There are many familiar elements in this story, but they are all conjured up in very fresh ways. I found myself smiling at anything that evoked the memory of tales such as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, or A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Kagawa (whose name is great fun to say….I had to edit this review down because it’s great fun to type too) has a way with incorporating some older characters into new beings and found ways to make newer thoughts even better.

All the areas of the faerie world are amazing, but by far The Iron King’s territory is the most thrilling and inventive I’ve seen in any other faery story. The landscape comes alive pulling you into their fantasy world. The creatures that inhabit the land are mesmerizing. Knowing that the title of her next book is The Iron Daughter makes me look forward to it even more because it gives me hope that we will be revisiting this land and everything it contains.

There was nothing rushed in the story, everything had it’s proper place and worked out seamlessly. It’s the type of book that I want to read again and again to see what I didn’t catch the first time. If this book were to become a movie (fingers crossed) the set designers would need to build a world as immersive as Harry Potter, I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Reviewed by Jessica for Book Sake. 5/5

A lot of this story seemed really familiar to me. The plotting cat, the powerful king, the charming prince, the fairy never land. I am sure a lot of this was to pay homage to some of the fairy tale greats, however it was also a major part of the story. So there was never anything really suspenseful or unknown. All that said, it was still an entertaining read. The characters were cookie cutter, but still somewhat enjoyable. You really can’t go too wrong when you have a Cheshire cat in your story.

Reviewed by Chris for Book Sake.3/5