Book: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Summary: After her brother is switched with a changeling, Meghan Chase travels to the NeverNever (fairyland) to find him. She discovers that her best friend is the legendary faery, Puck, and that she is half-faery, the daughter of the Summer King. But the journey to save her brother is just beginning. She will have to make plenty of ill-advised deals with scheming faeries in order to find her brother, and even then she might not be ready to face what threatens not just her, but the entire NeverNever.
Characters: I really loved these characters. Meghan's brother is adorable and totally worth going after--he's so sweet. Grimalkin is hilarious and a huge part of why I want to read the next book--Meghan owes him a ton and I want to see how he will collect. Meghan herself is easy to like at first, but near the end she spent a lot of time waiting to be rescued. It's probably more realistic that way, but I like my protagonists bad ass and I never really felt like she gave me that.
My major problem is that while I loved each character individually, I never quite connected with the romantic relationships. I loved Meghan's best friend Puck--he's hilarious. But he's also reckless. Sometimes he is exactly what I think a faery should be, living his life with his own sense of morality, but other times he seems selfless, sacrificing himself for Meghan. It was obvious he had feelings for Meghan and Meghan made it clear she didn't have feelings in return, but the whole thing felt... uncomfortable.
The guy Meghan is interested in is Ash, the prince of the Winter Court. Off limits guy with a tortured past? Totally my thing and I can see why Meghan likes him. But Ash is so tortured and so serious that I couldn't quite believe that he loved Meghan in return so quickly. I did like that Puck and Ash have their own history and hate each other for reasons that had nothing to do with Meghan. Honestly, I think I'm shipping Puck and Ash instead of Meghan with anyone. That has never happened to me before.
Plot/Pacing: This book starts out slow and then picks up speed, but I found that I liked the beginning of the book better. I was intrigued by the world and found myself laughing out loud. The end disappointed me just a little. Things were wrapped up and I was able to follow what was happening, I just wish we had learned more about the drama between the courts and the bigger picture.
There is plenty of conflict set up both for the end of this book and for the next book in the series, which I appreciated. Emotional turmoil because the character is forced to make terrible choices is one of my favorite things to see and the faery world provides ample opportunity for this. Meghan was constantly making deals with the fae and I've read enough faery books to know this is a BAD idea. It ramped up the tension and left me on the edge of my seat.
Moments I Loved: There was some pretty fun dialog between Meghan and Ash. At one point he threatens to kill her... but it was super sexy!
WTF Moments: There were a few moments where characters spent several paragraphs explaining things to Meghan. I hated this... especially when Ash tells her why he has sworn to kill Puck. After spending the entire novel avoiding the topic, he just gives it up. I just... I wish Meghan had worked harder for it. And I wish Ash hadn't been so long-winded.
Overall: This book didn't blow me away, but I can understand why people love it so much. I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series.
Reading Challenges: This book counts toward the following challenges: 363 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge, Support Your Local Library. Track all my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.
The Iron King gets a FakeSteph rating of...
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| ...and a half |
Posts
I just bought this book because I'd been hearing so much about it too and thought the cover was really pretty. I'm glad you liked the characters, and I'm glad there's lots of good conflict. I'm definitely going to read it too, and I'll let you know what I think... (though there are a lot of other books I'm going to be reading first!)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book but I didn't love it as much as everyone else seems to, but I did really like it..lol I've got the rest of the series sitting on my shelf waiting to be read :) I'm hoping they just get better and we get to learn more about the different courts. Grimalkin was totally awesome :P
ReplyDeleteThis series is one of my very favorites. But I admit that the first book isn't the best one of the series. It gets better and better with each book. I absolutely loved the third book! For the series I always rooted for Meghan and Ash, but I think that Puck proves to be the best example of a loyal friend I've ever read. Love him!
ReplyDeleteI have not read this series, but I really liked Immortal Rules, so I put it on my list to read when I have a chance!
ReplyDeleteDudeness, I am so amused by your review. I love that you're shipping Puck/Ash. The love triangle is so half-hearted it's just mean, unless you add that fun twist. lol.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if you were kind of so-so on this one, you're probably not going to be a huge fan of the next book. I made it through three and I was less and less into it. The first book was around 3 stars, and my ratings just kept going down. Nothing really changes, which is lame. Even Grimalkin started annoying me, which sucks, because I adore cats.
Then again, I'm a grumpy miser, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Sometimes my opinion differs with the bulk of reviewers. *shrug*
DeleteAwww I really need to read this series. IT BETTER NOT DISAPPOINT ME. x
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this series, although I think this first one was probably the best. I loved Grimalkin too, and for some reason I loved the Pack Rats and Iron Horse. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the others if you continue the series!
ReplyDeleteI had some friends recommend this one to me last August but I still haven't gotten around to it. I do have a copy I just haven't read it yet.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it took me a bit to get into the book but once I did, I was hooked.
ReplyDeleteI'm also with you on the love for Grimalkin, he's so entertaining and frustrating you want to read him more.
Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
I agree with you about liking the characters individually but not together. I didn't feel like the love triangle was well-executed in this series.
ReplyDeleteI really like the world-building as the series goes on, but sometimes I felt like the conflict was being manipulated by the author, which bugged me.
Grimalkin is funny throughout the series :)
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews