Book Stats:The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
(Book #1 of The Iron Fey)
Source: Purchased
Format: Kindle, 363 pages
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: 2/1/2010
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads Summary: 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.
A
lot of my fellow goodreaders have constantly raved about this
particular series and I'd scoff because I was like “Seriously?
Fairies?” but boy, did I eat my words! I really wanted to read the
upcoming spin-off series, The Iron Fey: The Call of the Forgotten and
I knew it wouldn't feel right if I didn't get through this one first.
Let
me start off by saying, I did like this book but I'm just on the
fence with a few things. Given it's a start of the series so I'll
give a little break but there were just so many clichés. I felt like
the plot was poorly executed as it was very predictable. The mash-up
of familiar concepts from stories like A Midsummer's Night Dream and
Peter Pan, Narnia, The Wizard of Oz and I had a little Cinderella
vibe going on too, made it seem almost.. cheesy. Almost. What really
sold it to me was the very lovable set of characters. Meghan, Ash, Puck and Grim is definitely a group I
didn't expect to form here but when they did, I fell in love with them.
Megan
is genuine, determined and most importantly, noble. She stays true to
her word and would sacrifice what she could for the people she loves.
She could be a little wimp sometimes but I'm looking forward to see
her character development throughout the series. I really think she
has potential to be a decent heroine.
This was what I was looking most forward to and that was finally meeting
the very talked about Unseelie Prince named Ash. He is a mysterious
one, haunted indeed. I did have my doubts about him and his
intentions but the black hair.. silver eyes.. and that was it, I was
left swooning. Girl weaknesses strikes once again.
I
also really liked the other love interest which is Puck. His
character is perfect counterpart for our dark winter prince. He is
full of light and jokes that I just immediately felt at ease with his
character. I also loved his protectiveness over Meghan.
I
don't know why but Grimalkin reminded me so much of Magnus Bane from
The Mortal Instruments. Maybe it's the cat thing? He gave me the same
vibes. A person to go to, full of wisdom and very amused at the
littlest things.
“Careful,
human.” Grimalkin appeared on the corner of the stage, overshadowed
by the dead chimera. “Do not lose your heart to a faery prince. It
never ends well.”
Don't
get me wrong, I like Ash and Meghan as a couple but they barely knew
each other. That kissing scene was sweet and all but it suddenly felt
too soon. It's like “BAM!” and Meghan has already became his
beloved? Um, okay. Also, The Ariella thing seems a little fishy to me
or am I reading too much into this?
Despite
what I said about the plot execution, that didn't stop me from being
absorbed. I didn't necessarily feel the direness within the
situations but some emotions did worked with me here. The ending almost made
me cry. I really adored Ethan, especially when he said “Meggie”.
I can't believe he has grown up and has his own series.
I
can't say this is anything ground-breaking although I do have limited
experience with fairy novels, but it's enjoyable all the same. The
story is very light hearted with the perfect tint of heartbreak,
romance and mystery. I'm definitely looking forward to read its
sequel: The Iron Daughter.
★★★★
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Great review! I definitely see why you were not completely okay with Meghan, but yeah, she becomes a wonderful heroine, especially in the third book, so hopefully you'll like her more as the series progresses :D
ReplyDeleteOh, Ash... I felt the same way. How can you NOT fall in love with him? Seriously. It's like, an impossible thing :P
I'm halfway through The Iron Queen and yeah, she definitely improves in that one :)
DeleteJust finished THE IRON KING and it was amazing! Can't wait for THE IRON DAUGHTER.
ReplyDelete