Reviews: The Lost Prince + The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #1
published on October 23rd 2012 by Harlequin Teen
fantasy | magic | romance

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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.

My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

–

“I would not worry about that, mortal. No one ever leaves the Nevernever completely sane.”

I have been a fan of both Kagawa’s Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series, so of course I decided to try this one again despite putting it off the first time I read it. I honestly can’t remember why I didn’t finish this one, though.

First off, the world building was as lovely as always. If there’s one thing I love about Kagawa’s books, it’s that they all have these magical settings. The Nevernever is definitely in my top 10 most-loved worlds in fiction.

“Tough guy, if brooding was a sport, you’d have gold medals with scowling faces lining the walls of your room.”

Sadly, I was indifferent about the romance. While I thought Ethan was a wonderful lead, I found his love interest, Kinzie, to be a little bit too dull and a bit of a “trying too hard to be awesome” character. I don’t know–it might just be how she’s cute, feisty and loved by everyone, but I wasn’t a huge fan. So of course, my indifference toward the romance followed suit. And maybe I felt that they were attracted to each other much to quickly.

Overall, it was a fun read, especially with the appearance of our beloved characters such as Puck and Ash.  The writing was entertaining, the world was fantastic and the characters were quite okay and the romance was… not okay. But I would still recommend it to you if you like witty characters, angst and wonderful fantasy elements.

3 skulls

The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #2
published on October 29th 2013 by Harlequin Teen
fantasy | magic | romance

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Goodreads | website

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Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

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.

–

I was a little worried upon getting into it, since, well, the title and the cover. That’s a huge spoiler in itself, you know! Right?

The first thing that improved in this one was Ethan. He became a much better main character–strong, witty and caring. I still didn’t feel much towards his romance with Kinzie, who I still thought was a princess-y little girl, but I had a new ship here which pleased me greatly! I couldn’t stop rooting for Keirran and Annwyl who really seemed to love each other. Forbidden romance is my thing, you know?

Aside from the romance, I adored the relationships between family members. Keirran and Ethan went  out of their ways to help each other. Despite hating how Meghan left Ethan to become the Iron Queen, he still treated her as his sister.

“What? I never make things worse,” Puck replied, stepping forward to deal with another eddy swooshing in from the side. “I make things more interesting.”

The side characters were much more interesting than our main ones, though. Again, I adored Puck in this one. He was his usual hilarious self, yet still pretty helpful. Ash also made a pretty badass appearance. Razor was super adorable. I loved all his scenes!

Despite the lack of plot twists, I still enjoyed the flow of the story. Following our characters as they searched for ways to save Annwyl, we were able to explore more of the Nevernever and all things Fey.

Overall, this one was a bit better than the first book, but nothing very special. I’m still waiting for some feels between Ethan and Kinzie which I’m not really getting. And that ending–the wait for book 3 seems too long!

3.5 skulls

Let’s discuss! Have you read these books? If you have, what did you think of them? If you haven’t, will you be picking them up anytime soon?