Original review on my blog: http://throughthegateway.blogspot.co.uk/

Meghan Chase has always felt there was something slightly amiss in her life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six years old. Even her own mother and stepfather seems to forget she exists most of the time, and at school, only her friend Robbie takes any notice of her. Then the day before her sixteenth birthday, things start going weird. A gremlin only Meghan can see appears in the computer room and plays a prank on the most popular boy at school- resulting in Meghan being a victim of his cruel revenge. But public humiliation is the least of her worries, because the world around her is turning bizarre. Her little brother Ethan is seeing monsters everywhere, which Meghan is beginning to believe may have some truth to it, and her best friend is acting odd. But it’s only when Ethan disappears, leaving a vicious changeling in his place, that Robbie tells her the truth: the faeries are targeting Meghan because she is one of them, the daughter of Oberon, king of the Seelie Court. In order to save her brother, Meghan must travel to Faeryland, the Nevernever, home to the creatures thought to exist only in the imagination. Her best friend Robbie is actually Robin Goodfellow, Puck, her guardian in the human world.

The Nevernever is a dangerous place filled with horrifying creatures. She and Puck encounter nixies, goblins, and a talking cat called Grimalkin as they travel to the Summer Court to request help from Oberon. But there Meghan finds herself a target of the vindictive Queen Titania, and comes no closer to rescuing her brother. When the court is attacked by a chimera during Elysium, a meeting between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, each blames the other, leading to threats of a war unless someone can find the culprit. In the chaos, Meghan and Grimalkin flee the court in order to search for her brother in the Winter Court. But it becomes clear that something is very wrong in the Nevernever. According to Grimalkin, Faeryland is dying, as humanity loses faith in faerytales and imagination. Although with the rise of progress and technology- which is fatal to faeries- it is inevitable that belief in faeries would decline, this is on a scale unparalleled, and the Nevernever may soon cease to exist…

Then, en route to the winter court, a deadly battle ensues between Puck and Ash, son of Queen Mab and Prince of the Unseelie Court, who appears to take Meghan to his queen. It seems the two have a history, and are prepared to fight to the death…But midway through comes an interruption in of a swarm of deformed fey who take Meghan prisoner, telling her that the King of the Iron Court has her brother! It seems that with the advent of technology a whole new race of fey has been born, unbeknownst to the other fey. The Iron Fey are immune to the damaging effects of metal and technology, and are the reason the Nevernever is dying! Desperate to save her brother, Meghan makes a bargain with Prince Ash: if he helps her to rescue Ethan from the clutches of the Iron King, she will willingly go with him to the Unseelie Court. But complications ensue. Not only does she find herself falling for the Prince of the Winter Court, but it seems that many expect her to do more than save her brother – they expect her to kill King Machina, the Iron King, in order to save the Nevernever and all the fey.

This is a captivating tale from start to finish, filled with unforgettable characters and inventive magic. Meghan’s teenage voice is completely believable, and we stand beside her as she faces the perils of the Faery world. The settings are vivid, from the bright colours and bewitching music of the Summer Court to the iciness and deception of the Winter Court, and the treacherous, tangled paths of the Wyldwood. This bewitching contemporary fairytale for teens is a clever twist on the old superstition that faeries are vulnerable to the touch of iron. Julie Kagawa asks us to imagine what would happen if a new species of fey was born from the dreams of humans today, of progress and technology. Will the traditional characters die out, and the old faeryland disappear forever?

Wow!- As many others have stated, at first glance THE IRON KING appears to be your typical faerie book. Summer court? Check. Winter court? Check. Shakespeare-esque characters? Check. Yes there are similarities, but these lie only in the bare backbone of the story. Yes there are those faerie courts and A Midsummer Night's Dream characters (Oberon, Titania, etc), but they are necessary for the make-up of the story. From here on out, Julie Kagawa makes THE IRON KING shine in the already-faerie inundated YA world.

Julie Kagawa writes in a style that is easy and refreshing to read. She doesn't weigh you down with a barrage of information, rather, she slowly immerses the reader into her world, page after page. Descriptions flow off the page and her tone is never stilted. It's narrated in first person point of view, through Meghan's eyes, and I found this great because she had a voice that was believable and easy to relate to.

The thing I loved most about THE IRON KING was its multiple story lines. Meghan embarks on a journey that takes her far and wide, to diverse regions of Faeryland and all over America. There wasn't just one set plot where she travels into the Summer court and stays there for the rest of the novel. Nope, her quest brings her from one plot to another, from one crisis to a new one, from one mission to the next.

THE IRON KING has a more action and adventure feel to it, though that is not to say it didn't have romance. There was a love story, but it did not overwhelm the fantasy-like realm of the Nevernever (faery land) and its unique and engaging inhabitants. First off, I love the feel of THE IRON KING. It's like a quest in the sense that Meghan, the main character, encounters all sorts of odd and malicious beings along the way as she nears her main goal. Unlike many faerie books out today, there was SO much going on! And in a good way. The story wasn't just about faerie drama and court intrigue, although there was a good portion of that in the beginning, which was actually done in a superb way. There was a lot of fighting, which was written well so it wasn't boring- usually, I dislike fight scenes for their dull descriptions and constant sword clashing, etc, but in THE IRON KING, I was actually very very enthralled!

The romance was very well done as well. There was a "love triangle" going on, although that was subtle and not very well emphasized because one love interest took the backseat to the other, in a good way. I love the push and pull, the chemistry between Meghan and the guy, which was very believable and made it all the more satisfying when they admit their feelings, sorta.

And the characters! I loved them all, which is a rarity in these types of books, where only the main character and one or two others stand out and all others are only fleetingly described or mentioned. Meghan has a companion in a Cheshire-like cat named Grimalkin, whom I adored, and all the other characters were well fleshed out to the point where I could visualize them in my mind and understand their actions. THE IRON KING is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland in that there is this feeling of being in an alternate and extremely quirky and surreal setting, which is true to an extent because a lot of the novel takes place in the Nevernever, home to the faeries.

Although THE IRON KING is only 368 pages, it was 368 pages of captivating adventure and page-turning action. I wholeheartedly recommend this to all those who love faeries, and ok- everyone else too!

Hooray for a paranormal romance that doesn't suck! I was about ready to write the entire genre off as a lost cause.

I've been sampling quite a bit of paranormal romance, just to see if there is any out there that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out and I think I may have found one. Where "The Iron King" succeeded where so many others failed can be brought down to one thing: The characters FINALLY got out of high school! Instead of telling the reader that Meghan Chase is part fey, but leaving her to navigate the horrors of biology class and only giving up random glimpses of some tragically-dark-yet-sexy-love-interest that wants to eat her kidneys but can't for some reason (puh-lease), the narrative actually takes her into the Faery World (and all its associated terms and aliases) and we actually get to SEE faeries and supernatural creatures and HONEST TO GOODNESS DANGER AND ACTION!! (And there was great rejoicing in the land!) I think the best part of this story is Puck (Robin Goodfellow). While there are plenty of stuck-in-the-mud, selfish-piles-of-rat-droppings faeries, Puck is actually funny. He has a personality, he has his own objectives and he's really fun to read - nearly a perfect foil to Meghan. The romance was good too - not too much brooding or moping about between Ash and Meghan. It just sort of happened - but in a way that I accepted and liked. I hope the rest of the series was as enjoyable as the first book. I remain cautiously optimistic.

I refrained from giving it a full five stars because I want to see how this measures up to the rest of the series. I may change my mind about my rating, in which case I will come back and fix that.

Started losing interest towards the end, but overall it was an okay book. The main character gets a bit annoying because she's constantly being the "damsel in distress" and doesn't seem to be overly bright.

This was a 2.5 star for me. I had previously read The Immortal Rules by the same author, and enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for the Iron Fey series, though I knew it was written earlier. Unfortunately, the story reads very young, as does the writing. My tastes have likely been spoiled by Holly Black's deft and dark creations, but I found this story's development of plot, character, and relationships all lacking. The protagonist is constantly having things happen TO her, rather than her choices driving the plot, she is constantly needing to be saved, and frequently passing out (fading to black...) only to wake disoriented in the next chapter (this happened at least 4-5 times). Side characters and random, unimportant scenes would pop up, make little difference to the story, then disappear again. I found myself skimming through pages much more than I would like. And her relationship with Ash felt hard to believe, with little basis for their sudden feelings. I wanted to like this, but can't say that I did. It's possible the later books in the series get better, but I am not invested enough to find out. *However, I'm not opposed to trying Kagawa's more recent books.

I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars on this, so I'm going to go with 3.5.

I really liked the story and was engaged through much of the book. However sometimes I felt like I couldn't quite tell who the intended audience was. There were certain parts where I felt like I was ready a fairly tell for young children (I think mostly during the part when first Meghan enters Nevernever), but the nature of the fairies and the language used by characters definitely felt for more of an older YA audience.

But I really enjoyed the author's writing (especially since I was comparing it to the last book I read where I felt the author left something to be desired in the writing style) and the characters were fantastic. I can't even begin talking about Prince Ash....

And, the moment I finished, I started reading the second book, which so far I'm loving! So I'm definitely looking forward to how this series progresses.

I liked this a lot more than I expected to. I was expecting to absolutely hate it, but once it got going, it never stopped. The Iron King was so interesting with lots of action and a bit of romance. I loved the imagery of the NeverNever, and I thought that the author did a particularly good job describing these extraordinary creatures and areas. The worst part of the book for me was the very beginning, before Meghan's adventures started. Once the action started, though, it was like the author was in her comfort zone. I'm actually really excited to read the next in the series.

I agreed to read this book as part of a book swap with my neighbor. I just moved in to a new house, and my neighbors are big readers, so we hit it off right away. Their teen son is really into mythology and fantasy, so I gave him one of my books and he gave me this one.

There were some things I appreciated in this book, such as Kagawa's creativity regarding the origin of "iron fey" and the use of fairy lore to make the world seem dangerous (rather than the fey just being like humans but hotter and emotionally abusive). However, I didn't give this book more stars because of three things: the writing style (which I personally thought was lacking in emotional depth), the plot (which felt like a random series of adventures rather than a narrative), and the protagonist (who didn't exert enough agency).

Writing: Kagawa's prose is appropriate for the audience. Sentences are straight forward and simple, so there's no chance for confusion and everything is communicated directly. There are some evocative descriptions here and there, which means that the writing doesn't feel blunt. But it doesn't feel lyrical or whimsical, either, so it might appeal to readers who like fairly direct prose.

Perhaps the biggest frustration I had with the writing was the lack of emotional depth. Kagawa had the tendency to describe emotions as very surface-level, with our protagonist (Meghan) simply telling us when she was angry or scared or overwhelmed. As a result, I didn't quite feel like there was a lot of emotional weight in this book, and it's a shame because Meghan is supposed to be emotionally driven to rescue her brother while also reacting to a number of different experiences that challenge her whole sense of self.

Kagawa also has a little bit of a tendency to tell rather than show, as if she doesn't trust her reader to understand what just happened in a scene. There were numerous instances in which something would happen, and instead of letting the reader infer its significance, Meghan would just tell us in her head. It was a little frustrating because I didn't quite feel like I was being brought along for the journey - I was being told about it instead. But to give Kagawa the benefit of the doubt, maybe she did this because her audience is supposed to be younger and she thought they might need a little help.

Plot: The plot of this book follows 16 year old Meghan Chase, who takes a trip to the land of faerie after her 4 year old half brother is kidnapped by some unknown entity. She is accompanied by her best friend, "Robbie Goodfell," who unbeknownst to her has been protecting her for her whole life. You see, Meghan is special - she is not the drab teenager she appears to be, but the half-human daughter of Oberon, King of the Seelie Fey. Along the way, she teams up with Grimalkin (the talking faerie cat) and Ash (prince of the Unseelie Court).

What I immediately found frustrating about this plot was that Kagawa didn't really create a narrative as much as she created a bunch of different scenes. Events didn't quite seem to build on one another or create suspense; instead, I felt like every chapter or scene was centered on some new creature or bit of lore, and I was hopping between one encounter and another, just so Kagawa could show off her creativity. Not all of these adventures were bad - there were a lot of fun moments, and I really enjoyed the scenery in the iron kingdom. But a lot of the plot felt random, as if I was reading a fey road trip.

Another thing that frustrated me was the implication that science and technology were the antithesis (and ultimately, the killers) of imagination. A huge part of the plot revolves around the idea that a new species of fey (the iron fey) are killing off fairyland as humans put more of their faith in science. According the lore of this book, fey are created by human imagination, so the iron fey were created when humans began to imagine future technologies - technologies like airships, robots, and all kinds of fantastical devices made of metal. This, in itself, was a fantastic piece of lore, and I really enjoyed Kagawa's creativity here. I loved the idea of industrial-like iron horses and metal spiders being products of human creativity just as traditional fey are. Where it got frustrating, however, was when the iron fey and the belief in science were pitted against nature and imagination, as if science cannot involve a fascination and love of nature and technology requires no creativity. Maybe things will change as the series progresses, but for now, I'm a bit uneasy regarding the implications of this book.

Lastly, I don't think the end paid off as well as it could have. The end features a few scenes in which Meghan seriously considers an offer from the iron king and also extends sympathy to one of her former bullies. While not a problem on their own, I felt as if Kagawa was trying to shoehorn a message or some character growth in there, perhaps something about Meghan craving acceptance or discovering what she truly needs (not material things but people?). In my opinion, these last minute messages didn't feel earned because the whole middle part of the book didn't have anything to do with those themes. They never really came up as Meghan was traveling through faerie, and Meghan's need to be accepted wasn't really a core part of her character.

Characters: Meghan, our protagonist and first-person narrator, was a little hard to connect with. Despite being in her head, I felt as if I was being kept at arm's length from her emotions, and part of that might have to do with the fact that her emotions and experiences don't seem to carry through the book. For example, there's a scene in the beginning where Meghan is tutoring a guy she's had a crush on for ages. There is some fey mischief, causing the guy to think Meghan was trying to embarrass him (side note: the mischief implies that the guy is gay, which I don't feel super great about). To get revenge, the guy

Spoiler

photoshops Meghan's head onto a nude body and shares it with the whole school, humiliating her

. While Meghan is mortified, this event seems to have no lasting emotional impact. Meghan isn't mistrustful of people, she isn't sensitive to being exploited by the fey, she doesn't seem to have a problem with falling for another hot guy. It just becomes an opportunity for her friend Robbie to take care of her and give her a convenient reason to hesitate when

Spoiler

faced with an offer from the iron fey towards the end

. On top of that, Meghan seems to have very little agency or (if I'm honest) intelligence, mostly reacting to things instead of using her skills (which she seems to have none other than her latent faerie abilities, which don't make an appearance until later) to get herself out of situations. I don't begrudge the fact that Meghan is out of her depth when navigating the fey world, but I also wish she had been given some skills that would have allowed her to make better decisions. As it stands, Meghan spends a lot of time getting kidnapped (and then rescued), making ill-advised deals with fairy strangers, and being surprised when magic happens. I wanted her to be more agentive and forward-thinking; the closest she comes is when she tricks a couple of fey creatures using her words, which was great, but I would have liked to see her be way more wily or demonstrate an uncanny wit throughout the whole book.

Robbie, Meghan's best friend, was a bit more likeable in that he was mischievous but also genuinely cared for his charge. I liked that he was lighthearted and self-congratulatory without being too self-absorbed, and this mood was beneficial for making his feelings of anger and betrayal all the more poignant.

Ash, the prince of the Unseelie Court, was relatively uninteresting, and he seemed to fill the role of bad boy love interest. Despite wanting to imprison or kill her and her best friend, Meghan is attracted to him, and for the life of me, I couldn't determine why except for the fact that he was sexy and has trauma because of

Spoiler

a dead woman in his past

. I realize that Ash may evolve as the series progresses, but in this book, there is very little that makes him desirable.

Grimalkin, the talking fey cat, was pretty fun, and I liked the detached attitude he showed to the others throughout the book. There's not much complexity to him, however - he's meant to be a guide and occasional comedic relief, and he fills that role well.

Other characters are fine in that they serve their purpose. I don't really have much to say about any one of them because they seem to just pop in when convenient and then pop out as Meghan moves to the next adventure. What I will say, however, is that Meghan doesn't seem to get along with many female characters. Other than the dryad, who is old, and a female satyr who acts as a guide/servant for maybe 20 pages, most female characters seem to harbor a dislike for Meghan, be it Titania (who wants to kill Meghan for daring to be her husband's bastard), Shard (a random Unseelie), Mab (queen of the Unseelie), Narissa (or whoever - another random Unseelie), Sarah (an orc who calls Meghan names and forces her to do brutal work in the kitchen), or the Oracle (who takes one of Meghan's memories). It's not so bad that I would call this book malicious, but because Meghan had 3 male companions and random women seemed to want to kill her, I think it's worth pointing out.

The big bad of this book - the iron king - was interesting in terms of aesthetic design but not really in terms of character. I really enjoyed the vibes I got from the iron kingdom, and I think the journey through the land was the part where Kagawa did the most to make the setting feel atmospheric. I also really liked the iron king's cloak and the contrast between his actual appearance and our expectations. However, his motivations and actions aren't exactly original, and I was hoping for a bit more complexity.

TL;DR: The Iron King has some fun things going for it, but I was ultimately frustrated by the writing, plot, and protagonist. Part of my frustration might be due to the fact that I’m not the target audience for this book, so I encourage readers (especially those who like faeries but hate the current trend of “bad boy with emotional problems”) to give this a try for themselves.