On Starships and Dragonwings

I frequently complain about fantasy cliches such as the chosen one. Cracked is the answer to my complaints! A story from the monster's point of view? A half-demon that eats souls and only kind of knows what is going on in the paranormal world? Sign me up!

Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa is the second in the Call of the Forgotten spin-off series in the Iron Fey world. I decided to test the theory that you can start Call of the Forgotten without reading the first four Iron Fey books, so I’ve only read The Lost Prince prior to Iron Traitor. There are some mild spoilers for The Lost Prince in the description for Iron Traitor, so feel free to check out my review of The Lost Princeif you want to be safe ;-). I must admit that Ethan is not my favorite narrator in the world of books, so Iron Traitor didn’t go all that well for me. It felt like major second book syndrome unfortunately, since there is potential awesomeness for the series in the future, but Iron Traitor didn’t accomplish that potential in my opinion.

Note: I received an eARC of Iron Traitor through Netgalley for an honest review. Some things may be different in the final version.

Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa (Call of the Forgotten #2)
Published by Harlequin Teen on October 29th, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Fantasy, YA 
Length: 304 pages
How I got my copy: NetGalley
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

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. 

Strengths:

• We get to journey to more parts of the Nevernever in Iron Traitor and I quite enjoyed seeing more of the faery realms. It’s always fun imagining that goblin markets are hiding just out of site in whatever major city you are visiting ;-).
• I’m such a fan of new and interesting critters, and Iron Traitor definitely delivers on that front. We get to meet more Forgotten and more fey of all persuasions.
• The writing of Iron Traitor continues to be light and fast, making for an easy read when you just want to have fun!

Weaknesses:

•  Especially at the beginning of Iron Traitor there are a lot of info dumps to tell the reader everything that happened in the Iron Fey series (it seemed, probably not absolutely everything) and a summary of The Lost Prince. I understand giving reminders for important characters from previous books, but Ethan was explaining everything and reminded me of annoying boys I know….
• Speaking of annoying boys! Ethan had some fairly sexist thoughts in Iron Traitor that really grated on me. He kept obsessing about protecting “the girls” and keeping “the girl” away from danger. The combination of the two female characters being inherently weak due to illness and the way Ethan kept lumping them together just did not work for me.
• Ethan and the gang were strangely touchy about some things that really didn’t seem like a big deal to me and then didn’t see a problem with other things that were obviously really bad ideas. Priorities people!
• I understand that teenagers sometimes fall in puppy love quickly, but it still annoys me when characters declare their undying love after a week of knowing each other. They didn’t even know each other before they started dating! One week is not long enough no matter the circumstances.
• The Iron Traitor mostly felt like a set-up for the next book in the series. Nothing much happens until the end when a whole lot of bad things happen that clearly can’t be resolved before the end of the book. Then there is a huge cliffhanger that is only kind of a cliffhanger (you know what I mean if you’ve read the book, I mean what do you really think is going to happen??) but is clearly declaring the plot of the next book.

Summary:

The Iron Traitor has basically cemented my decision that Call of the Forgotten is not the series for me, though I know a lot of people have been enjoying it. If you don’t mind Ethan as a narrator and enjoy a mostly romance-driven plot, you’ll probably enjoy Iron Traitor just fine. I can see potential for the rest of the series because something interesting definitely has to happen at the beginning of the next book, but it was too little, too late for me.

Well folks, it looks like this is just not the series for me. While I enjoyed encountering some new Fey critters and seeing more of the Nevernever, Ethan continued to annoy me and Iron Traitor felt very much like a second book - just setup for the rest of the series.

Reboot by Amy Tintera is a delicious mix of sci-fi, dystopia, and zombies, with a healthy dash of romance. Zombies I say?? Why yes, though not the normal kind of zombies I must admit. I’m not how many people would agree with me on that, since the Reboots are approached from a fairly dystopian angle, but when dead people rise due to a virus, I can’t help but think zombie ;-). I’ve had Reboot sitting on my shelf for about six months, ever since Tintera came through my city on the Dark Days tour! However, I finally downloaded the audiobook version because my favorite narrator (Khristine Hvam) voices Reboot, and I’m so glad I did! It also means my signed copy can sit safe on my shelf forever now :D.

Note: I listened to the audiobook version of Reboot, which definitely colors my opinion of the book.

Reboot by Amy Tintera 
Narrated by Khristine Hvam
(Reboot #1)
Published by HarperCollins on May 7th, 2013
Genres: Dystopia, Sci-fi, YA 
Length: 365 pages
How I got my copy: Purchased
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders. 

Strengths:

• I love that Reboot is basically a combination of zombie and super-humans. It’s such a delightful sci-fi take on the normal horror trope, and since it’s sci-fi I wasn’t too scared either :D.
• Did I mention already that Khristine Hvam is my favorite narrator? Yes? Well I’m gonna say it again! The narration on Reboot was amazing and definitely made the book for me. I cannot recommend listening to Reboot enough if you like audiobooks. (Khristine Hvam also narrated Daughter of Smoke and Bone 1 & 2, check those out!)
• Ren and Callum are our lead characters and they are pretty freaking cute. Since we’re getting the whole story through Ren’s perspective, it is especially amusing to hear her thoughts of Callum when she first meets him and later on ;-). While I wouldn’t call their relationship slow burn necessarily, it definitely felt well-paced and realistic given the circumstances.
• Ren has a pretty limited knowledge of her world due to what her life has been like so far, but there have been some interesting hints that all is not as it seems. I’m so excited to see what the next book holds since I’m hopeful and suspicious that our understanding of Reboots is going to completely change *crosses fingers*.

Weaknesses:

•  So Ren starts off the book claiming to feel no emotions and not really understand human behavior anymore since she was dead for so long. But then she starts feeling emotions and participating in human behavior quite easily. This transition kind of bugged me, since it didn’t seem consistent with her character, though I’m hoping that it is explained later in the series!
• I’ve seen others point out that the romance is too much in Reboot. I wouldn’t say that exactly, but it definitely plays a bigger role than what really seemed necessary. It worked for me because Ren and Callum worked for me, but if you don’t like one of them, I can see where they would get annoying.
• I was pretty surprised when Reboot ended. I had definitely expected it to continue for a bit longer. Reboot could almost be a stand alone with how things end (which doesn’t really make sense with my feelings that the ending was abrupt, I’m conflicted!), mostly because I don’t really know what the big conflict of the next book is going to be ya know? I’ve gotten so used to YA cliffhangers that a first book that doesn’t emphasize the problems remaining to be solve in the rest of the series was a bit surprising ;-).

Summary:

I very much enjoyed Reboot, though I think that if I had read it instead of listened, my rating would be a little lower. The narration did a wonderful job of making me really like Ren and Callum as characters. I want to be friends with them! If you listen to audiobooks you should definitely listen to this one, since I think I won’t be the only one that enjoys listening more than reading Reboot. I will test this theory with the second book though!

Alienated by Melissa Landers is the first book in a new series that tackles the question of what might happen if a peaceful alien race stumbled across our little planet. Alienated is on the light and fun side, though it definitely shows a grittier side from time to time. While Alienated falls into the typical trap of sexy alien boy and special human girl falling in love and trying to save the world, it also tackles some much more serious themes of discrimination and the extent to which people will go when they are filled with hate and fear of the unknown.

Note: I received and ARC of Alienated through Netgalley for an honest review. Somethings might be different in the final version.

Alienated by Melissa Landers (Alienated #1)
Published by Disney Hyperion on February 4th, 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Sci-fi, YA 
Length: 352 pages
How I got my copy: NetGalley
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. 

Strengths:

• Alienated quite impressed me with a realistic story of how the meeting between our species and an intelligent but peaceful race of aliens might go. I found myself playing through scenarios while reading to decide if I thought the human governments would actually do what they do in Alienated and I have to say yes. It was fun to read a story that required much less suspension of disbelief than normal for my preferred genres ;-).
• The writing in Alienated was quite readable and amusing with plenty of quippy dialogue. I didn’t find myself laughing out loud, but there was definitely a pleased chuckle or two.
• When I first started Alienated, I expected it to be fairly fluffy (the cover doesn’t really help this expectation….), but Alienated proved to be more intense than I gave it credit for at first!
• You know how we always talk about absentee parents in YA? Well, Alienated has supportive and adorable parents who are a bit PDA, hehe.
• I find myself frequently rolling my eyes at the portrayal of teens in YA, since they are often way more mature or way too dramatic than really is typical. Alienated didn’t have this problem, since while there was some teenage love angst and drama, it was not any less than I experienced when I was that age. Everything is the end of the world during those years ya know? ;-)

Weaknesses:

•  Alienated tackles very significant discrimination against the alien foreign exchange students and some of the dialogue around this discrimination left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the treatment of the alien students and the treatment of black students in the civil rights days as well as the treatment of LGBT students today. This means that when Cara didn’t call out her “friends” for hating Aelyx the alien just for being an alien, I got a bit uncomfortable. That’s not really the message that I want to be reading about ya know?
• The scare quotes around friends is because there is some major friend failing in Alienated. I got quite pissed off at the ease with which Cara’s friends abandoned her just for not being a bigot and the ease with which Cara seemed to forgive them despite them continuing to be openly discriminatory.
• The romance got a bit cheesy with all the alien courting rituals, haha.
• There is a momentary reference to how the alien race L’eihr and humans share DNA, but it’s written off as a myth. If the L’eihr are so evolved and intelligent, I really would expect them to be interested in how it’s possible that two species from different planets share genetic code, given that biologists are quite convinced that all life on Earth evolved from one source due to all life sharing the same A’s, T’s, C’s, and G’s. The L’eihr and humans pretty much have to be related based on our current understanding of biology.
• The ending was a bit convenient, tying back to the light and fluffy feel of Alienated, after getting my hopes up :(.
• The cover completely white-washes Aelyx, since he’s described as looking multi-racial with brown skin and brown hair. Also his hair is supposed to be long enough to pull into a ponytail and it doesn’t look like it is on the cover.

Summary:

Alienated is both a fairly well thought out alien story and a fluffy and fun romantic sci-fi. Hardcore sci-fi fans will probably not enjoy Alienated as much, however if you tend not to be interested in sci-fi and aliens, think about giving Alienated a try, since I think there are elements that many different kinds of readers can enjoy. I’m interested to see where the Alienated series goes, since at this point it could latch on to those grittier aspects or it could stay amusing and light.

Cress by Marissa Meyer is the third in the Lunar Chronicles. If you haven’t heard of this series, be sure to check out my reviews of the first book, Cinder, and the second book, Scarlet, because this series is freaking fantabulous! I felt that Scarlet was even better than Cinder, and Cress does not disappoint this trend. While Cress was a slightly different book than the first two, it made my brain feel all warm and fuzzy every time I sat down to read. We meet new characters and get to know old ones better, there is epicness on so many levels, and I am EVEN MORE excited about the fourth book, Winter, than I was before!

Note: A friend gave me an ARC of Cress to review. Some things may change in the final version.

Cress by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #3)
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 4th, 2014
Genres: Fairytale Retelling, Sci-fi, YA 
Length: 560 pages
How I got my copy: Borrowed
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can. 

Strengths:

• I feel that I must start with the title character: Cress! *squeals* I love her so much! I imagine that many of us are going to have Tangled flashbacks while reading Cress but I honestly think it totally works. Cinder and Scarlet are both kick-butt heroines, but Cress brings something new to the table. She has obviously led a pretty sheltered life with a skewed perspective on things (mostly from watching net dramas….) and Meyer captures this wonderfully. Cress is a brilliant hacker but also adorably naive about a lot of things. She is a perfect edition to our fairy tale cast specifically because she isn’t the typical kick-butt heroine who is too tough to cry!
• Omg ya’ll, the twists! You know I love a good plot twist and I consider Cress to have more than one. They were the great kind, too, where they are kinda stressful because you know the characters’ lives are going to get more difficult, but also make perfect sense, but also just make you have to know what is going to happen! My pulse is rising just thinking about them >.>.
• The feels, wow, the feels. Scarlet definitely destroyed my emotions, but Cress doesn’t pull any punches. They are made all the worse because you kind of know something has to happen, but it’s still so freaking emotional. There aren’t just sad feels though! Thorne and Cress had me squeeing and literally laughing out loud quite often ;-).
• I love clever epic battles! You know when the hero saves the day against impossible odds not through luck or magically discovering some deep inner power but through being so dang clever?? That! That is awesome and that is what you get in Cress.
• We get little torturous hints about the character Winter and I am so freaking excited! Even though this is Cress, I am already impressed with how multi-faceted Winter the character is going to be, not to mention the epicness of Winter the book’s plot….
• Iko gets a couple of chapters from her perspective <3!

Weaknesses:

•  There are three couples now for those playing along at home and that is two more than most stories that we are used to have. All of the characters work great (yey epic fantasy adventuring party!), but each of the romance pairings being so neat and tidy is a little annoying. I want a single fairy-tale princess, who needs boys?!
• Cress melted my heart, but I didn’t get the white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat feel that I had with Scarlet. I hit a point with Scarlet where I was literally getting white knuckles gripping the hardcover, and that just didn’t happen with Cress (which is probably good since it was a rather floppy ARC). I have very high hopes for Winter though ;-).

Summary:

Really, at this point, you probably already know if you are going to read Cress or not. If you loved Scarlet, you will love Cress and I’m so excited and a little jealous that you get to read it for the first time still :D. If you read Cinder and were only meh and not sure about continuing the series, continue the series! I cannot emphasize enough how much each book’s writing has grown and I love it. I’m very impressed by how skillfully Meyer has weaved together three (four in the end) fairytale retellings, keeping each of the couples involved in the overarching storyline, and building this amazing sci-fi world to boot. Amaze-balls if you ask me.

I was able to snag two signed copies of Allegiant, so I'm giving one away :D

Quantum Entanglement is the second book in L.K.Hill’s Interchron series, full of time-travel and brain powers :D. There will be a few spoilers for Persistence of Vision, so feel free to check out that review instead if you want! I very much enjoyed Persistence of Vision because of the awesome new take on time-travel and super-human powers in an adult sci-fi, and while Quantum Entanglement did continue to thrill with even more time travel goodness, I didn’t get pulled in quite as much as with Persistence of Vision. If you’ve enjoyed the series so far, though, you should definitely continue!

Note: I received an ARC of Quantum Entanglement from the author in exchange for an honest review. Some things might have changed in the final version.

Quantum Entanglement by Liesel K. Hill (Interchron #2)
Published by Author on September 17th, 2013
Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Sci-fi, YA 
Length: 400 pages
How I got my copy: Author
Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

Five months after traveling to a post-apocalyptic future where collectives reign supreme and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper was returned to her own time until the threat to her life could be neutralized. She thought Marcus and the others would return for her within a few weeks, and now she’s beginning to worry.

When travelers from the future finally show up to collect her, it’s not who she expected. With the return of her memories, she wants more than ever to see Marcus again, but a snake-like woman whose abilities are a perfect match for Maggie’s, an injured Traveler, and decades of civil unrest to wade through all stand in the way of their reunion.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Karl traipse through the countryside, trying to neutralize Colin, who’s promised to brutalize and murder Maggie if he can get his hands on her. When a collective woman is left for dead, Marcus heals her, hoping she’ll be the key to killing Colin and bringing Maggie back. But she may prove as much a hindrance as a help.

The team struggles to get their bearings, but things happen faster than they know. The collectives are coalescing, power is shifting, and the one called B is putting sinister plans into action. If the team can’t reunite and get a handle on the situation, their freedom and individuality—perhaps their very identity—will be ripped away before they can catch their breath. 

Strengths:

• There is a lot more time jumping in Quantum Entanglement and we get to see the various stages of humanity’s downfall first hand. This was such a clever way to give the reader a deeper feel for the history/future of the world and I loved it :D.
• We get to see many of our old friends from Persistence of Vision and make some new ones. I was especially excited that Jonah got to come along on the adventures this time so we got to know him better.
• Quantum Entanglement ups the flashbacks and memory craziness, so we get to find out more about Maggie’s past and Marcus’! I’m loving trying to figure out the mystery of Maggie’s decision to dump her memories, but it was also cool to get a firsthand look of Marcus’ childhood with David.

Weaknesses:

•  I had a hard time connecting to the characters and action in Quantum Entanglement, much more than I did with Persistence of Vision. I can chalk some of it up to having read an ARC, so I’m sure the writing will be smoothed just a bit more in the final copy, but it was also difficult for Maggie and Marcus to be apart for so much of the book. I wanted to be rooting for the main couple, but the romance wasn’t the focus so I just kind of forgot about it >.>.
• There are several new types of powers and enhancements of previous powers in Quantum Entanglement and I wasn’t really a fan. There is brief mention of someone having power over the weather, which seemed outside of the mental powers we’ve encountered so far. Further, there is heavy hinting that Maggie will keep breaking the rules, and I love the rules of magic systems!

Summary:

Quantum Entanglement is a solid sci-fi sequel that ended up feeling a bit like a build-up book. I’m interested to see how things go in the third book, but my lack of connection with the characters that I used to feel strongly for was disappointing. I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen time-travel handled better, however, so if you like very sci-fiy time travel story, you will dig Quantum Entanglement :D.

Good save on the humans and the aliens being from the same species originally therefore when the sexy times happens it is less improbable. However, I want an explanation for how humans got to Earth if the aliens are thousands of years ahead of them technologically and evolutionarily >.>

Legend by Marie Lu is the first in a trilogy that will be completed shortly. The third book, Champion, is due out in November! I purchased a physical copy of Legend earlier this year because I love the interior fonts and textures used. However, it was suffering the usual fate of books already published, no matter how tempting: review books kept pushing Legend aside. So I used some spare credits to get the audiobook version! I’m very happy to have finally started this trilogy, since it does the dystopian genre proud!

(I’m sick and on cold medicine, so if this review seems a bit strange, I’m sorry D:)

Note: I listened to Legend on an audiobook, which can definitely color my opinion of the story in general.

Legend by Marie Lu 
Narrated by Mariel Stern, Steven Kaplan
(Legend #1)
Published by Putnam Juvenille on Nov. 29th, 2011
Genres: Dystopia, YA 
Length: 320 pages
How I got my copy: Purchased
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. 

Strengths:

• There were lots of little things in Legend that delighted me. I would feel silly listing PUPPY as a strength, but the presence of an adorable pet that isn’t used as a dramatic twist was enjoyable. I also enjoyed the computer hacking and secret blogs as plot devices since I haven’t read much about blogs in dystopian stories ;-).
• The ending of Legend was rockin’. There were feels and a surprisingly realistic set of events. I had been wondering how in the world things would end in such a way as to allow more books (ie with the main characters not dead, haha), and Legend pulled it off in a way that is actually believable instead of ridiculously lucky ;-).
• Whenever you have a story told from a boy and girl’s POV, it’s kind of obvious where things are likely to head. However, the romance in Legend was definitely slow-burn, with no one professing undying love, but there being a definite attraction brewing. I appreciate that June and Day were able to prioritize survival over googly eyes!
• There were two narrators for the audiobook of Legend, a man and a woman. They switched off at the expected intervals since some chapters are from June’s perspective and some are from Day’s. I thought that both narrators pulled off the voice of the opposite gender well enough when they needed to :).

Weaknesses:

•  I wasn’t a huge fan of the pacing of the female narrator’s reading. She pronounced a couple of things oddly (“chimney” only has two syllables, NOT THREE) and it seemed like she was over-pronouncing to the point that I wanted her to speed the heck up.
• I have to admit that Legend felt like a rather typical dystopian story until the last 1/4. If I didn’t have lots of people telling me how much they love this trilogy, I’m worried I would have put it down before realizing the awesomeness!
• The plot of Legend was fairly predictable in that there wasn’t any huge betrayal or reveal plot twist. Legend felt like the kind of story that would have worked well with a twist though, so I’m hoping the future books have one?

Summary:

Overall I’m thrilled that I finally read Legend and I’m trying to decide whether I should buy Prodigy, get the audiobook or wait until the winter holidays >.>. I kind of want to binge on this series when Champion comes out! If you enjoy dystopian YA and are looking for something to help you recover from the end of the Divergent series, you should definitely check Legend out!

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa is the fifth book in the Iron Fey series, though it’s also the start of the spinoff Call of the Forgotten series. Harlequin claimed on NetGalley that I could start with this book, so I decided to give it a try and test the theory ;-). While I didn’t end up loving The Lost Prince, I did enjoy the concepts and definitely think you can start with The Lost Prince and still enjoy Call of the Forgotten. I’m actually kind of glad I started here, since I don’t think I would have loved the romance in the first four Iron Fey books.

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa (Call of the Forgotten #1)
Published by Harlequin Teen on Oct. 23rd, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, YA 
Length: 377 pages
How I got my copy: Borrowed
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

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. 

Strengths:

• I haven’t read that many books about fairies, but enough that I was quite excited to see a new premise in The Lost Prince involving creepy ghost fey. Taking the fluffy idea of fairies in modern day and turning them into sharp and dark things is so much fun :D.
• I’m such a sucky for adorable sidekick characters and there is a gremlin named Razor that stole my heart! He’s kind of like an intelligent dog in that he is very eager to please and not quite human level intelligence, but he can talk (he reminded me of Doug >.>) and it’s so cute! Plus he’s a gremlin and so he gets all static-y when he’s excited haha.
• As I said above, I think starting with The Lost Prince and only reading Call of the Forgotten would work fine. There is plenty of filling in the important parts of the previous series and I didn’t feel lost at all :).
• Ethan, the MC, has the Sight and can see the fair folk. I thought that this element was handled quite well in that it had strengths and weaknesses and was always there (like a normal sense), not only when it was convenient for the plot.
• Ethan practices Kali, which is apparently a Filipino martial arts (though I can’t find anything on the Internet about it besides this Kalis blade), and it was fun seeing that hobby utilized through out the plot. A character who has trained for years in order to defend himself instead of just having magic abilities :D.

Weaknesses:

•  The romantic dialogue in The Lost Prince was a bit painfully cheesy at times. There might have been some eye-rolling >.>.
• Ethan has some pretty angsty, annoying and sexist internal thoughts and I just wanted to smack him upside the head at various points.
• The Lost Prince has a fair amount of repetitive phrasing, in that I felt like I was reading the same sentence again that I read one page ago. This feeling was because I basically was….
• The only people who didn’t see that plot twist coming were the characters….

Summary:

The Lost Prince has an interesting premise and was perfectly fine to read as a fluffier book. If you don’t mind some cheese with your romance, you will probably quite enjoy it :). I’m looking forward to reading the second book (Iron Traitor) mostly because I’m hoping that there is betrayal >.> I think there are good odds given that title!

Khristine Hvam narrated Daughter of Smoke and Bone 1 and 2, so when I was looking for more audiobooks, I figured I check out what else she has narrated because I loved her doing Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I have been meaning to read Reboot for a while, so I spotted that and snatched it up. I LOVE LISTENING TO REBOOT! Possibly more than I would enjoy reading it to be honest. Khristine Hvam has pulled off a completely different character with a different accent and pace of speech than Karou and I'm so freaking impressed. I think I'm just going to listen to everything she narrates from now on.

Since I finished Legend, I need to start a new audiobook today! I was thinking of starting The 5th Wave, but since I'm reading Alienated with friends this week, I don't really want two alien books at the same time D: Instead I'm going to start Reboot and then The 5th Wave will be after that ;-).