Iron King - Julia Kagawa

Iron King - July Kagawa

Summary:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart. 
 
Review:
Iron King is a page-turning adventure/romance set in the faery world. I read this book shortly after finishing Lament by Maggie Stiefvater, my first faery book. I'm glad I read Lament first - it only delves gently into faery mythology. Iron King dives right into the deep-end of NeverNever land. If I hadn't had some basic knowledge about faeries, I would have been completely lost. I'd also advise you to read Midnight's Summer Dream before reading Iron King (which I have not done); I think you will appreciate Iron King much more.

Meghan Chase is a pretty boring girl in a small Louisiana town. She lusts after the school jock but will never win that game. She doesn't fit in anywhere, including in her family. Her only friend is Robbie, who is always there to brighten her day. On Meghan's 16th birthday everything changes. She comes home to find her mother collapsed on her floor and her 4 year old half-brother Ethan acting bizarrely. She soon learns that this new, hateful "Ethan" is a changeling, a faery. Ethan has been kidnapped and taken to NeverNever. Meghan can't believe it; faeries aren't real...or are they? Regardless, she'll do anything to save her brother. She heads to NeverNever to find him. With her is loyal Robbie, who is actually the famous Puck of faery legend.

Meghan heads to the Seelie Court of King Oberon. To Meghan's great surprise, she discovers that she is the daughter of King Oberon. This, ultimately, is the cause of all her troubles. She (and little Ethan) is a pawn in a great faery war. Seemingly derailing Meghan's quest to find her brother are the many people who want to kill her. The queen of the Unseelie Court sends her son, the handsome Prince Ash, to deliver Meghan to her. His quest takes a detour when Meghan, Puck, and Ash realize that a new force is present in the faery world, one that threatens them all. The three embark on a journey to rescue Ethan and save the faery world.

I have a few quibbles about the characters in Iron King - they're rather trite. Meghan is best described as "blah." There's really nothing interesting about her other than her determination to save her brother. That, of course, is a very redeemable quality, but she's just boring. Even as she grows stronger and more self-confident throughout the book, I still found her to be a flat character. Puck/Robbie is the classic funny, loyal best friend who is secretly in love with the girl, but she's completely oblivious. Ash is the stereotypical mysterious, handsome bad boy who steals away the heart of the heroine. It's not that the love triangle wasn't interesting - it was...but I've read this plot line 1,000 times. I actually thought the most interesting character was Grimalkin, the giant cat who guides Meghan throughout much of the story. His sarcastic, bemused look on life set added levity but not silliness to the story.

Despite a few misgivings, Iron King was a thoroughly enjoyable tale. The characters encounter a lot of danger along their journey. I kept reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. The faery world is fascinating. Meghan quickly learns how different life is in NeverNever. Things are very black and white. Your word is unbreakable - even if you no longer want to fulfill a promise made. The words "thank you" actually have dangerous significance. Even your name has meaning. Iron King introduces endless mythological creatures. Each creature was interesting in its own right and thanks to Harry Potter and Lament, many were familiar. Iron King ends perfectly set to lead into the sequel; I am definitely excited to read more.

Rating: 4 / 5

Follow My Book Blog Friday

I found another blog hop. It's fun, albeit a little overwhelming, to participate in two blog hops. So many new blogs to find! I highly recommend it. Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee.




To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host {Parajunkee.com} and any one else you want to follow on the list.
2. Put your Blog name &  URL in the Linky thing.
3. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
4. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can.
5. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers.
6. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

It's time for the Book Blogger Hop again! A great opportunity to meet new bloggers - hosted by Crazy For Books. This is my second week hopping. I had a blast last week discovering so many new blogs. I can't wait to find new fellow bloggies!

Lament - Maggie Stiefvater

Summary

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan, a gifted harpist who regularly plays for weddings and other events, has the kind of stage fright that makes her physically ill before a performance, which is an inauspicious way to start a romance; but while vomiting before a competition she meets a gorgeous boy who comes into the restroom to hold her hair. He is Luke Dillon, a flautist who proceeds to accompany her in a truly stellar performance. As four-leaf clovers start appearing everywhere, Deirdre develops telekinetic powers and encounters strange, unworldly people who seem to bear her ill will. Her best friend, James, also a talented musician; her beloved grandmother; and her mother all are in danger, as Deirdre is targeted by the queen of Faerie. Deirdre eventually discovers that she is a cloverhand, a person who can see the denizens of faerie, and Luke, not the only immortal who has her in his sights, is a gallowglass, an assassin assigned by the queen of Faerie to kill Deirdre but who falls in love with her instead. This beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary debut novel, with its authentic depiction of Celtic Faerie lore and dangerous forbidden love in a contemporary American setting, will appeal to readers of Nancy Werlin’s Impossible (2008) and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Illustrations by Jeffrey are fitting. (courtesy of Amazon) 

Review

Like many people, I picked up Lament after reading Maggie Stiefvater's incredible book Shiver. Lament is not Shiver, but it is excellent in its own right. My favorite part about Shiver was Maggie's writing; it was so stark, fresh, and beautiful. Her sentences felt like winter - ice cold air, untouched snow, icicle-laden trees. The writing in Lament is very different but still wonderful. The prose is lush - bright green, springtime, clover fields. The settings of both books exactly correspond to the feeling I got from Maggie's writing. I'd like to know whether it was intentional.

Lament was my first faery book. It is heavily influenced by Celtic mythology and folktales. Deidre Monaghan is an incredibly talented harpist and singer. She seems to specialize in Celtic music. At a music competition, she meets a flautist named Luke Dillon, a boy she'd seen in a very strange dream, and feels an unexplainable attraction to him. On a whim, they enter the competition with a duet; together their music is simply otherworldly. They bond between them becomes incredibly strong, incredibly fast. Deidre soon discovers that she is a Cloverhand, a human able to see faeries. She is also telepathic and telekinetic. Luke has secrets of his own - he is a gallowglass, a 1000-year old assassin for the Faerie Queen. Deidre was to be his next target, but he falls in love.

Apart from Luke, Deidre has a decent support system. The Cloverhand trait runs in families. Granna has much to teach Deidre. She also has a steadfast best friend, James, who is never without a joke. Her life is made more difficult though, by her overbearing mother and hostile aunt Delia. Deidre relies on James, Granna, and Luke to help her through this new world of faeries.

The fey themselves are fascinating creatures. I particularly like Brendan and Una, two Irish music-loving faeries who are nicer than most but still not entirely trustworthy. We also see humans who have interacted with faeries for so long that they are more a part of the fey world than human. Many fey are evil, using humans and animals as play-things for their sadistic whims. The faerie queen is the biggest force to be reckoned with. She destroys anything that threatens her power and Deidre is the biggest threat to her ever...

Lament only gets four stars from me despite enjoying the book a great deal. I did have some problems with it. I think most of the problems are common first novel issues. For example, Deidre's best friend was flat. He was funny all the time - everything was a joke. Even when he showed a little more depth and ability, it was still all a joke. I wish we saw more of him. Also, Deidre's father popped in and out of the story. For the first half I didn't even realize Dad was in the picture. Everything revolves around her mother. Then suddenly she starts referring to both "mom and dad." But Dad is still just kind of there. The plot would have flowed better if he'd just been gone altogether.

I didn't always like Deidre. Her lightening-fast, icy temper was just weird - normal people do not fly off the wall that often and that quickly for such minor things. She also used the word "friggin" way too much. I almost would have preferred her to just use the actual "F" word despite my general dislike of swearing. There is some swearing in this book. It was unnecessary, but with the exception of "friggin" it didn't really bother me. I also don't like the way she treats James. As soon as she meets Luke, James pales in significance. Even his fairly obvious pining doesn't garner her attention or sympathy. Despite my misgivings about Deidre and some of her choices, she is a caring, kind, and courageous girl. She redeems herself as the book goes on.

Rating: 4 / 5

Waiting on Wednesday (2) - Guardian of the Gate - Michelle Zink

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine spotlighting upcoming releases.

Guardian of the Gate (Prophecy of the Sisters #2)  by Michelle Zink 

Goodreads

Release Date

August 1st 2010 by Little, Brown Young Readers  

Summary

The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.  (courtesy of Goodreads) 

Tween Tuesday (2) - A Faraway Island - Annika Thor

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme created by GreenBeanTeenQueen, one of my favorite blogs. Surprise, surprise - it features books aimed at Tweens.

Summary

Torn from their homeland, two Jewish sisters find refuge in Sweden.

It's the summer of 1939. Two Jewish sisters from Vienna—12-year-old Stephie Steiner and 8-year-old Nellie—are sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. They expect to stay there six months, until their parents can flee to Amsterdam; then all four will go to America. But as the world war intensifies, the girls remain, each with her own host family, on a rugged island off the western coast of Sweden.

Nellie quickly settles in to her new surroundings. She’s happy with her foster family and soon favors the Swedish language over her native German. Not so for Stephie, who finds it hard to adapt; she feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who’s as cold and unforgiving as the island itself. Her main worry, though, is her parents—and whether she will ever see them again.  

 

Review

When I was a tween and teenager I devoured Holocaust historical fiction. A Faraway Island is the first thing I've read about Sweden's participation in saving Jews before and during WWII.

In the late 1930s, several hundred children were evacuated to Sweden to live with foster families until things were safer in Europe. This book tells the story of two fictional girls from Vienna, 12-year-old Stephie and her younger sister Nellie (about 7 years old) who come to Sweden in 1939. They live on a remote island in Sweden, populated mostly by fisherman and tourists in the summer with two foster families. The book is told from Stephie's perspective as she struggles to adjust to life in Sweden.

Stephie's story is depressing. It's my main criticism of the book. Eighty percent of the book is one long tale of gloom. Everything is miserable in Stephie's life - her foster mother is harsh, she doesn't fit into Swedish culture, has no friends, is jealous of her little sister, etc. Nellie's life on the other hand seems perfect - she loves her foster family, has loads of friends, becomes more Swedish than Austrian..is just perfectly happy. In many ways, this seems realistic. It's a lot harder for a 12 year old to adjust to a new life, especially because she has more awareness of the horrors back home. But reading a book where every page is just one more sad story after another gets a bit tiring.

Thankfully, things get wrapped up toward the end and seem happier. But the "fix" is so quick that it's awkward. Having everything resolved in one fell swoop rather than having things slowly adjust over the course of the book seems unrealistic - more appropriate in a book for younger readers than this book targets.

Regardless of its flaws, A Faraway Island interests me enough in Stephie and Nellie's lives that I'm really hoping that the remainder of the series are translated into English soon. 

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Manga Monday (2)

American Manga Publishers

Numerous publishers in the U.S. produce English translations of Japanese manga and also American manga. Some of the more popular are:

TokyoPop - Originally founded as MixxMedia in 1997

Viz Media - Publishing manga in America since 1987

Del Rey - A division of Random House 

Dark Horse Manga - A division of the popular Dark Horse Comics publisher

Yen Press - Published the Twilight Graphic Novel

Age Ratings

One of the things that surprised me about manga was that there are many books aimed at the adult audience, with extreme violence and/or pornography. Clearly, I was very naive about the prevalence of manga. Then I learned about seinen and seijin manga, two forms of adult-themed manga. I mentioned them in last week's post. I was worried about picking out manga - how would I know which books contain pornography? I really have no desire to see comic book sex. Not to worry. American publishers commonly put age ratings on the manga.

Here, for example, is TokyoPop's rating system:

	All ages Appropriate for ages 6 and up. May contain cartoon violence and potty humor.
	Youth Age 10+ Appropriate for ages 10 and up. May contain mild language, fantasy violence and bullying.
	Teen Age 13+ Appropriate for ages 13 and up. May contain infrequent and mild profanity, mild violence and gore, crude humor, mild sexual language and themes, nondescript nudity, and mild fanservice, as well as references to tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drug use.
	Older Teen Age 16+ Appropriate for ages 16 and up. May contain profanity and strong language, moderate violence and gore, moderate sexual themes and sexual violence, nudity, moderate fanservice, and alcohol and illegal drug use.
	Mature Ages 18+ Appropriate for ages 18 and up. May contain excessive profanity and language; intense violence; excessive gore; explicit sexual language, themes and violence; and explicit fanservice.

Other publishers use different symbols but basically stick to the same ratings. I'm sticking to Teen and under unless an Older Teen manga really looks interesting. The age ratings are very helpful for me and hopefully they will be for you too.

What's Coming Up?

Next week I'll start reviewing actual books. I'll probably review the first few volumes of Fruits Basket or Kitchen Princess. I'm currently reading both.