Sunday, February 06, 2011

REVIEW: The Iron King by Julia Kagawa

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.



You may have heard me mention before, the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of fairies in books? I'm not, I never have been. But after reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, I think that perhaps I've just been reading the wrong ones! Because this is just as addictive reading as I was told that it would be. As soon as I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down and now that I've finished, I'm absolutely gasping to read The Iron Daughter to see what happens next.

Meghan Chase is a wonderful main character. I loved how strong and independent she is. She's fiercely loyal and strong-willed. When she learns that fairies have stolen away her younger brother, and that her best friend is really the legendary prankster, Puck, she jumps right in and demands to be taken into the fairy world in order to rescue her little brother. There, she comes across far bigger obstacles and problems, as the fairy courts and rules are complicated and hard to manage. And Meghan seems to be in the centre of it all, being the daughter of the Summer King. Quickly, she becomes aware of bigger intrigues and sets off on this really fast-paced adventure where her life and her heart come into danger.

Despite fumbling a little bit over the parts of fairy lore and etiquette, I found myself very swept up into all of the action of Meghan's adventure. She's very quick to give parts of herself away and to sacrifice all that she has in order to save her brother and those closest to her. I loved that about Meghan, the strength of her character alone would have me read the next books in the series. But the other characters as well, are just as fascinating. While I didn't love the label of 'best friend' at first, for two characters such as Meghan and Puck who don't seem to know each other very well, I did end up quite liking him. He brings a little bit of fun to balance out the icy-Prince Ash.

I can see the beginnings of a love triangle here, with the aloof Prince Ash battling against the best friend and protector, Puck. Ash is such a bad boy, that I can't help but be drawn to him and he of course, wins for me. Meghan isn't sure how much she can trust Ash or if he has ulterior motives for helping out, but despite all that, the connection between them is quite obvious and the two of them together, especially towards the end of The Iron King, made my heart leap up into my throat on more than one occasion.

But, romance aside, I did find that the characters of this book are quite strongly representated and I love the new twist on the fairy courts and lore that she brings to the table. A huge thanks to MIRA Ink for sending this book for review. From now on, I shall be more open to my own enjoyment about books regarding the fey.

8 comments:

  1. Fab review! I didn't love this, but liked it enough to get a bit more excited about book about Fey :D

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  2. I have just ordered this one from Amazon. Can't wait!

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  3. Iffath - Really, you didn't LOVE it. I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel!!

    Vivienne - Oh wonderful, I hope you enjoy it! :)

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  4. So glad you liked it! I absolutely adore this series - recently borrowed the third book and can't wait to get started. I hope you plan on reading the sequels!

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  5. Ooh! This sounds really good, I haven't read many Fey books and this one sounds like one to try.

    Fab review :D

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  6. Yay! I Loved this one too! I hadn't read many fey themed books but I'm slightly obsessed now after reading this one!

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  7. Ooh, interesting. I haven't read anything like this, but you're talking me round... :)

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  8. Liz - I definitely, definitely plan on reading the sequels. But I think I'll have to wait until they're published here in the UK :(

    Jesse - Thank you, I would recommend starting here, it's a great book!

    Vicki - I'm starting to feel a similar urge :)

    Luisa - It was really good. I was skeptical at first and was completely won over!

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