Thursday, November 1, 2012

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Pages: 379pgs

The Story

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.

The Review

A big thanks to HarlequinTeen Australia for sending me an ARC copy of this book!

Like so many other crazy-obsessive fans of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, a series which I happened to love very much, I was really looking forward to reading the spin-off series featuring the one and only and a much older boy, Ethan, the brother of our favourite heroine Meghan Chase. While this next installment and I didn't get off to a very good start, but since I have plenty of faith in Kagawa's writing in the past and how she develops her characters in each and every book, I feel rest assured when I say I'm sure the sequel will make me fall back in love with this new spin-off series!

In THE LOST PRINCE Ethan Chase was quite the fiery character if I do say so myself. He's angry. He's sweet. He's fearful. He's kind. He's infuriating. He's angry . . . yet again. For a much older version of Ethan there were just so many layers to his character arc which, I'm sure, will interest many of us readers but when it came down to this book alone I still didn't end up liking him as much as I hoped I would. It's sad to say, I know. But what I did like about Ethan was his love for his older sister, Meghan Chase, also known as the Iron Queen, and even after all these years of not seeing her he still managed to hold onto his sweetest memories of her from when he was a younger child. For the majority of the book he may have been angry at her at first (for leaving him behind you know?) but . . . there was still this brotherly love remaining for her alone, a love that was always there to guide him through the hardest of all times. I for one loved that sweeter side of him not the angrier one.

As we dive back into Julie Kagawa's magical Iron Fey world, we not only get to see many familiar faces along this very dangerous journey of Ethan's - including Meghan, Ash and Puck (PUCK PEOPLE! MY BELOVED PUCK IS BACK! YES!), but we are also introduced to some new faces as well. Both sneaky, intruding and equally headstrong as Ethan is, we get to meet Kenzie, Ethan's main love interest and the human girl who ends up being sucked up into Ethan's crazy, crazy world. Now I really enjoyed Kenzie's character! She was smart, resourceful, witty . . . the list goes on to be honest. But the main thing I loved about her character was HER way of telling Ethan off, especially when he oversteps the line and she always calls out the crap he puts onto her and other people, too. So because of that main quality I thought she was pretty awesome though I still expect more from her . . . so let's hope the sequel satisfies me with that.

Then we have another cool character that we're introduced to: Keirran, a young boy who may seem mysterious at first but once you meet him and find out exactly who and what he is . . . much like me you will be dancing around like a mad-woman (or a mad-man, whichever you prefer) and let's just say Keirran may be a romantic at heart and a total lovesick puppy when it comes to his own love interest (whom I didn't like at all unfortunately but ah well . . .), but I know this boy will have a lot to offer in future sequels so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Without getting into 'too much' detail, overall I thought THE LOST PRINCE was a great start to a spin-off series and offers up something new, fresh and exciting for younger readers and fans of the Iron Fey series. I can't necessarily say this book blew me away like the previously series it was based on (mostly because I would've preferred Keirran's POV over Ethan's) but it was still such a fun read for the most part and it'll be interesting where the author takes this series off to next! But note to the author: BRING ME SOME MORE PUCK . . . PRETTY PLEASE!

The Rating
3 1/2 / 5 stars

25 comments:

  1. great review, and i totally agree with your view point, we have gotten so used to the original characters that it is definitely going to take us a while to get used to new ones....but i have a feeling that the next book will be about Keirran...so i'm good.

    if you have time do check my review of the book here

    Le' Grande Codex

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    1. Thank you. It's definitely going to take us a while with loving these characters but I agree, Keirran will probably have a much bigger part to play in future books.

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  2. I liked this too but I don't think it was as good as the previous books. Great review hun x

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  3. I concur. Still enjoyed it but loved original more. I think this series can only get better. Kierran can only become stronger in his powers. Ethan can only become stronger in his trust. And so on.

    BRING ME SOME MORE MEGHAN!

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    1. I still have a lot of faith in the series so I think in future books it will get even better since we've been introduced to everyone now. I WANT MORE MEGHAN TOO! But I want more Puck too. hehe.

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  4. I'm reading this at the moment and I agree with you, Ethan seems SO angry, it's kind of ruining it for me but I'm sure it gets better :)

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    1. I hope it will get better too. Ethan was too angry for me . . . so we'll see.

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  5. I JUST read the first four books so I can read this :D

    I'm a *little* scared to start seeing I've seen both you and Braiden say the same thing -- that you preferred book 1... but... I'm EXCITED, Erin! EXCITED!

    And I love your review.

    And Puck.

    PUCK! ALWAYS MORE PUCK :D

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    1. And excited you shall be! Hope you love it more than me which I'm sure you will! Oh you can't get enough of Puck, right? I mean it's . . . PUCK!!!! PUCKKKKKKK!

      Thanks Sarah! :)

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  6. Yeah, this book and I didn't get off to a good start either. It was just so hard for me to get into this book. I felt like the characters were so been there, done that, and then the Kagawa flair I'm used to fell under par. I just couldn't get into this one nearly as much, though the second half did make up for it some. AND PUCK. GRIMALKIN. They are the only two characters that haven't seemed to change. I like that all the old characters are still very much part of the new story.

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    1. The second part won me over too than the first part, so yeah, it definitely made everything that much better. Especially having PUCK and Grimalkin in it too. Gotta love the feelings the old characters bring back with them! :)

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  7. I've still only read the first book and I still find it odd that he's grown up. I see the cover and I'm like, "Oh hey...wait..." It's hard for me to get over. -.-

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    1. It's hard picturing Ethan as an older teen but I finally got used to it. :)

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  8. I liked world of the Fey series, but wasn't a fan of the mc. Ethan sounds awesome though, so might have to check this out. Great review! ^^

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    1. Thanks! Ethan, despite his issues, was another great addition to the cast.

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  9. I am so behind on these books. Fab review :)

    Siobhán @ Totally Bookalicious

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    1. Haha don't worry I'm behind too. Thanks Siobhán! :)

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  10. Erin, I didn't like this book that much which is a shame because I'm a huge fan of the Iron Fey series. I hope the characters get better on the next book especially Annwyl! She's such an...empty character. :(

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    1. Annwyl WAS an empty character. I wanted to love her . . . I really did . . . but just couldn't which I'm very sad to say.

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  11. I agree with your review, Erin! I did enjoy The Lost Prince although not as much as The Iron Fey series. I had huge expectations for The Lost Prince but I was quite disappointed when I finished reading the book. I'm still excited for the sequel though!

    Awesome review, Erin ♥

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    1. I'm still excited to read the sequel. Hope to see more Puck . . . he was the highlight for me in this book.

      Thanks, Celine!

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  12. PUCK YES PUCK! I freaking LOVEEEE the scene when he first appears :) Urghhhh why, why, WHY does Keirran have to be so lovesick, lusting after the Summer girl (whose name I won't even bother remembering). WHYYYYY!?!?!?! Like you and Chel said above, she's such an EMPTY character URGHHH WHYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?
    okayyyy ranting aside, AWESOME REVIEW ERIN<3 Let's hope the sequel will be even better<3

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    1. PUCK! <3 Honestly it was a breath of fresh air when Puck came back onto the page . . . really missed his character. hehe. Oh I disliked that Summer Girl . . . grrrrrr she's not worthy of Kierran!!! But ah well, guess they always fall for the wrong sorts of people. I hope she has some purpose cause I just didn't see it. :(

      Thanks Shirley! I hope the sequel is better too - hope to see more PUCK! ;)

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  13. Wonder if I'd feel differently if I'd read the entire original series? I enjoyed this where as I didn't think much of The Iron King (don't shoot me lol)
    Anwyl was insipid & dull, I liked Kierran but I think I'll reserve judgement on him til the follow up and I loved Razor :)

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