Follow Friday (13)

 

It's Follow Friday time again, and it's on Friday the 13th! Woo! (No, I don't believe it's bad luck. I support the day because I was born on a 13th! :D) Anyway... This week's feature is Book Briefs (@ Alison Can Read) and Gizmos Reviews (@ Parajunkee)! Go check' em out. :D

Now for the question...

 

Q: What is one book that you would be nervous to see a movie adaption of because you think the movie could never live up to the book?

I'm nervous with all books when they're made into adaptations, but there is one book (actually, series) that I would be SUPER nervous about. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I'd be really worried who'd they cast, mainly for Puck. Ben Barnes is a dead ringer for Ash but I don't like anyone but Xavier Samuel for Puck (Ever since Nicki @WORD For Teens suggested him for Puck's role, I can't imagine anyone else filling his shoes.). I also don't think that the world it's set in could be accurately portrayed. However, if filmmakers got it right, I would be ecstatic beyond belief. I would love that film to my dying day. :D

So, what book did you choose?

Review: The Iron Queen

 

Title:The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey, #3)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Release Date:  January 25th 2011

Format: Paperback (Given)

My name is Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.

 


This book doesn't deserve five stars. It deserves five bajillion stars.

The Iron Queen is the third installment into the Iron Fey series and is by far the most riveting book of it so far. It pulled at my heart-strings the whole time and I still enjoyed it!

I started out as a Team Puck fan, and so far I still am. However, I've started to feel pretty bad for Ash. Now, being on Team Puck here, this book is not going to make us Goodfellow fans any happier. In fact, it just takes our wishes and squishes them, and twists them, and stabs them. BUT (There is always a but.), in the end, I don't think anyone can help but feel sad for Ash. AND THEN PUCK. In the end, Puck shows his true emotions as much as anyone will probably ever see again. It made me want to cry.

On a more technical note, the plot was gripping, the characters were just amazing as ever(!!!), and the scenery never failed to amaze...I think that' s just Kagawa's infallible talent for writing. I can't wait for the fourth, and last, book either. I can't believe it will be the last! This is definitely a series I want to continue forever, because I just absolutely love the characters and the world and /everything/. (I mean, how many people walk around with hand drawn pics of Puck on their binders, or walk around pointing at a raven in a tree saying that it's Puck come to take me to Faery!? I know I do) If this series becomes as famous as the Lord of the Rings series, I swear I'd be the master of the Puck-dom. THAT is how much I love this series, and I swear you will too. Even if you go Team Ash.

So, if you need something new to read, or if you have so many books to read that you're simply drowning in them...read this NOW. Read the series, and you won't regret it.

I gave it FIVE out of FIVE stars

Review: The Iron Daughter

 

Title:The Iron Daughter

Author:Julie Kagawa

Publisher:HarlequinTEEN

Release Date: August 1st 2010

Format: Paperback (Bought)

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

This book...

Oh my gosh...

Its...so...AMAZING.

Usually sequels are not nearly as great as the first book, but this is one exception to that rule. The Iron Daughter was two times better than The Iron King! I love (and hate! Yes, hate!) this book so much that I don't know where to start.

Okay, lets go with what I love. One word: Puck. Puck is back! The amazingly hot jokester is back and I squealed with joy when he appeared. He re-enters the story just in time to save Ash and Meghan's hides and he does it with style. He was also what made me start laughing while I read the book. (My classmates can attest to that. I'd burst out laughing in the middle of class...)

Second thing I love: PLOT. If you've read my reviews in the past, good plots are the number one thing I look for in the story. Puck and his amazingness alone will not even persuade me to like a book if it has a bad plot. That being said, The Iron Daughter's plot is well executed and keeps you on the edge of your seat during the whole ride...er, read. So many twists!

I also love how Julie Kagawa keeps expanding the world in the book and makes it come to life before your very eyes. This is one book you don't want to read before you go to bed, because you'll stay up thinking about it!

Now...what do I hate? The ending. This is no fault of the author's. It's only the fault of my heart..because I hate Meghan now.

[MAJOR SPOILER!]

She freaking left Puck behind! When Ash was banished from the Nevernever, and she tried to go after her, Oberon warned her that she too would be banished forever isf she walked through that trod after Ash. Puck finally broke down and pleaded with her to stay. To stay with /him/! What did she do!? She walked out of Nevernever without so much of a look back at Puck. Cold hearted little peri! I was so upset at that book that I just let loose and ranted on my nearest friend. Puck is destined to be alone forever!

[END SPOILER.]

So yeah. THAT'S why I have a love-hate relationship with this book. If you haven't read it yet...DO IT. Its amazing.

I gave it FIVE out of FIVE sporks

Review: The Iron King

 

Title: The Iron King (Iron Fey, #1)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Release Date:  February 1st 2010

Format: Paperback (Bought)

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.

The first thing I said when I closed this book was, "I WANT MOOOORRRE!". And yes, I said it loudly.

This...this is the first book to really grip me and make me love it since My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent. My brain is in overload from this book, but in a very happy way.

Okay, okay, I'm calming down and starting at the beginning.

Breathe.

Okay. When I first opened the book, I read about a little girl and the loss of her father. It's a plot point that I've seen multiple times, but it wasn't that big of a deal, so I looked past it. Then Robbie came in. Inssttannnt looovvve!!! He's cute, he's funny, he's friendly... I want one. Just sayin'.

Anyway, I so didn't get the whole digital creepy fey or the iron fey until the very end. I sorta had a brain fart and forgot the title of the book (Ahem, IRON King... Duh) and totally looked passed them, which made the ending fun and surprising. Machina makes me think of the hot dude from the Matrix when Meghan goes to dethrone him. He just sounds super bad like that.

The two Mega-Hotties of the story -- Puck (Robbie) and Ash -- were so developed, that I felt I could look up from the pages and find them standing in front of me. (Which, for the record, I would have loved to happen, tehe.)I am still Team Puck all the way, and am upset that Meghan would hurt her best friend's heart. She had feelings for him, you know it, but she ignored them. Because every girl has to go for the bad boy. That was the only part I disliked in the story, but I still like Ash.

The plot was fantasmagorical - a word I reserve for the best and most wonderful things. It made me want to start writing a plot of my own, one to rival the mastery that Julie Kagawa made. Which, I think , would be very hard. Except, my plot would include Puck coming out of that tree. I almost cried at the end when he didn't. Almost.

Ahem...I shall, um, stop rambling in my fan-girlness now, though. This book is BY FAR in my top three favourite books. And...wait for it...it has to have a favourite quote! I leave you with, a Puck quote. :D

" "Oh, we're playing nice now?" Puck remained seated, looking anything but compliant. "Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?" "

P.S. I'm hunting for my own Grimalkin now.

I give it FIVE out of FIVE sporks