Rating:


Author: Julie Kagawa

Publication: February 1st, 2010

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Description: Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
Via GoodReads.

My Review:

The first installment in the Iron Fey series, The Iron King introduces us to the breath-taking world of the fey, the Never Never, as we follow Meghan Chase and the many hardships that she faces after learning she herself is half fey.

The story of The Iron King draws heavily from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but also gives it its own spin with the further explaination into characters like Oberon, Titania, Mab, and even Robin Goodfellow and, of course, with the introduction of the Iron fey. I thought it was very clever of Kagawa to build upon Shakespeare's old tale with her own story and I very much enjoyed the entire concept. And Kagawa's writing did the storyline justice, giving beautiful world-building to the fey realm so that the reader could picture it perfectly without being overwhelmed by descriptions. I also liked that the story wasn't fluffed up - it kept the darker aspects of the fey like how they view humans as play things, etc. I loved everything about the story, but my mostly dislike of the main character did take away from it.

I'm just going to get right to the point - Meghan sometimes got on my nerves. Okay, only days ago you didn't even know fey existed, but couldn't you just try to fight, even if you think it'll be futile, instead of standing there screaming as your friends risk their lives for you in battle? Meghan does this for 80% of the book and it's embarassing, especially since we know deep down she is a powerful fey that could kick butt. Near the end of the book she finally starts to get it together and pull out the butt kicking though. And she is supposedly on this big determined mission to save her brother, but when the first hot young thing comes along, her eyes glaze over.

On the cover near the bottom it says "Iron. Ice. A love doomed from the start". Hmm.. I think, even with bestfriend Robbie/Puck making doe eyes at Meghan, we can safely assume the real love interest will be the icy Winter prince, Ash. Even though I knew who Meghan would fall for, I wanted to feel the gradual, sweet process every step of the way. I'm afraid there wasn't anything gradual about their love. I was rather disappointed that, even though Meghan knew Ash was a sworn mortal enemy, she was smitten by him completely and immidiately. Shouldn't she have been wary of him instead of having her stomach "doing backflips" when his hand accidentally brushes hers? Girl, have you no self respect?! And then, a whopping two weeks tops after they first met, they are declaring their love for eachother. Despite the unfortunate instalove, their romance was a little cute. To be honest, I did feel bad for Puck though.

Ash is tall, dark, handsome, and off-limits, all the makings of a perfect love interest. But poor Puck.. He has spent his entire life beside Meghan as her best friend and protector and he obviously has feelings for her, but as soon as Ash popped up and the instalove took Meghan over like a brain-washing, poor Puck was basically forgotten. While sometimes immature, mischevious Puck's character is a fun addition to the story as both a comic relief and love competition. I also enjoyed the cat sith, Grimalkin, that helped Meghan through the book and all of his witty comments.

The story keeps you on your toes through the whole book, as Meghan and her friends face countless barriers on their quest to save her younger brother from the fey and even try to defeat the Iron King himself. The Iron King had a great story and, despite Meghan and the instalove romance, I enjoyed reading it.

Summed Up:

The Iron King was a good start to a unique series. Kagawa gives us great writing, tons of action, and an interesting storyline. However, the main character is pretty spineless and I'm not a fan of the instalove either.

Iron Fey Series

Review for #1: The Iron King
Review for #2: The Iron Daughter
Review for #3: The Iron Queen
Review for #3.5: Summer's Crossing - to come
Review for #4: The Iron Knight - to come