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The Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace's enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete--all except yokai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yokai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari's fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yokai outcast. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA...

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey #1)

Based off the New York Times best selling novels. The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series, and follows the adventures of a girl named Meghan Chase. On her sixteenth birthday, Meghan discovers her little brother has been kidnapped by a faery race known as "the Fey" and even worse, replaced with an evil changeling and taken into the "Nevernever." Meghan bravely ventures into the faery realm to rescue him, and that's where an epic plot unfolds.

TITLE: The Iron King
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
YEAR: 2010
LENGTH: 363 pages 
AGE: Young Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance
RECOMMENDED: N/A

General Vibe: Book1 with Book2

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

DNF 75% in.

I think if I’d found this when I was younger I’d like it more. Something about the balance of how much it portrays the darker side of Faerie (or not) just isn’t working for me. Also Meghan is pretty quickly interested in Ash when they’ve barely met, and I don’t like insta-love (or very quick attraction) as a trope.

CW for ableist language (brief), kidnapping, confinement, cursing, classism, bullying, toxic relationship, child abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, blood, violence, injury detail, medical content, self harm (brief), rape (brief mention), torture (brief mention), animal death, death (brief mention).

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A white-haired woman standing in front of a misty forest


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