The Iron King

The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

My name is Meghan Chase. In less than twenty-four hours I'll be sixteen. Countless stories, songs and poems have been written about this wonderful age, when a girl finds true love and the stars shine for her and the handsome prince carries her off into the sunset. I don't think it will be that way for me. 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 fairy 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.

 This book took me a while to get into, but once I was into it I loved it. I couldn't stop reading this book and would totally recommend it to others. I thought the characters were ok, but I think the thing that had me hooked was the Fey world, NeverNever. The mythology of the world and setting had me hooked I wanted to find out as much as I could and felt that this book let me explore a different Fairy story to which I am more familiar with.


The story focuses on Meghan who is half fey, her father being the Summer King. She does not know this at the beginig of the book, but when her brother goes missing, she sets out on a quest to find him and bring him back home. Her best and at times I felt her only friend Robbie helps her get to NeverNever, through a waredore (Narina?), she learns that Shakesphere's A Midsomers Nightdream was wrote about the fairy world and because of that Robbie (Puck) will not dissapeare altogether. The fairy world is based upon dreams and beliefs from humans that there is more out there, the world NeverNever reminded me alot of Neverland from Peter Pan. 

Although the story is unique I can't help but notice little details from other stories and I think that in a way it is made obivious what stories these are and it takes a little of the magic away from the book. Alog their travels Meghan meets Grims, a talking cat, this was my character of the book! I loved the way he spoke to them, how he knew more tha Ash and Puck at times and how he always looked out for himself no matter what! Yes, actually that moveds me onto another point, in the fairy world if a fairy helps you, they can ask for anything in return. Meghan knows this when she asks Ash to help her, yet when she thinks she knows him better she questions and gets upset that he will still get his end of the bargain. This annoyed me so much, as she knew this would happen, she was warned by Puck not to accept but she did anyway and then she does not expect Ash to take what he wants? Meghan was so naive at times it did make me want to throw the book across the room.


The book is really good, and I would totally recommend it. The first 70 or so pages are slow but after Ethan (Meghan's brother) is taken the pace intensifys and the book, story and characters come into there own. I loved the part where it explained why Puck and Ash could not get on. There is a lot f history between the characters and I think that in the future books, it will only be improved upon.
 

Here Lies Bridget

Here Lies Bridget - Paige Harbison

Bridget Duke is the uncontested ruler of her school. The meanest girl with the biggest secret insecurities. And when new girl Anna Judge arrives, things start to fall apart for Bridget: friends don't worship as attentively, teachers don't fall for her wide-eyed "who me?" look, expulsion looms ahead and the one boy she's always loved - Liam Ward - can barely even look at her anymore.
When a desperate Bridget drives too fast and crashes her car, she ends up in limbo, facing everyone she's wronged and walking a few uncomfortable miles in their shoes. Now she has only one chance to make a last impression.

 The tagline for this book is perfect, 'Can death be a fresh start?'. The prolouge opens with Bridget thinking about who would actually miss her if she were to die, who would be at her funeral, who would be at her bedside in hospital. She decides that they only way to find out is to crash her car. As you can tell, the only person Bridget thinks about is Bridget.


The main problem I had with this book was Bridget as a main character, I understand that we needed to hate her so that the ending would become apparent, but I kind of wanted a little time to get to know the real Bridget. It seems that this book was wrote so that the reader would gain an insight into the world of Bridget and feel her emotions and suffering and her eventual renewal of herself. I personally don't think Bridget had any emotions, other than self centtredness. I actually enjoyed the book more when Bridget had no one to boss around and no one was talking to her, I feel that, that moment was the only time we saw the real Bridget.


The story is split into three parts, before the crash, the events leading up to it. In limbo, where she got to feel what others were feeling because of her actions and after the crash, where she tries to make it alright. Before the crash I wanted to scream at her for the lies she told, the way she treated her so called friends and step mom. She seemed to have no idea how she was effecting others around her, she put her defences up straight away when she thought others were going to turn on her. This was her eventual downfall! While in limbo she has to step into the shoes of all the other people she has hurt in the past few weeks, the time frame for this ranges from her being young up until a few days before. This was the part of the book I enjoyed the most, I loved the way she what was happpening and she could see why these things were affecting those around her, yet she was powerless to do anything. In my opinion this was the best written and most entertaining part of the book. The last part I felt was rushed, there was only a few pages of after the crash in which she is given the chance to change all that has happened. I would have liked to have seen more and then maybe seen a little into the future to see if she had kept up her promise.


The book was well written, you can not deny that, however it would have been more enjoyable if Bridget was a more likable character. The book is fantasic for a debut book, and I look forward to reading more from the autor in the future. I hope there is a follow-up, maybe in a novella just to see what happened after the story ended. I think that the book does make an interesting read, it is fun and quick and won't bore you. However be warned you may end up hating Bridget!!!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

'Beds empty! No note! Car gone-could have crashed-out of my mind with worry-did you care?-never, as long as I've lived-you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy- '

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, JK Rowling, Page 33

Deadly Little Secret

Deadly Little Secret - Laurie Faria Stolarz

Some secrets shouldn't be kept...
 Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia’s life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia’s life becomes anything but ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend’s accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She’s reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She’s inexplicably drawn to Ben…and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help—but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.

 Can I just say, how amazing is that cover? I was I admot drawn to the cover, I know you should not judge a book by it's cover but in the instance I couldn't not judge it. The story is mystical and thought provoking, you literally don't know what is going to happen until it happens! In my opinion that is the way a book should be. I don't want to know the plot before I've read it.

On to the characters, probably in my opinion the best part of the book. You have Camelia how has just overcome the near death experiance, you have the mystifing new boy Ben and the lovestruck ex, Matt. Although there is a supporting cast, the book focusses on these characters. Ben has came to the town to escape his old life and try to rebuild his reputation and lfe in a new town. Rumours however won't go away about his past and these make him vuneerable to everyone, the only person that talks to him is Camelia, even then she senses that something is not right about his character and wants to pin point the problem. As the plot devolps Camelia is recieving weird phone calls and letters. Everything points to Ben, yet she feels safe when she is with him, could it really be him who is sending the letters and photos. Matt is Camelia's ex, he feels the need to protect her at all times and I think in certain situtiations is a little out of line. You feel thathe wants to get close to her again, but doesn't quite know how.

The story is wrote from two different points of view, you have Camelia's and her supposedly stalker's point of view. This makes the book creepy and chilling, it made the book for me! We get to see the story from more than one perpective and I think it does add to the book. There is a major twist in the book, that I totally didn't see coming, though I knew in my gut that one of the characters deffianlty was inoccent, I never imangined that the real culprit was who it was...

Overall this book is amazing, I would totally recommend it to everyone. I read this because of the cover and the fact that I was sick of all the paranormal books out there at the minute. Although I supposse in some lights it does have a paranormal underside,  it is a contemporay book with a great cast and excellent story. Can't wait to get onto Deadly Little Lies.

Teaser Tuesday

easer Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive:Part 1
by L. J. Smith

'Grandmothers were supposed to be pink and cosy, with soft laps and large bank accounts. This woman looked stooped and coarse, with her grizzled hair and the prominent mole on her cheek.'

The Secret Circle: The Initiation, L. J. Smith, Page 43

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

 'She felt unsteady. Her heart beat painfully within her fox's chest. She remembered faces, girtl's laughinglike the soldiers. She remembered blood in her mouth and fear. She almost remembered more.'

Hunted, N. M. Browne, Page 162