Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Reviewed by Dani with Steph's commentary in maroon 
Dani's Rating: 4 stars Steph's Rating: 4 stars Overall Rating: 4 stars  

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 andtalking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten. 

Review:

Ever since Julie Kagawa announced that she would be creating a spin-off of her beloved Iron Fey series, I have been extremely excited for this book to come out. To sum it up, I was rather disappointed. Don't get me wrong, this was still a pretty good book, but I thought it fell short of the original books. I know that the torch has been passed on, welcoming an entirely new cast of characters, but I miss my favorite characters. Meghan, Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin did appear, but I found myself looking forward to the scenes containing them. I miss my favorite characters. I miss seeing the world from Meghan's point of view. I miss the adorable Meghan and Ash scenes. I miss Puck's snarky comments. Julie Kagawa said that she hoped her readers would learn to embrace these new characters, and I sincerely hope that we can.

Now enough reminiscing and on to the actual story...The first third of the book was about Ethan's human life. Ethan is hostile and unfriendly to everyone to protect them from the supernatural problems that his Sight brings. Ethan blames his ability to see the Good Neighbors for many fey-related incidents that happened in the past. He is broken inside, angry at his sister Meghan for leaving him to fend against the fey alone. Hence, he has learned to hold everyone at a distance. That is, until he meets Mckenzie St. James. I found this first part of the book slow because I was impatient for Ethan’s entrance into the Nevernever and reunion with his sister.

Ethan admitted that he was a "jerk" and a "bastard" to Mckenzie at first, but he didn't want to hurt her. Mckenzie is extremely stubborn and persistent, and I found her annoying when she assaulted Ethan with questions and accusations. She didn't understand what he was going through. I don’t understand what Ethan saw in  Mckenzie. I know, I’m being harsh, but what made Mckenzie so special that she would catch the eye of the brother of the Iron Queen? She proved to be a strong, reliable character through the story.

Later in the book, Ethan got sucked into the Nevernever, bringing Mckenzie with him, when they are chased by a "new" race of fey. These "new" fey appeared on The Iron Knight. Before reading this, I frantically searched for tidbits and spoilers in ARC reviews of The Lost Prince. I had heard of these strange fey from the reviews, but I was shocked when I discovered what they were. We thought that we had seen the last of these creatures in The Iron Knight, but surprises are everywhere. The name of this series, The Call of the Forgotten, should have cued me to know what to expect! Leanansidhe played a rather large role in this search. This lead them down a long road, with several pit stops, before arriving at their final destination. I felt like there wasn’t much suspense or excitement in this story. There were still the usual things like deals with fey and fights with monsters, but it was more subdued. I became bored of Ethan constantly telling Mckenzie what she could and couldn’t do. None of the characters provided humour except for a certain faithful gremlin named Razor. Yup, Razor is a main character! Not ironically, the most humorous parts came with the arrival of our favorite prankster, PUCK.

Oh, Keirran...he's such a mischievous boy. He must drive his parents crazy! The only thing, or should I say person, that he seems to be frightened of is his father. Well, who besides Meghan and Puck wouldn’t be afraid of the former prince of winter? Perhaps the best scene in this story was when Ethan figured out that Keirran was his nephew. And, when he realized that he had a nephew who was THE SAME AGE AS HIM.

The strangest part of this books was seeing the world in Ethan's point of view. It was...different...to experience Ethan's extreme dislike and hatred of Ash. As a devoted Team Ash fan, it was hard to see Ash as a dark, intimidating, heartless fey who caused your sister to leave home. Ethan, Keirran, and Mckenzie were like the “kids” and Ash, Meghan, and Puck were the “adults”. Ha, Puck as a responsible adult? Not happening. 

Altogether, this was a relatively good book, but it lacked that special faery dust that The Iron Fey books had. I didn’t get the OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO KEEP READING THIS UNTIL 3 AM feeling. I feel guilty saying this, but I looked forward to all the scenes with the old cast. I hope that myself and all the Iron Fey fans will eventually love the Call of the Forgotten as much as The Iron Fey.

Quotes to incite you to read The Lost Prince....

“You really do meet the strangest people in New York,” called a new voice somewhere overhead.

I looked up. A lean figure stood atop one of the towers, arms crossed, gazing down with a smirk. He shook his head, dislodging several feathers from his crimson hair, giving me a split-second glance of his pointed ears.

“For example,” he continued, still grinning widely, “you look exactly like the brother of a good friend of mine. I mean, what are the odds? Of course, he’s supposed to be safely home in Louisiana, so I have no idea what he’s doing in New York City. Oh, well.”

“Ah.” Puck sighed, shaking his head as we headed into the forest. “This brings back memories.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Don’t they remind you of a pair, ice-boy, from way back when?”

Ash snorted. “Don’t remind me.”

-Puck says Ethan and Keirran remind him of a certain pair.

Steph’s commentary:

Okay, so I miss the old cast. Like, I really miss them. Even if Julie Kagawa writes a spin-off series in the same Fey world, it just isn’t the same without our original trio. Ethan and Mckenzie just don’t do it for me. I understand that Ethan had it hard growing up, but so did his big sister! Ethan just can’t handle it the same way as her though, and I was just irked off by his attitude. He was whiny, and I don’t think he’s pounded into himself that he’s grown up now and not Meghan’s forever baby brother. It was weird to see him go from 4 years old to 16, and I honestly felt like a pedophile at some points. I also don’t understand what he saw in Mckenzie either, because she was giving away her life for such stupid things.

However, I really liked the plot and mystery shrouding the “forgotten” in this book! It was very intriguing to see a side of the Fey world that could almost be compared to the slums of a big city. It is set in the same world as the Iron Fey series, but it all seems very different from our new vantage point. If you’re really into the Iron Fey series (like us), this book is something you should be putting on your to-read list, though you should beware that it isn’t much like the original quartet. It is a whole new perspective of the world Julie Kagawa created!