Author: Julie Kagawa
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Blog
Pages: 363
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal
First Published: February 1, 2010
First Line: "Ten years ago, on my sixth birthday, my father disappeared."
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Book Trailer:
The GIST (From Goodreads):
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.
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.
OPINION:
I enjoyed The Iron King. It's true. I liked it. Was it mind blowing? No. Highly original? No. Did I go out and buy the sequel the next day? Yes. I'll tell you why.
The story is about a girl named Meghan Chase who learns that fairies exist and that she is actually the daughter of a faery king. Meghan's half brother is stolen and replaced with a changeling and thus Meghan races into Nevernever, the land of the fairies, to get her brother back. One thing in her path is Ash, a prince of the Unseelie court, who is trying to kill her or capture her-- depends on where you are in the story. Although I don't know if I would fall for a boy who always said he would kill me the next time he saw me...but hey that's just me. (If Prince Harry said he would kill me, I would probably overlook it too.) Anyway Ash seems to be the good boy among the verwee bad Unseelie court who really weren't that scarwee to me. Just very vicious and murderous... I guess that is scary. Oh well.
Anyway, it's really hard for me to define Meghan. Why is it in these books the men have amazing, dynamic personalities and the girls, who are the main characters, are kind of like a filler character for whatever needs to drive the plot. Who's Ash? Dangerous, mysterious, serious prince. Who's Puck? Funny, crazy prankster. Who's Meghan? Well, I'm not sure.
I guess that was my biggest issue with this novel, though I liked the plot and was interested to see where it's going. The second issue I had was that Ash and Meghan have this dislike of each other for most of the novel than suddenly they are in love. I had to flip back to see if I missed a scene-- I didn't. Although I liked them together, I think their attraction phase before the love jump should have been expanded. And third, the titles of the chapters told me what was going to happen! Why even have that? Let me read the book lady!
Things I especially liked: Puck. He was funny, moody and very unpredictable. I wish he had been a bigger part of the book because he was pretty fun. I also thought Nevernever was described well, dangerous even to fairies themselves. Kagawa gave the whole faery world a mysterious, volatile vibe. It made me easily feel how overwhelmed Meghan could be jumping into this new place.
OVERALL:
I really liked the book and would recommend it. It felt a little light, depth wise, but I enjoyed it and can't wait to read the rest of the books to see how everything progresses.---8.5 / 10
