Review ~ The Lost Prince ~ Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince

Author:  Julie Kagawa

Published:  October 30th 2012

By: Harlequin Teen

First line: My name is Ethan Chase.

Last line:  And for the first time I wasn’t afraid.

Fave line:  I have two :)

Many of us have disappeared. More vanish with every breath. And they are coming closer.

Then her fingers brushed my skin, cool and soft and my stomach turned into a pretzel.

Anyone who follows the blog will know what a huge fan I am of the Iron Fey series.  I absolutely adored the main characters and consider myself to be a fully fledged member of Team Ash! I was thrilled therefore, one to hear that there would be a new series linked to the nevernever and two, to get my hands on a preview copy of The Lost Prince.

In The Lost Prince we are transported forwards a few years and into the world of Ethan Chase, brother of the Iron Queen herself Meghan Chase.  Ethan is now seventeen years old and has not had an easy time of it.  He is considered by his friends and family to be a troubled teen. He brings disaster to each new school he attends, has no friends and is a self-appointed recluse and bad-boy. The trouble that follows him though is not of his own making. Ethan has the Sight and soon as the fey that reside around realise he can see them they go out of their way to cause trouble for him. And so his life continues in one long disastrous cycle much to his parent’s habitual disappointment.

When we join Ethan he is about to start at yet another new school.  He’s eager to keep himself to himself, to stay away from disaster and avoid the fey at all costs so that he and his family can start to build a new life somewhere.  Within days however, his old problems start resurfacing. He’s being harassed by the school jock who tries to make sure he steers clear of Kenzie, one of the school’s most popular girls. He has also managed to become friends with Todd, a half phouka who realises that Ethan has the Sight. Todd for his part is seeking protection from a world of trouble.  Things get worse when Ethan finds himself being warned to steer clear by the same ghostly breed of fey that are after Todd. All this and he can’t seem to shake of Kenzie no matter how much he tries to play the jerk.

As if that wasn’t bad enough Todd goes missing and it’s while he’s taking part in a Kali demonstration that Ethan and Kenzie come under attack from the new breed of fey. In order to escape Ethan takes himself and Kenzie into the nevernever where he hopes to contact Meghan, to warn her of the new fey and seek her help in looking for Todd.  Their mission takes them back to the iron kingdom where Ethan finds himself being dragged kicking and screaming back into the world of fey as he tries to rescue his friend.

Where to begin? I love the new characters! Ethan has really come into his own in this story.  I love that he goes all out to do the right thing even when his survival instinct tells him to steer clear and I love watching the walls that he has built up around himself slowly crumble.  His relationships with Kenzie and Todd define him in the end, much more so than the persona he has tried to create.  Kenzie was not someone I liked immediately, she seemed arrogant and nosy. However, as the story progresses her character develops nicely and I’d warmed to her considerably by the time I had finished the book. I loved Todd for all of his puppy-dog style clinginess. He had a loyalty and a vulnerability that I found completely endearing.  There are other major new characters that appear in this book and boy was I pleased to see them!  For those of you that know the Iron Fey series, you’ll know who I’m referring to as soon as you hit the right pages in The Lost Prince, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.  For those that haven’t read the Iron Fey series I’d suggest you need to read that series before you tuck into this one.

Which brings me neatly on to Meghan, Puck and my beloved Ash (*sighs*).  All three are here and I think they bring a continuity to the new story which makes it all seem instantly familiar and comforting. That said, their part in this book is minimal.  I’m amazed that Kagawa has managed to take three such loved characters and make them secondary to the plot so well! I loved reading about all three again, but I was under no illusion.  This was Ethan’s story and I think including them so subtly was absolutely genius!  It was nice to see how their characters have changed (or not in some instances!) and there are a few surprises, such as Ethan’s intense dislike of Ash which threw me ten left!  How can anyone dislike Ash?! Seriously?!  One of the biggest returns for me was Grim who is more sarcastic than ever and I love him for it!

As for the ending, the finale is not quite so dramatic as other series. I like that there is some form of closure between stories even though there are plenty of threads that will weave into the next instalment I hope.   The relationship between Ethan and Kenzie looks as though it will be one that puts us through the emotional wringer and I’m looking forward to see where Kagawa takes Ethan next, especially now he’s a fully fledged prince!

5/5 I’m amazed at how well The Lost Prince flows so well from the last series.  Loved it, loved it, loved it! Next instalment now please!