Review--The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

MEGHAN CHASE HAS A SECRET IDENTITY--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 farey creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

I didn't know what to think of The Iron Fey series when I first heard about it and may not have read it at all if I hadn't won the first two books in a contest. Which was awesome, because Julie Kagawa's The Iron King was incredible!

I've read books with faeries before, and while the rules are mostly the same, there is still always a different atmosphere and going ons involved that make the faeries vastly different. The faeries here are pretty different from Melissa Marr's as well as some of the other books I've read.

But right down to the nit and gritty some of the basic facts are the same. The fae are mischievous creatures and are never to be trusted. Those rules tend to stay the same. And I was really pleased to see that I recognized some of the fae that made their appearance in the book, for there was quite a variety and some were even new to me!

I loved Meghan, she was the sort of heroine who starts out simple like and just wants the basic things, a boyfriend, love, the usual YA thing, she had a best friend, who's identity became a little obvious as things moved along, but was still an incredible friend to her. Robbie's devotion to protecting his friend was very endearing. And can I just say that I am so glad to be done with high school, Meghan had to suffer through some pretty intense stuff, such as the cruelty of others. It wasn't pretty and Meghan wasn't the type to really stand up for herself in the beginning which kind of annoyed me.

But her character takes on a total change when her brother is kidnapped by the fae and Meghan will do anything to get him back. And she does. Making deals with the fae is never a good thing, their bargains are very tricky with so many loopholes that it's insane and you have to be devious yourself to be willing to deal with them.

Another thing that I'm not sure I totally liked was the somewhat love triangle, true Meghan never clearly states that she loves her best friend Robbie, but you get the feeling that there is something between them. And then comes the dangerous fae prince who Meghan finds herself falling for and loving him is really dangerous for he is her fae father's enemy/arch-rival's son. Yes, we have a Romeo and Juliet spin here as well. The Winter Court and the Summer Court, Meghan comes from Summer and Ash comes from Winter. So that little aspect got an eyeroll from me, but it was still nicely written that I wasn't rolling my eyes the entire time, just the little fact that it has the R&J flavor to it.

Never free, no one died at the end of this book, for as we already know there are 2 more in the series, so Meghan isn't going anywhere!

Overall I have to say the book deserves a good 4.5/5 stars. Really I could get technical and say a 4.9, for it was a really great read. 

Just a few high school-like things annoyed me, but only because it's I don't like how the MC handles the situation. I want to jump in there and tell her what she should do to defend herself. But that was it mostly and the R&J thing was a little annoying as well, but the romance was still written nicely. It was a gradual buildup between the two so it wasn't completely instant like R&J. But that's just my somewhat cynic attitude that likes to pop up when reading YA, the attitude I had back in high school myself for it is tough to survive those 4 years unless you have good friends at your side, and luckily Meghan has just that!

Already immersing myself into The Iron Daughter and loving it!