it redeems itself quickly. I am fundamentally against spoilers, but let me say, the hidden side of the plot is a roller coaster of excitement, and when the gritty undercarriage of the beast makes its first appearance, all bets are off.

The plot twists, characters, and shocking secrets are utterly delectable. I would whole heatedly recommend this book to ANYONE. My one complaint is the length of the novel: it very much feels as though too much is crammed into too little, and the thrill ride rarely leaves room to catch the breath.

Do not pick up the Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant until you have a few hours to spare, because you will not want to leave it alone.