Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagwa

The Iron King (Iron Fey, Book 1) by Julie 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.

Genre: Paranormal YA

Thoughts:

When I first saw The Iron King, I immediately started to groan thinking, "Not another paranormal YA, about fairies." Sure I haven't read a dud yet, but at some point the story idea becomes washed up. Too many authors using the same thread of thought always tangles up with someone elses ideas. When really positive reviews started popping up from like minded readers, I started to pay attention.

Kagawa takes the over used Fairy concept washing up in the YA genre and makes it her own. After about 3 pages I stopped trying to compare it to Marr, Black, or any of the others who have written in the Fairy line of YA books. Kagawas humor immediately set this book a part from others, amplifying the cruel humor of the Faye. In fact, the fact that I could laugh in the middle of a crisis was one of my favorite parts of this book. A rock solid plot that clearly stands out, with I twist I didn't see coming, was another huge cherry on top!

Puck is featured in this book as a character. No matter who is writing about our mischievous little Shakespeare character I always fall in love. He's such a great character in this tale. He's fiercely loyal, quite the little pot stirrer, and has inner depths that make me want to reach out and explore more about him. Sadly he is placed as the "friend" love interest to the triangle. Personally, I feel as if I should sit down with authors and tell them the best of love comes from friendships. It would feel nice if for once I couldn't see the poor guy friend being left in the dust over some tall dark and silent character.

Ash, is our tall dark and silent character. Don't get me wrong, by the end of The Iron King I was reading to eat the poor boy up. The love story between him and Meghan started to develop wonderfully. She thought he looked like the cats meow, but new he was bad for her. For the majority of the book he's ready to kill her in way too many scenes. The "love" story was developing nicely, I could feel the potential. Sadly, like a lot of YA read, the author felt the need to make confessions of love before the end of the first book. Most series can not pull this off, they need time to build it up more. Use some of the length of the series to make the reader truly fall in love.

Megan was a pretty likable character and I loved that she had an opinion. If she was in a character line up I could tell her apart. Which really is something wonderful in a genre where the characters just don't stand apart like they should. It's great watching Meghan grow up in front of my eyes.

There were also some great side characters and fun Faye that graced these pages. Namely Grim, who's fun vanishing ways reminisce of a certain cat from Alice and Wonderland.

Bottom Line: In the end The Iron King really holds its own in the over populated genre of paranormal fairy reads in YA books. It has humor, plenty of action, some yummy love triangle leads, mystery, and sorrow. The only reason I don't give this book I higher rating is the over rushed love story, lets get a little more growth. Looking forward to book 2!

Sexual Content:

Kissing, evil sexual prank by kids at school, and a few references to rape.

Rating: 4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

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Amazon: The Iron King (Harlequin Teen)

goodreads: The Iron King