Winter's Passage

Title:  Winter’s Passage

Author:  Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Publish Date:  01 June 2010

Pages: 59

ISBN:  9781426858321

Source:  bought

Genre:  Young Adult, Farie

Series:  The Iron Fey

Other books in series:   The Iron King, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen, Summer’s Crossing, Iron Knight, Iron Legends (28 August 2012)

Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl...until she discovered that she is really a faery princess. After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash. But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck--Meghan's best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon--who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey.

Yet Meghan and Ash's detour does not go unnoticed. They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter--a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat....

Will Prince Ash really keep his oath and turn over the girl he loves to his queen?  That is what happens in this story.  At the end of The Iron King, Ash shows up at Meghan’s house to “collect” her as she fulfills her part of the bargain.  At times, it is like Ash doesn’t want to do this.  However, he is bound by oath and cannot go back on it. 

He takes Meghan and intends to take her back to the Unseelie Court right away.  Meghan has other ideas, however.  She wants to go and check up on Puck, her best friend, who was wounded in their quest to rescue her brother Ethan.  Ash agrees to this little detour.  Only to find out that someone is following them; someone else who is hunting Meghan.  Will they make it to the Unseelie Court or will Meghan have another adventure in store for her?  Can Ash really hand her over when he doesn’t know what the outcome will be?

As soon as I finished The Iron King, I had to start this book. I knew that it was a novella and wouldn’t take me long.  The end of The Iron King left me with so many questions.  Even though I haven’t read The Iron Daughter yet, I felt that this book was good in between the two.  It gives you a glimpse into Ash’s personality.

The cover design goes along with the other in the Iron Fey series and has a wolf on the front, instead of a character.  This is appropriate for the book.  I like how they show the fog and the woods on the cover of this novella.  It talks about both in the book.

•Meghan Chase.  She is duty bound to go to the Unseelie Court because of a “deal” that she made with Ash in The Iron King.  She won’t go back on that oath even when the opportunity presents itself to do so.

•Ash.  Sometimes in these books, he is really swoon worthy, and then there are those times when you just want to hit him in the head with a rock.  He shows both of those personalities in this novella.

•Grimalkin.  He is in this book too.  He always shows up.  He gives tidbits of information and wisdom here and there.

•The Hunter.  It scared Meghan.   Just someone else who is after Meghan.

•Queen Mab.  Even though you don’t hear of her in this book, she is the reason that Ash is bringing Meghan to court and that is enough for me not to like her.

The Iron King

Title:  The Iron King

Author:  Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Publish Date:  21 February 2010

Pages: 363

ISBN:  9780373210084

Source:  library

Genre:  Young Adult, Faeries

Series:  The Iron Fey

Other books in series:  Winter’s Passage, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen, Summer’s Crossing, Iron Knight, Iron Legends (28 August 2012)

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.

What would you do if your life was not as you expected?  That is what happened to Meghan Chase.  After her father disappeared, her mom and she moved.  Her mom later married Luke and then had Ethan.  Meghan is in high school now and all she wants is her driver’s permit.  That way, she wouldn’t have to walk to the bus.  Her best friend, Robbie Goodfell, and she could drive.  In what, she doesn’t know that yet, but she’ll work on that later. 

After being humiliated in school by the most popular jock, she goes home and finds that her brother has changed.  At first, she is not sure of what she is seeing, because she has been seeing a lot of weird things lately.  It is when her brother attacks her, that Robbie tells her that it is not her brother.  She then learns of changelings and goes on a quest with Robbie, whom she later finds out is Puck, to find her brother.

She also learns a lot of things when she crosses over into the Nevernever.  The most important of those, is who she is, a princess of the Seelie Court.  Her father is the King and never wanted her to know of the fey and their land.  Getting Ethan back is the most important thing to her and she doesn’t let anyone deter her from that objective.  Will Meghan get Ethan back with the help of Ash and Puck?  Why does Puck and Ash hate each other so much?

After reading Kagawa’s book, The Immortal Rules, I thought it was time that I checked out her other works.  I had heard great things about the Fey Series and I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.  I really liked this book and thought it was a good way to start the series.  I was drawn into the story of Puck and Ash.  I’m not sure which one I’m behind just yet.  I’ll have to read more of the series before I make that determination.

The cover shows a female, whom I’m presuming to be Meghan Chase.  I like the font that they used for the title.  And the color green.  Also the quote on the cover: 

Iron.  Ice.  A love doomed from the start.

•Meghan Chase.  She is the main character in the Iron Fey series.  Well, one of THE main characters.  She is a “half-breed” and doesn’t always have the same reactions that other fey have.  She cares about people and not always about the outcome.  She is strong is this book and doesn’t waver from her objective.

•Ash.  He is the prince of the Unseelie Court – or the Winter Prince.  He officially meets Meghan at Elysium, when the Summer and Winter Court meet together, where a son and daughter of opposite territories must dance.  Meghan’s first impression of him isn’t that great.  When she leaves the Seelie Court, she runs into Ash again.  This time, he has made a vow to Queen Mab, to bring Meghan to her.  Only Meghan has other ideas and he winds up helping her rescue Meghan’s brother, Ethan.  You learn a lot about Ash in those travels.

•Puck, Robbie Goodfell, Robin Goodfellow.  Those are the names that he goes by.  In the mortal realm, he was given the task to look after Meghan, unbeknownst to her.  He was her best friend and the first person to tell her about Nevernever.  He went against King Oberon’s wishes and brought Meghan there to find her brother.  He is always there for Meghan and she is grateful for that.

•Grimalkin.    He is the cat who helps Meghan.  He always appears when she needs something.  His help doesn’t come free or cheap. There is always something that he wants.  Bargains in Nevernever aren’t made cheap.

 

•King Oberon.  He is Meghan’s father.  When she first arrives at the Seelie or Summer Court, he is angry because she was never supposed to know about Nevernever and the faerie world.

•Queen Mab.  The Queen of the Unseelie or Winter Court, which is the enemy of the Summer Court. She wants to use Meghan for her own purposes and commissions her kingdom into finding her.

•King Machina.  He is the Iron King.  During Meghan’s quest, you learn of him and that he also wants Meghan, but for different reasons. 

•Grimalkin.  Sometimes he can be a little snooty, but he is a cat after all.

I got these off of Julie Kagawa's website and I thought that they were cute, so I'm sharing them with you.  It didn't say on there who drew them, and the signatures are too small to read.  They are cute, nonetheless.

Ash & Meghan

Bad Kitty

Ash & Puck

The Immortal Rules

Title: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publish Date:  24 April 2012

Pages: 485

ISBN:  978-0-373-21051-0

Source:  netgalley

Genre:  Young Adult, romance, vampire

Series:  Blood of Eden

Other books in series:  unknown

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

What would you do if you were given a choice between death and becoming something that you hate? Allison Sekemoto lives in The Fringe of New Covington in Sector 4. New Covington is one of the vampire cities that has formed sixty years after a deadly virus, the Red Lung, has killed off most of the population. Allison aka Allie is an unregistered. This means that she doesn't have to go and donate blood to the vampires. This also means that she isn't taken care of and doesn't get food on a regular basis. She lives with Stick, Lucas and Rat. They are in her gang. They help each other survive.

After watching the hanging of unregistereds in the city, Allie decides that she needs to go elsewhere to scavenge for food. She goes to the ruins. This is outside the city walls of New Covington. She has been there before and found some good food. When she goes there, she knows that she has to return before nightfall because that is when the rabids come out. They were created when they did experiments on vampire blood and the red lung virus. What she finds in the ruins is a basement full of food. She is excited because this will last her and her gang a few months. She returns to her home by way of the tunnels that she took out of the city and come across some mole men and a vampire. Luckily, she arrives home the next morning.

After telling her gang about the basement of food, they decide to go after it because the thought of having food is too good to pass up. The leader, Lucas, tells everyone to get ready and they cross the wall of New Covington into the ruins. Things don't go as planned and Allie finds herself fighting against rabids in the middle of a storm. That is when she meets Kanin and he gives her a choice - live or die. Allie chooses to live, so Kanin transforms her into one of the things that she loathes - a vampire.

Kanin teaches her how to be a vampire. Throughout this whole ordeal, Allie learns that there are some things that Kanin is hiding from her and that culmonates in her almost dying and Kanin being captured. Now Allie is on her own and has left New Covington. When she is wandering around, she meets Ezekial Crosse aka Zeke and his group who are trying to get to Eden, where there are no rabids or vampires. They have been trying to find this place for years under the leadership of Jebbadiah Crosse. Allie blends in the group easily and everyone thinks that she is human. What will happen when they find out that what Allie is? What secrets is Jeb hiding from the group and why are the raiders after him? What happened to Kanin?

I have always heard what a great author that Julie Kagawa was and have never before read anything that she has written. Not for any reason other than having SO many books to read and forgetting about hers. When this book appeared on Netgalley, I put my mind to reading it and finding out what type of author Kagawa really is. I wasn't disappointed. Kagawa's writing is so easy to follow and she never misses an opportunity to let you in on what the character is feeling. Immortal Rules has a lot of information to absorb, but it doesn't make your head hurt with it all. She writes it so you can not only understand it, but remember it as well. I am very excited to read the forthcoming books in this series and am anxious to read other works by this great author.

On the cover, you see a woman, whom I presume to be Allie. She has red eyes and is crying blood. This goes along with the description of what they say Allie looks like. In one altercation with a gang member, she is described as a "sweet little Asian doll." The crying blood also goes along with the story as Allie has said before that when she cries, it is in blood. I like the serious look that she has on her face and the contrast between the black and red.

 

•Allie. She is the main character and the one who takes care of other people. She would do anything for her gang members and when she is turned into a vampire, loses that sense of family that she had as a member of the Fringe. She is stubborn and doesn't accept things for what people tell her they are, but have to figure things out on her own.

•Zeke. He is nice boy. He finds the good in everyone. Even though other people in his group were telling him that Allie was bad, he always thought the best of her. Allie is concerned that he is too naive. His spirit and faith are inspiring.

•Caleb, Ruth, Jake, Teresa, Silas, Dorothy, Darren. They are the other members of Zeke's group. Some of them have accepted Allie and other didn't. They still helped her and let her join them for a while.

•Kanin. He is Allie's "father" so to speak. He turned Allie into a vampire and taught her the ways of vampirism.

 

•Jeb. Hypocrisy at its finest. Some of the things that happened concerning Jeb made me have the same reaction that Allie had.

•Jackal. From the get-go, he doesn't seem like a friendly person. He is the self-proclaimed "vampire raider king."