Scan barcode
A review by mediaevalmuse
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
3.0
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. 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 . 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. 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.
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 herSpoiler
faced with an offer from the iron fey towards the endRobbie, 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 pastGrimalkin, 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.