Review of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny--one she could never have imagined...

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.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa was one of my most anticipated books of 2010, mainly due to tweeting back and fourth once in awhile with Ms. Kagawa and owning a Grimalkin rock. For the most part, it lived up to my expectations, which is to say, I thought it would be awesome but don’t have much of a base of comparison because I simply don’t read a lot of Faerie books.

The plot of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa centers around a girl named Meghan Chase who is of a low socioeconomic class, SCORE, we need more broke teenagers in YA. I say this because that’s how I grew up. As a teen, my parents didn’t have the money to buy me the latest clothes, a car, and whatever I wanted. They barely let me have money to go to school dances. As far as getting a job, well, for reasons I cannot explain on the blog, my parents would not let me. This is why I loved Meghan Chase, because I felt connected to her life situation. She starts off being picked on by the kids at school because she doesn’t have the clothes everyone else has, HI YES MEGHAN I AM DOING THIS THING CALLED RELATING!! Let’s face it, kids are cruel. Anyways, she has this great friend named Puck who is in her corner. My life experience and Meghan’s, however, diverge when Meghan enters the land of Faeries, The NeverNever, after this jerk face called the Iron King steals her little brother. I unfortunately have not found this magical land yet, but if you has a map/gps directions feel free to share them please!

There were lots of fun fantasy elements in The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I was reminded of the great film Labyrinth, as there are _______ Kings who spirit away children. Granted, Meghan isn’t in any sort of maze, but she does get pulled into a fantastic new world,the entrance of which is in her closet, much like The Chronicles of Narnia. For some, perhaps these comparisons detract, but for me, I like both Labyrinth and Narnia so the familiar feel appealed to me. In the magical world, there’s two different lands, the Summer Lands with the Summer Faeries and the Winter Lands with the Winter Fairies. I’m pretty sure those aren’t the exact phrases/titles of the lands, but you get the gist.

Upon being in this world for a couple days, Meghan falls into a sort of love triangle between Ash, the faerie prince of the winter court and Puck, as in the fun loving character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I am pretty sure that Meghan is supposed to fall for Ash since he is supposedly sexy and all, but I see zero chemistry there. Sorry, but Ash has all of the signs of a batterer to me. First off, he tries to kill her with an arrow, um creepy. No, sorry, that is not sexy. He makes her feel uncomfortable at the big Faerie gathering dinner. So really, I just don’t like him even if he shows moments of tenderness and cracks in his cold exterior. Abusers do the same thing, they say oh, honey, I’ll never hurt you again after they hit for the first time and go through a sort of honeymoon phase then go back to their old ways. Well, that is how I see Ash. But, alas, ladies, have no worries, because there is another boy, with chemistry. Hah, I bet you guessed which boy! Puck! I see Puck as a wonderful character. He’s loyal, sweet, and knows how to have a good time. He’s not trying to murder Meghan. I like that he genuinely seems to care for her. Plus, many, many great relationships evolve from friendships, and I see those types of relationships to be sorely underrepresented. Seriously, the friend is awesome, and I think we need moar. I do hope that Kagawa goes the unconventional route with the rest of her trilogy and that Meghan ends up with Puck instead of in a nonsensical relationship with Ash.

Overall, The Iron King by Julie Kagawa was a quick light read, relationship rant aside. I genuinely enjoyed The Iron King. As a side-note, in the beginning there’s a dog named Beau, and he finds himself in unfortunate circumstances. I am still wondering what happened to the dog. Perhaps this will be solved in the rest of the books.

Other Reviews of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa:

Book Rat
Mindful Musings
Sarah’s random musings

Series Order:

The Iron King (Book One)
Winter’s Passage (Book 1.5)
The Iron Daughter (Book Two)
The Iron Queen (Book Three)
Summer’s Crossing (Book 3.5)
The Iron Prince (Book Four)

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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