The Lost Prince

TITLE: The Lost Prince

AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa

SERIES: Call of the Forgotten #1

PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen

PAGES: 379 (Hardcover)

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Note: An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

With all the magic, romance and adventure I’ve come to expect from Julie Kagawa’s books, The Lost Prince is the start of a fantastic new series set into the enchanting Nevernever. This time the central focus of the novel in Ethan, Meghan’s younger brother, and I can honestly say I’ve come to love him just as much as I did his sister.

Ethan Chase has been trying to avoid his Fey Seer identity ever since his sister disappeared into the Nevernever, yet trouble seems to follow him everywhere and he soon finds himself starting at yet another new school where this time he hopes to just fade into the background. His dreams, however, are soon crushed with the rising of a new type of fey who call themselves the ‘Forgotten’, a race who slowly slipped out of human legend and are forced to drain the glamour out of other magical beings.  After a dangerous run in with the Forgotten Ethan and school journalist Kenzie are dragged into the Nevernever and become entangled with characters old and new as they try to prevent an all-out war between the realms.

Ethan – he’s changed a lot from the four-year-old boy who needed to be rescued from the clutches of the Iron king. Now a young man, he’s slipped into the typical bad boy stereotype and pushes everyone away in an attempt to keep them out of his world. Whilst he did come across as a bit sullen and angsty at times I found myself warming to him, especially when he allowed his defences to cave a little in his interactions with Kenzie. 

Speaking of our main love interest, I absolutely adored her.  She is witty, persistent and brave, and she met every challenge head on. Then there’s Keirran. As soon as I saw the name I couldn’t stop myself from squealing, and although it’s a bit…weird, his character was certainly interesting and I can see some of the similarity between him and Ethan and a certain other pair. And, of course, we get a healthy dose of Grimalkin every once in a while, and I hope we get to see him even more throughout the rest of the series.

The Forgotten were the thing that really caught my interest. We got a sneak peek of them in The Iron Knight, yet here they are much more prominent and I certainly learned a lot about their identity and history. Although I can see some similarities between this series and the last: new faerie court coming into power, tension between the rest, blah blah blah, I can honestly say that I’m really curious as to how this will pan out and what it might mean for the rest of the Nevernever.

If you’re a fan of the original Iron Fey series, then I would definitely recommend reading this book and looking into the series. It is new, yes, yet it is still connected to the old plot and characters and that gives it a greater diversity that I think it couldn’t have achieved on its own. For me, this series it a definite must read in the future.