The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Pub. Date: February 2010Publisher: Harlequin
Format: Paperback, 368pp
ISBN-13: 9780373210084
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.
Publishers Weekly
In this first book in the Iron Fey series, Meghan Chase is turning 16, and odd things are happening. Her four-year-old half-brother, Ethan, is clingier than usual, and a tutoring session with the school hunk goes horribly wrong. But her best friend, Robbie, is always there for her, even when Meghan comes home to find her mother unconscious and her brother snarling like an animal. Robbie knows what’s happened: Ethan has been taken by the fey, a changeling left in his place, and the only way Ethan can be brought back is if Meghan embraces the truth—that the fey are real and that she is half-fey herself. She agrees, but her agreement is nearly the most active part she plays in her own adventure. After that, Meghan generally gets help from a series of male characters and is towed along by their decisions and actions. It’s an odd, throwback faerie tale, and while first-time author Kagawa is a talented writer and her descriptions are lush, Meghan’s ongoing passivity disappoints, though she has the potential to develop more fully in later books. Ages 13–18.
I finished this book last week and the landscape and characters have lived strong in my imagination ever since. Julie’s fairy world is absolutely magical and hard to forget. She does a masterful job of combining traditional faerie lore and myth with her own new creatures and iron fey creations. And let me just say, Ash, the main man is SOOOO swoon worthy. He is one to look out for in more ways than one.
We are first introduced to Puck, Meghan’s neighbor and long-time friend and he steals a little piece of your heart by calling her “princess”, looking out for her and playing cute little pranks. As the story progresses, things get weirder and weirder as Meghan begins to see things and her little brother Ethan complains of a man in his closet. Soon her world is turned upside down as she discovers things are not as they seem and her brother has been kidnapped. She steps into another realm of danger, determined to find her long lost father and replace the changeling in he rhome with the real little brother now held captive.
Julie Kagawa presents a fast paced fairy tale that will keep you intrigued until the end. Four stars, (only because Meghan seems to have the mouth of a sailor when in the human world) May I say this is an amazing start for a kind and down to earth author who is fun to chat with!
I can not wait for the next installment, “The Iron Daughter” which will be out in August 2010. In the mean time, Julie is working on a brequel between books one and 2 of the Iron King Trilogy check here: http://enterthefaeryworld.com/ironfey/ around June.
Check out our Iron King photogallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherzahngardner/galleries/72157623382772724/
Two websites are currently giving away the book! Ticket To Anywhere giveaway: http://tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com/2010/02/contest-iron-king-by-julie-kagawa.html
and Pageturners Blog http://www.pageturnersblog.com/2010/02/spotlight-giveaway.html Enter to win and happy reading!
