Book Review: The Iron Daughter, Julie Kagawa

• Reading level:       Young Adult
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• Hardcover:            389 pages
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• Publisher:             Harlequin Teen, August 1, 2010
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Parasols:         4

When we last left Meghan Chase, she was brought to the Winter Court by Prince Ash and was being held by Queen Mab.  But all is not what it seems in the Winter Court.  Prince Ash has been avoiding Meghan, Queen Mab has bound her powers and Grimalkin is nowhere to be seen.  Meghan hasn't a clue if Puck is alive or dead.

I completely forgot to review my copy of The Iron King and I donated my copy of the book to my local library because they couldn't get a copy and I wanted in the hands of as many people.  But I digress.  By the time I realized that I hadn't written a review, I couldn't remember the major points of the book.  Thankfully,  reading The Iron Daughter, I remembered enough that I could pick up where it ended.

One thing that really jumped at me was the cohesiveness of the writing.  Julie has grown leaps and bounds from her first book to the second.  Now, I'm not saying that book one wasn't written well, but I think she understood what the deal was and her writing was cleaner and pitch perfect.  The world she creates in Winter and in the between is brilliantly acknowledged.  I enjoyed her characters in this book.  I liked Meghan in this book.   One of my favorite characters is Leanansidhe.  She reminds me of someone from the 20's with the cigarette.  

Another character I really grew to love is Ironhorse.  This is the only  time I will allow all caps in a story.  I understood why it was done.  There are weird alliances in this book, and I liked it.  I just liked everything about this story.  The Iron Fey, the gremlins, the psuedo-relationships, etc.

I'm a reviewer who is also torn between Team Puck or Team Ash.  In the first book, Ash annoyed me.  I was all Team Puck, but in this book, they both grew on me.  Although Ash is still standoffish, he softens a bit.  Puck is just adorable and funny and brave and strong and everything I could possible want in a friend and lover.   So there is my dilemma, perhaps it will be answered in The Iron Queen, who knows?

I highly recommend this second installment in the Iron Fey series.  I don't want to give away too much, but there is treason, anarchy and lots of icky Iron fey.  I'm definitely looking forward to the The Iron Queen.