City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series?: The Mortal Instruments

Synopsis: 

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Why I Read This: 

I finished the first book and I couldn't wait to pick up the second book and pick up where the first book left off!

My Thoughts/Review:

The book starts out slightly more captivating than it did in City of Bones, but it still wasn't a great beginning. I guess beginnings aren't Cassandra Clare's strong point.

It starts out with a poor, foolish warlock summoning a demon for Valentine, and all goes as planned--for Valentine. From there, the story winds into several twists with the unusual family of Jace, Clary, Luke, Valentine, and Jocelyn, as well as their close friends, the Lightwoods. We meet the boy, Max, and the adult Lightwoods, as well as a few other interesting characters. There are shenanigans, as always, but there are more dangerous aspects of what's going on and no one seems to be worthy of trust any more, even if they're telling the truth. Jace is locked away and Clary is worried and there's a love triangle and then there isn't and then there is--oh my, Ms. Clare, why can't your characters make up their minds?!

I really liked this story. It was constantly keeping me on my toes, wondering what would happen next. However sucky the beginning of the story may be, Cassandra Clare knows how to finish. She knows how to do things with an edge. I liked the plot of this story, and I was really worried that certain characters would die, since she seems to have no qualms about what she does to Simon in the book.

I loved Clary, but she was slightly more annoying in this one than the others. Jace was my favorite in this book (not exactly surprising), but I hated that he seemed to be blind to the others' feelings. I suppose that's just part of Jace, though. Simon was fun, but not one of the greatest characters ever. I liked him, but I was in love with Jace. Alec was cute. Magnus was awesome. Isabelle--I'm glad she didn;t show up too much. Max was so adorable! I didn't like Maryse or her husband, and I ended up having quite a bit of respect for Imogen. I loved all the twists with the characters; they all seemed so real.

"I am not," Alec said, through his teeth. "Just because you said dragon demons were extinct—""I said mostly extinct."Alec jabbed a finger toward him. "Mostly extinct," he said, his voice trembling with rage, "is NOT EXTINCT ENOUGH.""I see," said Jace. "I'll just have them change the entry in the demonology textbook from 'almost extinct' to 'not extinct enough for Alec. He prefers his monsters really, really extinct.' Will that make you happy?"

I really don't know what else to say about this book other than that I absolutely loved what Cassandra did with everything, and that I'll be picking up the third book in the series as soon as I finish this review, so I guess this is it.

I give this book 4.75 stars out of 5.

~Jessicah

The City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)

Title: The City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series?: The Mortal Instruments
Synopsis:
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

 Why I Read This:
Some friends on goodreads made a topic about TMI and convinced me to *finally* read the book. I have been thinking about it for a long time, but I never really wanted to because is so mainstream, and most mainstream stuff is either really well-deserved to be mainstream and is genius, or it's a load of crap. Typically, it's the load of crap option. LUCKILY, The City of Bones is the first option and I'm really glad that I was convinced to read it.

My Thoughts/Review: 
So, lemme get the bad out of the way before I start on the good, since the good outweighs the bad by a lot.

This book starts out not very well. It didn't hook me from the first few pages, which really sucked because I've been reading some really awesome books here lately that had me hooked from the first pages, the first few paragraph, and in some cases the first sentence (*coughDivergentcough*).

That was pretty much the only thing I didn't like about it, except that it didn't make me cry at the parts that it was supposed to. Now, I'm not usually one to cry; I didn't cry at most of my family members' funerals. However, books are different for me. I get into the character and I disappear in the mix and swirl of emotions. I always, always, end up crying where I'm supposed to cry, where there's so much emotion in a character. My eyes did water when reading certain parts, but I didn't cry. I thought it was weird, and not necessarily bad, but very strange.

Now for the good.

There were a lot of long words in this book; most I knew what they meant, but some were words that I'd never even seen before. I like when an author uses long words. It gives me a sense of pride because I think, People do know how to use English in this world! Maybe there's hope for the human race, after all! Because, let's face it, most people nowadays are illiterate and hate to read and write. So, yeah. I liked the long words. I learned something new, which is weird because I usually know all the words that are used in a book. I just....really liked her diction.

I liked the scenery she did. She was awesome at descriptions, and at just fitting them in with everything and everyone else.

I loved the characters in this book. All of them. No matter how much they annoyed me or betrayed my feelings, I loved them. Clary was....different. I liked her as a heroine, even when she couldn't do a whole lot, because she was real about herself. She knew she was afraid. She felt guilt. She felt so many things. She was so real that I felt like I could have a conversation with her and not freak out because she's just so real and you hardly think of her as being not real. I feel like I'm best friends with her or something.

I loved Jace's character. I like the way he was written, and he also seemed really real. It was awesome, and I fell in love with him. I fangirled about him and got frustrated at his behavior towards Simon and then about his behavior towards Clary. The twists with this guy were not totally unexpected, but it was still a surprise. About a third of the way through the book, I thought, Okay, so this is gonna happen. I can tell. and then 100 pages later I thought, Nope, nevermind, it's not gonna happen because it can't now MWAHAHA I'm almost glad it can't! and then it happened.

Simon was another guy I fangirled over. It's hard to say anything more about him, especially if I liked him or Jace more (WHICH I DO NOT KNOW WHO I LIKE MORE DON'T ASK). I don't really know what else to say about him, other than I thought he was cute and sweet and nice.

Isabelle and Alec. Okay, I really liked Alec, I did, but I was not expecting that character twist. At all. I was totally shocked when Clary said it. Just....*shock*. And Isabelle was really grating on my nerves there for the longest time, and then I felt pity for her, and then she was badass and I didn't know what to think. I guess she was pretty decent, but she wasn't my favorite.

The plot of this book. Oh my goodness, it was such a good plot! I loved it. There were so many twists and so much suspense.. I got all tense and stuff. She had her world carefully planned out, and it put a new spin on the world of fey and vampires and werewolves.

And then there was comedic relief! I've never laughed so much or so hard in my life! I loved the comedic relief! I'm so glad she had it, just enough for the book, because authors nowadays are not getting in enough comedic relief (either that or they make their whole book into a comedian act).

Overall, this book was just really, really good and I loved it! I'm so glad that I read it. It was way over my expectations (which were pretty low, actually).

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)

Ethan Chase's life has been anything but normal. He's been able to see the fey all his life--he was even captured by them when he was young and forced to be used as bait while his sister tried to come save him. But now, Ethan's all grown up, and he won't take that crap from faeries anymore.

Julie Kagawa's The Lost Prince is the first book in her new spin-off series, The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten. This book centers around Ethan Chase and his less-than-willing help of some certain fey.

Ethan has been living in fear of the fey ever since he was a 4-year-old, and old habits die hard. He's been pushing everyone away from him for years because he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. However, when he moves to a new school, and even when his bad-boy rep. trails close behind him wherever he goes, one girl doesn't let this more-than-minor detail hinder her.

We soon find out that Ethan's fears of people getting too close to him were kind of right, much as I'd like to blame them on paranoia (and he did have more than his fair share of that). After more than one attempt on his life, as well as one on the girl's--Kenzie's--at a kali (which you'll find out about soon enough ;D ) and other martial arts contest, he decides that all bets are off, and while he may hate to do it, he makes one of the hardest decisions that he's ever made: to willingly go into the Nevernever.

Ethan seeks out Meghan's help after not seeing her for years, though he is still justifiably angry with her and Ash. Everything he goes for is against him seeking her help, but he didn't really have a choice. However, when he gets to Meghan's palace, everything just kind of...falls apart.

Ethan soon learns that Ash, Puck, and Meghan were keeping secrets from him and his new friend, Kierran. Secrets are uncovered, betrayal is felt, lies are said, and nothing can ever be the same anymore--for anyone.

**

Ethan was a character that I liked, but I didn't fall in love with him like I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to. He seemed so gorgeous and awesome and stuff, but I just couldn't fall in love with his personality. He was too...cynical, I guess. I could understand it, but he was paranoid about everything and everyone, and he acted like everything that had ever happened was his fault. I would say he's masochistic, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. It was just annoying how he kept blaming himself for everything, even though he knew it wasn't his fault. I felt like he though everything evolved around him, that everything was his fault--which is kind of self-centered and...selfish. I just wasn't crazy about him. However, I did love his kali. :) Filipino martial arts, baby! :D I fangirled and squealed so much because of that!

Kenzie was annoying a lot of the time. She may be bold-faced and all, but I felt like she was kind of perfect for most of the time, which kind of ticked me off. I do not like Mary Sues. Even though I kind of hated her for the most part, I was glad that she was finally able to get Ethan out of some part of his self-loathing. At least she was good for something, other than pushing the plot along. I was just like

  
Kierran wasn't how I wanted him to be, which I know sounds really bad, but hear me out on this. Kierran didn't feel like major character any of the time--except maybe near the very end. He wasn't...good enough for me, I think. I just wasn't satisfied with him at all. And it annoyed me. Now, I wanted to fangirl over him as much as the next girl, it just didn't happen.

Don't even get me started on his love interest. OMG, I hated her. I even made a point to forget her name. I'm just not gonna start on that Mary Sue.

Grimalkin was back and was as awesome as ever! :D One of the few highlights of the book, but still. I loved him for his part that he played, even if he does just look down his nose (figuratively) at us humans. He's awesome and he knows it.

Now, the moments I turned the pages for--the moments with Puck and Ash! Puck was his awesome self as always, it just seemed like he was even more amazing and hilarious in this book than the others. Maybe it was just because I missed him so much and he wasn't there most of the time. Either way, I loved the moments where he was there, and those were moments that I kept reading the book for. Ash was also amazing! I got to see him in daddy-mode, which was AWESOME! I was fangirling and squealing and all around just happy dancing. I didn't realize how much I had missed those two (Puck and Ash) being together until the scene towards the end of the book where they were there and...I'm gonna start squee-ing again if I don't stop now.

Meghan was...different. The one time that we got to see her, she was so not the her from all the other books, and I guess that has something to do with being the mom of a guy who you knew might kill your little brother if they ever met (which you would know if you read Iron's Prophecy, so I'm not spoiling anything you shouldn't already know), not to mention being the Iron Queen must've been pretty hard on her, too, even with Ash and Glitch to help her. It wasn't the best moment in the book...Except for when Ash was there and I was fangirling all over again.

Todd was pretty cool, and it was really sad that he was kidnapped and stuff, but he was also annoying.

**

So, I was pretty annoyed with practically all of the 'main' characters. The highlights of the book were Ash, Puck, and Grim. Well...Leanansidhe was comforting in that she would never change, but it wasn't the same. Ethan was okay, but he wasn't bloody brilliant or anything like that.

However, I would still recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Iron Fey series, and I will gladly be following this series. You may develop a different opinion than mine about the book--it may be better for you.

I liked this book, but it wasn't fantastic for me. By the way, that cover up there? That's what pulled me in. Well, that and my love for The Iron Fey. Ethan's pretty hot, I must say.

I give this novel 3 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

Iron's Prophecy: The Iron Fey #4.5

Iron's Prophecy by Julie Kagawa was a very interesting read that I loved a lot. There was Meghan and Ash, of course, but there was also the return of a few very awesome characters.

This novella is all about what's to come in the new spin-off series of The Iron Fey, and reading it definitely helped me understand more of what was going on in The Lost Prince. It's all about Meghan and Ash's future together.

When a familiar Oracle decides to show up at Ash and Meghan's first Elysium together, things start spiraling down. Of course, Mab takes it the wrong way and thinks that Meghan did something to betray them. Oberon grudgingly takes the side of Meghan and Ash and herself run off to meet whatever waits for them.

Grimalkin can't stay away from the excitement for long, we all know that! So he decides to show up and help Ash and Meghan with where to find the Oracle.

After everything, Meghan sees things that can never be forgotten. She has to make a decision, though. But what she sees doesn't make it any easier.

This novella was amazing and I never knew what to expect next. As always with her writing, there twists and and thrills and perks all over the place, making it something I absolutely adored. It served its purpose, which is always a plus, but it did more than that, too. It gave me anotehr thrill of adventure and got me looking forward to the next book(s).

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

The Iron Knight: The Iron Fey #4

Julie Kagawa starts off The Iron Knight with Ash and Puck. Of course, Puck is there on his own and Ash wants him to go away. And of course, being Puck, he doesn't.

There are several familiar faces in this novel, as well as several new faces. We all know that there's Ash and Puck, and of course there's the ol' furball Grimalkin, but who else is there to be on an adventure with Ash and Puck?

The group of five goes through unspeakable challenges, especially Ash. But why are they going through the trials? Because Ash wants mortality.

That's right. The great faerie has discovered a way to be with Meghan and has decided to go all or nothing in this. He could go insane from it--he could die from it. But he's going to try.

**

Ash. What to say about him? We got to see more about him than ever before, as we were looking from his point of view. We got to see how he had changed, and how he was nowhere near the perfect faerie boy we thought he was. It gave us a lot of insight on him.

Puck was awesome, as per usual. He was amazing for standing by ice-boy's side, even though he was helping him get the one thing that could help Ash be with Meghan. We saw a lot more depth in Puck than normal, how he really regrets things, how he has been suffering, too. We see how he really hasn't lost his connection with Ash as a best friend.

Grimalkin was ever the amazing feline guide. Of course, with his knowledge and skills, he made sure everyone got through flawlessly. :)

SPOILER, btw.
The Wolf was pretty awesome. We all know he and Grim are friends. It's so obvious. I love him and his loyalty. He's super strong and all but what I love about him is that he protects Ash at all costs to himself, even if he says it's just to be in the stories.

SPOILER, btw.
Ariella. I hated Ari. She seemed so damn perfect. And she made precious Ash be tormented about his decision to be with Meghan, and made Megs misunderstand about them, and and and.. I didn't like her, btu I guess she was necessary for the story.

**

This book has everything I like about Julie Kagawa's writing--action, faeries, adventure, and just a bit of romance drama.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

Summer's Crossing: The Iron Fey #3.5

Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa is about Ash and Puck. One of the favors that Ash owes is called in and now he has to do it--whether he likes it or not. Ash needs Puck's help for this, but he doesn't want to admit it.

This novella is funny, captivating, and has just enough action to make it amazing. It tests the true friendship and loyalty of Puck.

Puck has a chance to betray Ash, but will he?

I give this novella 5 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

The Iron Queen: The Iron Fey #3

Julie Kagawa surprised me with The Iron Queen. All our old players were back and, honestly, not that well off.

Meghan Chase is with her prince in the beginning, both of them exiled.

Fast forward a little bit, and Meghan gets something important back. She finds her father--the man who raised her, not Oberon--and tried to slowly nurse him back to sanity. While that's going on, Ash teaches Megs a few things.

We soon find out that
Meghan is allergic to her own glamour.

Then, the real twist happens. You know they weren't going to be able to stay out of the Nevernever, especially after Puck was banished! As it happens to be, the Winter and Summer Courts had teamed up against the Iron Court, who was waging war against the two.

While the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are in this shaky alliance, they call on Meghan to come deal with the false king of the Iron Court. Meghan ends up bringing along the two warriors who were sworn enemies, once again banding together because of her. Ash swears more than one oath, drama ensues, Puck is used, and the Courts are close to being crushed under iron.

Meghan goes and deals with the false king, eventually, though there were many, many surprises in that chapter. I could've never guessed about what that crazy girl was going to do in the end. It was amazing. Even with her internal problems, she still managed to save the entire Nevernever. Again. It only sucks at the end, even if I do love the ending.

**

Meghan is back to being her awesome self, for the most part. She's not afraid of doing anything, except apologizing the the two fey that she's hurt most. She faces things that I would've had to run away from. She's brave and never abandons her friends. She braves the Iron Realm once again, with her two warriors by her sides, and brings the corruption to end, but at what cost? In Faery, there's always a cost.

Ash is still amazing, the awesome warrior who is slowly coming out of his shell. I feel really, really bad for him, though. I've come to have this love/hate thing with him, and throughout almost this entire book it's been love. He's still the Unseelie Prince, no matter how much Mab tries to banish him. It's a part of him, and he still acts the part sometimes, though he does warm a little after a lot of Meghan grating on him. He was amazing at the end. I love his True Name, which we finally get to see!

Puck. Oh, geez. I love the Summer Prankster, but I felt bad for him in the entire book. Seriously. But it's his choice, so I guess I have no say in it. Puck is just an amazing character altogether and I just wish he was real because I'm being such a fangirl right now about him. I love him too much!

Grimalkin is back! :) That's awesome, just right there. He's up to his old tricks again.

Oberon is as rude as ever, though he does have his moments.

Mab earned my grudging respect. Even if she's cold and hard as an icicle, she's not a complete unreasonable bitch...unlike Titania, whom I hate with a passion.

Glitch. Glitch is an awesome character, though he worries too much and doesn't know when to stop. I like Glitch.

**

I absolutely loved this book, with all its twists and turns and unexpected endings. The Courts were in trouble. Again. Meghan saved them. Again. But the story was told so differently form the Iron King that it's nearly impossible to make a comparison, so I won't even try.

Julie Kagawa has a way of writing her books that I absolutely love. She has in-depth characters, even the minor ones; a plot that knows where it's going; unexpected elements; amazing twists; hot guys; and such amazing story lines and details of everything! I would gladly pick up just any of her books of the shelf and start reading.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

The Iron Daughter: The Iron Fey #2

This book was not what I was expecting.

It was an amazing continuation of the story, but the beginning of the book almost ruined it for me. Almost.

Meghan was being whiny, annoying, emotional, and completely and totally frustrating. Ash was being the closed off Unseelie Prince once again. Puck was nowhere to be found. Mab was a bitch. Rowan was a bastard. Sage was....oddly civil. The rest of the court was infuriating.

SPOILER
Meghan was seriously making me freaking angry at the beginning. I would've slapped Prince Ash in front of everyone whenever he said that! But NOOOOO, Meghan goes and runs off, crying! Seriously! I nearly threw my laptop across the room out of frustration! It was so messed up! I don't care what he thinks he was doing, it was stupid for him to say something that insensitive! Idiot! *rageragerage* I know WHY he was doing it, but still! I would've freaking killed him! But Meghan seemed to forget why he was being such and asshole so I was even more enraged! She was being a stupid little girl at that point, letting her emotions and whininess get the best of her! I thought she was supposed to be smarter than that! *rage*

From then on, I didn't think I would like the book, but I was already into it, so I figured that I may as well finish up. However, it came as a pleasant surprise to me when I found myself unable to stop flipping through pages, eager for the next little piece of action or drama or whatever.

Something important was stolen, and so the courts set out to make war with each other, which was, of course, all planned out. Meghan and Ash sneak off to try to steal the stolen item back and stop the war. It isn't as simple as that, they soon find out.

A little later in the book, we found out that there was a traitor among the fey, working for the iron fey! *GASP* Complete with the misguided henchman and all.

And then Puck came back and the world had sunshine and rainbows again. His entrance was awesome, as per usual.

That's when the drama really started. The love triangle. I admit, it was awesome. But I did feel bad for one guy, there in the end, after everything.

Ash decided to try to go do something extremely stupid and dangerous all by himself and Meghan didn't stop him, so that didn't go well with me.

Meghan's powers... Now there's a topic for discussion. I think that was the real pushing factor in this book. Her powers, her lack of control, and her having so much power.

**

Meghan was still really brave in this book, and extremely loyal. However, I didn't like how she played around with a certain someone. I also didn't like how she acted at the beginning--completely annoying. Despite that, though, she grew into a wonderful character who finally began to cut the crap and stand up for herself, as well as finally take the roll as a leader.

Ash was more stupid than I have ever seen him be before. He was awesome at times, but still very stupid. I love Ash, and I loved him all the more at the end of the book, but some of his decision were decidedly insufferable and I don't know how Meghan could've forgiven him for a lot of things. I get it. I really do. He's had a hard life. That doesn't give him any excuse, though.

Puck was awesome and full of life as always. He was pining even more for Meghan's attention, but not way too much. He will always be the hero to me and I give him a complete seal of approval. I like Ash, but I love Puck, and I always will. He's always there, cracking his jokes and trying to be upbeat about everything.

Grim is back and better than ever. It's always nice to see the talking cat doing so well.

Ironhorse is back! And there's a little twist to that, too, but you'll have to read to find out.

Leanansidhe was a new character. She was extremely annoying, but I found that she was beginning to grow on me.

Rowan was completely infuriating.

Mab was a cold-hearted bitch who I eventually came to understand, but I still didn't like her.

**

Overall, this novel was well-written and the plot played out pretty well. I really like the twists and turns. I never expected many of the twists, which is pretty awesome because I've gotten to where I typically know how a plot will play out. It was a very pleasant surprise that I was completely in the dark most of the time about what would happen next.

I absolutely adored the ending and I adore Ash all the more because of it.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

~Jessicah

Winter's Passage: The Iron Fey #1.5

Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa is a novella that explains a lot about Ash and Meghan. It shows their passage to the Unseelie Court and introduces someone new to us as well. I highly recommend that you read this before reading The Iron Daughter, the second book in the Iron Fey series.

This novella starts off with Meghan and Ash, on their way to the Winter Court--as per their contract--when they realize that they're being hunted by...something. After deterring it for a while, they meet up with a familiar furball and find cover. However, they are soon found anyway and attacked.

This book focuses on Meghan and Ash's relationship, especially Ash's feelings for Meghan.

On a completely different note, this book made me revert into being the fangirl that I know I am. It was a little boring for me at first, but it was worth it.

I really liked this novella and i felt like it helped me understand more of Prince Ash. It also helped me not feel like he was as much of an ass as he was portrayed to be in the next book.

I'm giving this novella 4 stars out of 5.

~Jessicah

The Iron King: The Iron Fey #1

In the world of faeries, you can never be too careful. Julie Kagawa's The Iron King has taught me a few things about the mysterious fey.

For example, faeries are not, under any circumstance, the little dainty fairies and pixies with all that shimmering crap around them that you see on Disney Channel. They are powerful. They are deadly. They act only in the interest of themselves. It's their nature.

The rules are simple. Don't eat or drink anything from Faeryland. Don't accept gifts from fey. Don't make bargains or deals or contracts with the fey. Don't thank the fey for anything. Oh, and try not to piss off any faerie queens while you're there.

When Meghan Chase suddenly gets pulled into Faeryland, she doesn't know what to expect. She had been living a pretty normal life with her family, except for the act that her dad disappeared when she was very young. However, she had a new family with her mom, step-dad and half-brother, and it was normal. Not always good, but normal. Her sixteenth birthday, however, was the turning point for everything.

Evil faeries kidnapped Meghan's little brother as a bait to lure her after him. Her best friend, Robbie Goodfell, says that he knows a way to get him back.

They take a little trip to the land where most fey reside, and Meghan finds out a few shocking things along the way, including the true nature of someone she's always trusted and her true heritage.

Meghan faces jealous faerie queens, more monsters than you can count, mysterious talking cats, a dark and dangerous (not to mention handsome) faerie who seems to have it out for her and many other things. She learns that those myths about fey that Shakespeare wrote about in A Midsummer Night's Dream may not be so mythical after all after seeing things that people in the real world would put her in a loony bin for if she ever dared talking about them.


Meghan's character was very well thought out. I understood her and I could see everything from her point of view very easily. I related with her a lot. She's brave and clever. She's loyal to a fault. She'd do anything for family, and I really admire her for that. She coped with a world of fey extremely well, all for her brother. She's miserable a lot of the time in the Nevernever, but she just kind of deals with it.

**

SPOILER

Puck. What can I say about the Great Prankster? Robin Goodfellow is an amazing character, probably my favorite, even though we didn't get to see him very much in this book. The redheaded faerie jester of the Seelie Court is constantly making jokes, even in the face of his supposed nemesis and archrival. He's always sarcastic and brings along a feeling of humor and absolute loyalty in the story. He has my complete and total approval.

**

SPOILER
Ash was pretty good. I don't see how Meghan fell for him, but I have to admit that he was pretty amazing at times. He was constantly in warrior-mode, silent and brooding and always alert... Except for that time when he and Puck were dueling and didn't notice that Meghan was being carried away by a bunch of gremlins. Yeah. Not the smartest thing ever. But he was constantly fearless. He could only be fearless because he knew he was powerful, though. However, he did have an icy casing around him at all times--no, not literally...though it came close at times.
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SPOILER
Grimalkin was AMAZING. I love the cait sith. His bluntness is always a welcome reminder to come back to what's in front of you instead of thinking about other things too long. He's the most amazing guide you could ask for. The thing is, his help always comes with a price. The master of favors knows exactly how to word things to make them seem like they could mean nay number of things. He's just that smart.