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Meghan Chase is different than other girls. She has faery blood. When her little brother is kidnapped and dragged into the dangerous, terrifying world of faeries, witches, satyrs and Winter Princes, Meghan makes up her mind to rescue him. There's just one problem. She might die.
Plot
Meghan Chase is your everyday sarcastic, grumbling, stubborn teenager. She has a stepfather who doesn't seem to know she exists, her mother is scatterbrained and her life at high school is summed up in one word: miserable. However, when her brother gets kidnapped by faeries - or more specifically, a villain called the Iron King - she and her best friend Puck must go and rescue him. Between the romance, adventure and sarcasm, you're in for an exciting ride.
Pros and Cons
This is entertainment at its best. Everybody likes to read about the impossible, therefore it's up to the Iron King's author, Julie Kagawa, to make it possible. She does a good job. It's exciting, the characters are relatable - unless you're trying to relate to an ogre, that is - and there's even a Prince thrown into the mix.
The Bottom Line
This is a fun read. It's 363 pages of adventure that will leave you waiting for the next book.
There are three: The Iron King, The Iron King and the Iron Daughter.
Jack has a problem. He just found out that he's a mystical warrior who has supernatural powers. For most 16 year-olds, such a revelation would be pretty awesome. Not for Jack. Nearly every Wizard, Enchanter and evil force on the planet is after his blood, and it's all because he is The Warrior Heir.
Plot
This is the first book in Cinda Williams Chima's trilogy. The Warrior Heir centers on the adventure that Jack has to endure after he finds out that he is a Warrior. Wizards and illegal magic traders are on his trail, determined to play him in the Game, a gladiator-like arena where two warriors fight to the death. As expected, Jack isn't too crazy about the prospect of dying in front of several hundred spectators. Along with the help of his magical - and non-magical - friends, he tries to escape. But luck runs out, and he must fight in the Game.
Pros and Cons
If you're a big fan of Harry Potter or The Mortal Instruments Series you will probably like Chima's book. The blending of magic into the modern world seems to be a popular trend, and it's no different here. Jack is a good, strong, moral character, as are his friends. There's plenty of humor and lots of adventure to be found. I finished the book thinking that it was perhaps written with a perspective more aimed towards boys.
The Bottom Line
Wizards, magical swords and teenagers combine to create one crazy, fantastic adventure. It's 426 pages long.
Futuristic societies usually suck. That depressing fact rings true in Ally Condie's novel, "Matched," a dystopian love story that takes place in a society controlled so tightly by their government that nobody can even throw away a napkin without being cited. The love triangle within the 366 pages of drama is realistic, if not a bit predictable.
Plot
Cassia is 16. She has just been Matched to her best friend, which means that when she's 21, they will marry. Love has nothing to do with it. The Society decides who marries who. And that's that. Cassia, however, develops a deadly problem: she falls in love with somebody who is not her Match, and that could mean the destruction of her life as she knows it. Because nobody dares say no to the Society.
Pros and Cons
Something that was very refreshing about this novel was the short, Suzanne Collins-like style with which Condie writes. Another interesting factor was the slightly chilling realization that any society could easily turn into the world in which Cassia lives. Disappointment, however, came when you realize that most of the book is spent reflecting on feelings and analogies, rather than the plot at hand. The sterile structure of the Society is like looking at a Facebook page, and that makes it really hard to feel anything that the characters are feeling.
The Bottom Line
It's a great book for entertainment, but the love triangle falls flat halfway into the book. It's worth the read for lazy Saturday afternoons. The sequel is being released in November of 2011.
