Book Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Image (c) Harlequin Teen

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1) by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: October 23rd, 2012
Book Format: Library Book
Rating: Five Stars

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.

My name is Ethan Chase.
And I may not live to see my
eighteenth birthday.

 

When I finished the first four books of this series, and discovered that there was another book in the series that came out this year (The Iron Traitor, 2013) from one of the reviewers (who LOVED it, I should add… I feel like there’s a trend here [see my review on Perfect Ruin]) and found that there was another book before it… I had to read it. Besides, it centered around an older Ethan: the young little boy who got kidnapped as a little kid and sparked the beginning of this book. THAT Ethan. Yup, I’m in!

Ethan does all he can to avoid all fey. They live in a world that he wants to actively avoid and has been trying to do just that almost his whole life. That was until strange things starts happening and he starts receiving threats- including on a girl he meets after he goes to another high school. He never actually intended to return back, but now he has no choice… and he falls further down than he ever wanted to.

Many things have changed since we’ve seen the world of Nevernever in Meghan’s point of view. Of course, Meghan has been the Iron Queen for quite a while at this point in time. The Summer and Winter still thrive along with Leanansidhe, the Exile Queen. The change is something that no one had expected or believe is happening- the half-fey, the solitudes, are disappearing for no rhyme or reason. It’s something that is minor to the Courts that they don’t pay enough attention to it, unaware that it could very much destroy their own courts.

I fell in love with the new characters. We all know about Ethan, although last time we only knew him as a child and only as Meghan’s little brother who was kidnapped at the beginning of the first book The Iron King. He has grown up tremendously- but he certainly isn’t the shy little child we used to see. He grew up into a brooding sort of person who withdrew from everyone and from trying to get any friends because he believes that things would be better that way.

We meet another new character: Mackenzie, or Kenzie for short. She is born in a wealthy family which seemed to make her worthy enough to gain the popularity of many at school… although she seems very careless about it and ends up being one of the first people who try to approach Ethan in a friendly manner. It’s their little meeting, and another meeting with a half-fey, that starts a catalyst of travelling back to Nevernever. We get to meet many old characters, including the familiar Grimalkin cat, Puck and Ash alongside Keirran (if you read The Iron Knight, this just MIGHT sound familiar to you).

I had fun alongside this adventure. I was glad to see some old characters return back but the focus still remained on the two main characters- Kenzie and Ethan- and on the new trouble that’s ahead. It’s a fun ride and I am looking forward for the sequel to this book which I’ll be sure to get my hands on ASAP.

Originally posted and shared on December 10th, 2013