If your looking for an intense action packed tale about the fae then look no forward then Brenna Morgan. This gal is a very strong, determine young lady. Her family has always traveled so she never set down roots anywhere but she hoping things will change once she arrives in Ireland. Boy do things change with one trip out to go for a jog, she comes upon a wounded fae, is entrusted with the key and a task. You meet fantastical creatures, be hunted by some of them and go on an amazing adventure to save a child.

A Modern Girl’s Disaster Filled Waltz with the Fairies
Brenna Morgan had lived a life without roots, moving around the world with her parents, who write for a travel magazine. She has lived a life that sounds exciting and exotic, but her deepest desire is to make friends, and go to school…to be a normal teenager. Much to her surprise, both of these things happen when she arrives in Ireland with her mother…at least to a certain degree. While Brenna makes friends easily, and is allowed to enroll in school, her life is anything but normal! Image result for irish mythologyOn her second day in Ireland, she meets a dying fairy, who entrusts her with an iron key, and with a quest to find and protect a special young girl, who is a member of the fairy realm. Danger abounds within the fairy realm for a mere mortal like Brenna, but like the heroes of ancient Irish mythology, she is determined to keep her promise and to protect the innocent.

Brenna Morgan and The Iron Key is a fun YA tale, which touches on many aspects of Irish mythology, from the Fairy Mounds and Finn McCool, to the leprechauns and the Morrigan. Brenna is very heroic, never seeming to doubt the importance of doing what is right, even if it means martyring herself…this can make her a bit trite and unrealistic at times, but this is made up for with her stilted friendship with a proud fairy noble and romance with her dreamy Irish lad. The plot has a fair number of twists and turns, with enough surprises to keep the story from being too predictable, as is sometimes the case with YA Image result for dancing fairiesbooks. That being said, I would not necessarily recommend this book to adults, since the protagonists are all unapologetically teenagers…but I think teen readers would devour and enjoy this story.

Beyond its typical YA attributes of blooming romance and teenagers saving the world, this book does pose some important questions for young readers to think about. For example, how does trust shape parent-child relationships, how important is independence, how much say do we have in our destinies and about who travels the road of life with us? Most importantly, how do the choices made now shape that road of life tomorrow? Overall, this is a good, short read, which I will definitely be recommending to my students for their summer reading lists!

I should have known better but that darn title drew me in! The writing was decent and so were the characters, but the storyline was a major flatline not even 30% of the way in

3.75 Stars
An enchanting YA novel set in Ireland with mythological elements throughout the storyline with a beautiful cover. Set in the human world and realm of the Good Folk (fae), the descriptions of the settings as well as supporting characters are worth it. The writing flows well and is easy to follow. There is a potential love triangle scenario, but the female MC is just finding herself and her own strengths in this book. A good choice for younger YA readers who enjoy mythical characters in contemporary stories. I look forward to the sequel and where the next adventure takes them.

Net Galley Feedback

I so much wanted to like this book and couldn't wait to dive into the world it promised: Irish folklore & mythology, the realm of the mystical Tuatha dé Dannan. So, I am truly sorry to find that it turned out to be a jump into an empty pool.

The contemporary world and the mythical realm of the faeries are supposed to blend into a harmonious story, but it felt like the a mix water and oil: no matter how much you stir, they are incompatible.
It also does not help the reader's involvement in the story or the dramatic tension that, when at the height of some exciting plot development, the heroine suddenly realises that she has to go to school. "Yes, I know, I am to save the world with your help, you handsome faerie prince, and I am willing to sacrifice my own life if need be, but -ooops- only on Friday afternoon, when finished with lessons. Sorry, must dash now for an all-important P.E. class." I mean, seriously?!

I also wish authors would stop using the trope of "heroine gets warned to avoid doing something, so she goes and does exactly that, putting herself and others to danger, ending up having to be rescued by others". This is not only wearing as thin as it is annoying, but it really and truly makes MCs to appear dumb and foolish instead of courageous.

Maybe I am too old to enjoy this book or it is just not universally appealing to readers of all ages. The novel failed to make me believe in its world and that is a crucial point if you are reading fantasy.

Growing up in an Irish family I’ll be the first to admit I can be a ‘bit’ overprotective when it comes to the Irish. When I’m reading anything that sets the scene in Ireland, with Irish characters, uses the Irish mythology, etc and the author isn’t Irish I’m already going in feeling wary; let’s just say I’ve been burned with bad literature way too often.

I had my first moment of irritation when sixteen year old Brenna Morgan is introduced to the reader through her complaints of the Irish countryside, its weather, etc. I know it’s petty, but I warned you – I’m overprotective. The spelling errors of Irish words was also a little frustrating.

Aside from my own biases, which I’m being up front about, the only true negative I found with the writing was how often supporting characters would tell Brenna part of some information she needed for this journey she was set on, insinuate a bigger picture, and so forth only to answer her questions with various versions of “you don’t need to know that right now”. As the reader it was getting increasingly frustrating feeling like you’re not getting the whole picture and always being told, “you don’t need to know that right now”. I was hoping there would come some moment when the characters would finally tell all but by the end of the story I still felt like there were huge chunks of the mythology and background Masters was trying to create here that I never got.

I’ve read similar books, written by Irish and UK authors though, where they added something at the end to give a background on the characters as they are described in Irish folklore and any differences to their history/personality the author did in order to tell this story. They would also add a list of Irish phrases and words used along with their definitions in order to help readers that don’t have a background of familiarity with the culture or for those of us who do to ease our confusion as to why they altered known symbols. Something like that would feel much more helpful in this book.

A lot of the positives though came in the form of the writing itself which was vividly descriptive so I could see what the character was seeing and feeling although I LOVE the rain and I’m happiest when it’s raining for days on end.

After Masters gets you set up slowly to give you time to understand who Brenna is you’re hit with an explosive action scene and she immediately drops you into her version of a mythology using Irish tales not unlike what Riordan has done for the Greeks, Egyptians and the Norse mythologies. Some artistic license was definitely taken so this shouldn’t be read believing you’re getting a history lesson on the Irish culture just like I would hope anyone who read Riordan would use his work as a stepping stone to the various cultures to find out the truths and history. It’s fiction and as such is meant to entertain not educate. If you can approach it from that point of view and ignore the inaccuracies then it’s a decent story that will keep your attention through to the end.

I’m not entirely sure I would recommend this for anyone younger than high school due to a wildly descriptive near sacrifice scene but it all depends on how you raise your kids and what you think they’re comfortable with.

I try to read one YA book a week. I work in a middle school media center and it's important to read the books first before we put them out because of parental involvement (they may not like certain words or lifestyle choices. I like to know what the parents are griping about beforehand.

This is a solid YA mystery/fantasy/romance. It's not curriculum based but it tells of lasting friendship, the ability to try new things, the magic of love and the importance of believing in yourself. Brenna has enjoyed a somewhat chaotic life with her traveling mother and when that life brings her to Ireland, magic begins to happen and it does not stop until the last page.