Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter
Author: Julie Kagawa
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Published: August 1, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Length: 13 hours and 16 minutes
Source: Purchased
Rating: 2 stars
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*Warning: This book review contains spoilers for The Iron King*

“What if I take you apart and turn you into a toaster oven, how would you like that tin can?”
― Julie Kagawa, The Iron Daughter

Synopsis
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts
After finishing The Iron Daughter, I felt an array of emotions: frustration, annoyance and, mainly, relief. I was so relieved that it was finally over. This audiobook seemed to take forever to listen to because I had periods where I stopped listening just because I could not take it anymore. I know there are a lot of fans of this series, but after giving it another try, I have to say it's just not for me. In fact, I think The Iron Daughter was not as enjoyable a read as The Iron King.

While I tolerated, and even admired, Meghan in The Iron King, I absolutely could not stand her in The Iron Daughter. Meghan was unbearable to listen to. She obsessed over Ash the entire book. When she wasn't drooling over his icy, gorgeous looks, she was bawling her eyes out. I went between pitying her and wanting her to shut the hell up. She barely knows Ash, but, suddenly, she's madly in love with him. I think she suffers from a serious case of instalove. He keeps telling her to go away, that they can't be together. He basically treats her like shit. But does she listen? Does she even try to move on? Of course not. Instead of holding onto some of her dignity, she cries, she begs, and she mopes. It's humiliating. And it's so obvious that Ash is not entirely over Ariella. Far from it.

Then the worst love triangle ever evolves. Meghan is left heartbroken by Ash, and then suddenly she's feeling something for Puck. How does that even happen? She goes from one guy to the next with barely a chapter in between. This girl is majorly confused. Meghan leads on Puck even though we all know she's going to pick Ash because of his baby blues and "midnight black hair." I think Puck is way more interesting because he actually smiles and talks and shows emotion. But it's not like he has much competition; I mean, a brick wall has more personality than Ash. I don't think Meghan and Ash have had so much as one actual conversation in this series so far. Ash is always denying his feelings and saying "I'm going to kill you...no, this time it's for real" and Meghan is crying or staring into his eyes dreamily. Meghan spends so much time focusing on Ash when there are so many other things she should be paying attention to. Like how about the Iron fey that are trying to kill you?

Just when I think I couldn't despise Meghan more, she acts like a complete idiot. Every time Puck or Ash are going off to kick some ass, she protests when they want her to stay behind. You have no magic, Meghan! You have absolutely no way of defending herself. What are you going to do, cry at them? It's not sexist; it's smart. She's whiny, selfish, naive and aggravating as all get out.

Maybe I would've liked The Iron Daughter a little more if the secondary characters stood out, but, unfortunately, they didn't. I liked Grimalkin in the first book but now he's just like any other talking cat I've read about before, basically another Cheshire Cat, and there really was nothing unique about him. As for Puck, he kept cracking jokes at an attempt for levity, but all of these jokes just fell flat for me. I wanted Puck to be more A Midsummer's Night Dream and a little less Jacob Black. I felt like this book mirrored Twilight in that Meghan reminded me of Bella, Ash of Edward, and Puck of Jacob. Meghan lets her infatuation with Ash take priority over everything else. Ash is the perfect matyr, saying "no, I can't be with you even though it kills me." And Puck is the old, reliable friend that will always be around and is madly in love with the girl who's head over heels for someone else. I kept thinking, "Haven't I read this before?"

Wow. I feel guilty for basically ripping apart this book, but what can I say? It wasn't to my liking. I will say that the fairy lore was the only thing the The Iron Daughter had going for itself. Once again, we travel into the Nevernever and meet a whole bunch of wild creatures. I especially loved the pooka. The Nevernever wasn't as deeply explored as it was in The Iron King, but I still enjoyed reading about it.

Overall, The Iron Daughter was predictable and just not my type of read. I honestly don't think I'll be finishing this series. I can't handle any more Meghan.