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 … senses that everything she’s known is about to change. But she could never have guessed the truth.
For Meghan is the daughter of a mythical faery king…and a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
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This is the first book in the Iron Fey series. It is about a high school girl Meghan. She lives in a tiny town with her mom, step dad and 4 year old half brother, Ethan on a pig farm. They are rather poor and she doesn’t fit in well with anyone at school except her longtime friend Robbie. Turns out that Meghan’s the daughter of a faery King and someone has kidnapped her little brother and her bff is acutally fae as well. Together they go to faeryland to save Ethan. Along the way they meet lots of fae and not only have to save Ethan but all of faeryland from the evil Machina. There is a love interest as well a dark fae prince, Ash.
I think this is a pretty decent book. It is written well and the descriptions of faeryland are great. Parts are corny, but I would be willing to try the second book. I would recommend this book with reservation…don’t think too hard!
Faeries, fantasy and Shakespeare combine to make this story by Julie Kagawa an endearing and original read.
“4.5 out of 5 stars! It’s a fast paced, imaginatively written, and a page-turner from beginning to end! I cannot wait for the “The Iron Daughter” [Yet to be Released]!!! *sigh* The characters were AWESOME!! The story is a little mix of “Peter Pan” [the faery aspect], “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Cinderella” … love it I do!”
Check out my review and read a teaser here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2010/02/heart-dont-fail-me-now-courage-dont.html
its a pretty decent book, i enjoyed the detailed descriptions
Its a series. I love the world the main character is in. What she goes through. I have read all the books twice. Gonna read them again. I imagine myself as the main character. The ups and downs. Its my escape
When I came upon this series i wasn’t a huge fae lore fan. But I came in late to the series but luckily i was able to read them all back to back. I was not disappointed and i read them all in 10 days. novellas and all. (this was the first 4 books)
It made me a Julie K fan for life!
It brings to mind a lot of similarities to Alice in Wonderland. Was disappointed in the depth of the character relationships that were built, and the limited character development.
The plot had a lot of potential, it just wasn’t a home run for me
This review MAY contain spoilers.
I enjoyed this book a lot, but it didn’t really wow me. I find books like this so hard to review. On one hand, I liked the book. On the other hand, I didn’t love it.
The one great thing that this book has going for it is the stellar concept behind the story. Kagawa has taken the common knowledge that people know about fae (or fey, faeries, etc.) and expanded on it in a unique way. I liked how she pulled from things that most people can relate with, such as characters from Shakespeare, and brought them to life in her own way. The concept alone had such potential to be a five-star read. Unfortunately, some of the execution dampened my enthusiasm.
The flow of the story was very smooth and fast-paced. I think that this is where some of the issues that I have with the book stem from. While there was plenty of minor conflicts for the main character, the large conflict with the boss at the end of the book was over and done with in what felt like seconds. The book had been building up to this big showdown with the main villain, but it just felt like it petered out at the end. I feel that the book could have been lengthened to include more conflict.
This brings me to the romance. I also feel like the book could have been lengthened to include more emotional interaction with the love interests in the book. The romance felt rushed and almost as if it came out of nowhere. It didn’t feel believable. The main character was threatened by her love interest and they were guarded around each other. Then all of a sudden he is kissing her without really showing him soften to her at all. It just didn’t work for me. Which is saddening because I was rooting for the romance in the background. Another thing in this book that really had so much more potential. In the end, I liked the romance, but it just wasn’t convincing enough for my tastes. There was also the beginnings of a love triangle, though minuscule. I guess we will see if a love triangle blossoms forth in the next book?
The character development in the book didn’t really have anything lacking, but I didn’t feel like the characters touched my heart as much as I would have liked. I was definitely interested in the characters, but I felt like they could have been portrayed more intimately. Interest and adoration are completely different. While I did not dislike the characters, I also wasn’t enamored by them.
I felt that the world building was also another high point in this book. While part of this book occurs in the real world, a good portion of the book occurs in Fairyland. I liked Kagawa’s portrayal of the Nevernever (a.k.a. Fairyland). Her portrayal is pretty spot on with how I think Fairyland would be from folklore. Mystical and sinister. Both sweet and sour. I liked seeing all the bargains made since that is a key element to the fae’s trickery in folklore. I liked the focus on their world existing because of mortals belief in them and them being remembered.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will continue the series. While the book kept me entertained, I felt there could have been some minor improvements to a few aspects of the story. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys books about the fae.
LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS SUCH A GREAT BOOK I SIMPLY COULDN’T TAKE MY EYES OF IT!
Faery-tale adventure, myth and romance all rolled into one. There was so much that I enjoyed about this series. Each book was a page-turner, with an interesting concept involving a well-known mythical faery king, and more than one surprising twist. I loved Meghan’s character development and her slow-burn love with the winter prince. Any book with a prince is usually a win for me! I truly loved this whole series. Highly recommended!
An entertaining read that keeps you hooked and eager for more.
Julie Kagawa’s take on faeries and their world is simply extraordinary. With flawless writing, a magical world and an extremely well developed cast of characters, some of which stem from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Iron King proves to be a phenomenal debut and a must-read.
In The Iron King we are introduced to our heroine, Meghan Chase, a somewhat insecure girl with a simple, boring life. When her little brother Ethan is kidnapped and replaced with a malicious changeling and her best friend since childhood, Robbie Goodfell, reveals he is actually Robin Goodfellow aka Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Meghan’s once blasé life turns upside down as she journeys into the Nevernever to save Ethan, incidentally discovering who she really is in the process. Right away, the once insecure girl finds her bravery, determined to save her little brother.
Ms. Kagawa’s vivid descriptions made it easy for me to get lost in the world of Nevernever. I felt like I was part of the story, right alongside the characters I had come to love so much. Kagawa’s talent to seamlessly weave action, adventure and romance into one book without either one being overwhelming is impeccable. Lots of times in other books, the big battle scenes can be dragged out and become a bit arduous to read. But the action sequences were extremely well written in The Iron King and I didn’t once find my attention drifting elsewhere.
Of course, the story would not be complete without a love triangle. I don’t think I can say I’ve ever read a book with a love triangle where I’ve actually loved —both— guys vying for the girl’s affection. But both Puck and Ash have completely stolen my heart. Puck’s playful banter and whimsical sense of humor never failed to make me laugh and Prince Ash’s broody, tough exterior yet secretly caring personality had me swooning. Now, I hate to pick just one, but if I had to, it would probably be Ash since I like him just a teensy bit more. The intense chemistry Meghan has with him is just too much! Any time he showed Megan the tiniest hint of affection, my heart would flutter and my stomach would clench as if it were happening to me.
And how could I forget Grimalkin? He. Is. So. Adorable. I felt that Kagawa captured the finicky essence of a cat perfectly with him. He was hilarious with his snooty attitude and sarcastic comments. I absolutely adored how he didn’t bother to pay anyone any attention until he was through grooming himself, which is exactly like my own cat!
Overall, The Iron King was a magical, transcendent start to a series and is sure to be one of my favorites for a long time to come. My only regret is not reading it sooner! But, if I read it when it came out, I wouldn’t have been able to read multiple books in the series at once…so I guess I can’t regret it too much when I got to stay in a story world I loved for days as opposed to just hours. 😉 My reviews for The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen, the next installments in the series, will be up soon!
I know this review is about 8 years late haha I’ve had this book sitting in my want to read for soooo long it’s crazy that I’ve just now actually read it. I know it’s pretty pointless to write a review on a book that was published nearly a decade ago, but I’m still going to do it.
I didn’t quite know what my expectations for this book were, there were good reviews and there were bad reviews, but considering this was a high fantasy/fairy tale romance I knew it was either going to be a hit or miss.
I think some thing that Julie Kagawa really nailed in this story was the main character, Meghan. In stories like these where the female character comes to her power, most authors really over do the “I’m a badass Savior” trope to the point where I get very annoyed because I feel like I’m being spoon fed the characters badassery. She does a really good job of incorporating that Meghan is a strong female lead through her actions, but giving her enough vulnerability and self doubt that made her seem even stronger as she faced her dangers.
“I’ll confront him, invincible or not, and somehow I’ll take back what’s mine. Or I’ll die trying. Either way, I’m not giving up.”
I also love that Meghan wasn’t a complainer. Especially in these novels, where you go from ordinary to royalty, do authors tend to make their characters incredibly whiny. But Kagawa doesn’t, and although you do sympathize for Meghan a lot, and Meghan does have her occasional break downs (which who wouldn’t given her circumstances??), Meghan always gets herself back up, makes the best of the situation, and I absolutely love that.
Although Meghan did steal the spotlight in this book, I also have to give reverence to the other characters. Especially the cat, Grimalkin, he was my favorite. They were all great additions to the story, and all brought special qualities to the story.
Although, this book wasn’t all perfection, there were a few cringe worthy moments (mostly some cliche romance scenes between Ash & Meghan that have been way over used), I did thoroughly enjoy the book. The world Kawaga created was beautifully written and described, and I cannot wait to finish this series in this world she has set up for us.
PS. I also would like to add that even though this book is in a series, I really also like that although the book did end in a “cliffhanger”, it did complete its story, if that makes sense? Like instead of leaving the reader feeling empty or sort of betrayed because of an unfinished story, It came to a full circle and then invited us to read more. It’s a pattern within fantasy series to end books with cliffhangers so big that it seems the book wasn’t even a book, but instead when i finished reading this I felt accomplished, like we’d completed what we set out to do, and now we can decide whether or not we want to follow through the next journey. I really respect and like that.
A hole new world
Beautifully written fantasy world with lovable characters. Great balance of action, comedy, and heart. Loved the entire series. I read them over and over.
Vivid, fun, charming and freaky….I love Ash and the way he starts out as the predictably arrogant, snarky anti-hero masking the proverbial noble and good heart , but the author leaves a dark and intriguing ambiguity to him that kept me wondering what his “deal” was. Somehow I pictured him as this totally hot Anime Character that was much more than a cartoon.
There is so much more to these books that I haven’t the time to go into. A wonderful dream that is sometimes dangerous and sad, but utterly irresistible.
i loved this book! they put a modern twist to old time fariey tales in a way that wasnt boring or didnt fit together well. it was written awesomly! the only thing i wish was different would be a stronger main girl. she was great for the most part but she was kind of helpless. a lot.