Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: February 1, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 363
Received: Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

Goodreads Page

Looking for a book that doesn't "feel" long for the 350 Page Books Challenge? This would be a great pick!

Summary

From Goodreads:

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.

Review

Out of all the paranormal creatures, fairies are probably my least favorite of the bunch. They’re haughty and stiff and detached and just mean. I don’t like them. Enter Julie Kagawa, and I’ve now lifted my auto-ban on all things fairy.

A PLOT that made me swoon

The focus of this book is almost like a high  fantasy with one of my favorite things to read about: questing. I looove questing. I don’t even really care what the goal is. Find a brother, throw a ring in lava, whatever, just take me on a quest. And that’s exactly what Kagawa does.

Meghan is sent bouncing all over the place across both the fairy realm and the mortal realm in search of information, weapons, and, ultimately, her brother. With never a dull moment, I was at the edge of my seat and constantly entertained. Julie Kagawa's world building is wonderful, creating vivid images of the various landscapes and multitude of creatures Meghan encounters. I lost myself entirely in her world.

I'm not feeling these people 

So what’s with the lower rating? Because I’m a character girl, that’s why. With the exception of Grimalkin, they were all just a little, tiny bit lacking. I liked all of them, but I feel a little disconnect from them, like I don’t know their true selves. I also felt like there was a certain polish missing. There were some inconsistencies and some things the characters did that didn't make much sense to me or seemed to lack support. In a lot of ways this did read like a debut, which it is.

I loved Puck, but in this first book he’s not developed as much as I would have liked. He’s more the amusing sidekick than a full character in his own right. I like him, but I wanted more from him. His fighting style was pretty awesome though.

I’d heard so much about the amazing Prince Ash, and while there’s no denying he’s hot, I don’t think I love him quite as much as other people. Or, at least, I don’t love him for Meghan. His whole willingness to kill her sort of killed the romance for me. Their romance wasn’t overly annoying though, which I was happy about. It didn’t happen too quickly and it didn’t monopolize the story.

Then there’s Meghan herself. She’s…ok. I like her, but I don’t love her. I’ve heard people criticize her as weak, but I think her weakness is understandable. I like strong heroines, but I think she adjusted pretty well all things considered. As a first-person narrator, Meghan’s voice was nice to follow and not overly introspective.

My Team

My favorite character is Grimalkin. He’s a cat most people have compared to the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I see that, but the character he really reminded me of even more was the cat in The Last Unicorn (I even picture him looking like that). Either way, Grimalkin rocked. He’s that sardonic, enigmatic character who always manages to appear when you need them but isn’t exactly your friend either. If Grimalkin was a human, I’d totally be Team Grimalkin. Since he’s, you know, a cat, I’m cheering instead of swooning.

The final word

I had first heard about this series from a reviewer who pretty much hated the books, so I had very low expectations. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I had only seen all the positive hype. The book doesn’t live up to the hype for me, but it did change my mind about fairies and it was a fun read. 

Objectively I feel like some things do need improvement, but I was so easily caught up in the book that it's almost like a guilty pleasure. I am glad I picked it up and I will be continuing with this series. 

On that note, this is book one of a series but I think it ended pretty well on its own. There are a few strings left for the story to continue on, but there aren’t any major cliffhangers and the main story arc wraps up nicely.

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