The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Jun 24, 2011 Holly rated it liked it

Shelves: not-for-kids-only, fantasy

Note to ALL writers of teen fiction particularly paranormal romance: STOP WRITING HEROINES WHO ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT AND GET INTO ALL SORTS OF TROUBLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE MENTAL CAPACITY OF A STUFFED BUNNY RABBIT.

Thank you.

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Nov 16, 2009 Liz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, young-adult, fantasy

I decided to read this book because I had read lots of great reviews of it. I was certainly expecting a good read, yet it surprised me even still. I didn't realize how awesome it would be or how immersed in the story I would become. I wanted to devour this novel in one sitting, but accursed school (and life) kept me from doing so. At any rate, I loved it.

Essentially, The Iron King is the story of a girl named Meghan whose brother is kidnapped and her journey into the Nevernever, where the fey li I decided to read this book because I had read lots of great reviews of it. I was certainly expecting a good read, yet it surprised me even still. I didn't realize how awesome it would be or how immersed in the story I would become. I wanted to devour this novel in one sitting, but accursed school (and life) kept me from doing so. At any rate, I loved it.

Essentially, The Iron King is the story of a girl named Meghan whose brother is kidnapped and her journey into the Nevernever, where the fey live, to bring him home. I would include more about the story, but I really don't want to give anything away and I think fans of fairies and fantasy should read it themselves. There's a lot more to this story then a bunch of bloodthirsty fairies. This book has some dystopian undertones (dystopian may not be the perfect word but that's how I'd describe it) which are definitely relevant to today's society, and I think that as readers, it's worth thinking about these messages in the context of our own lives. When these themes first began to emerge, I was blown away by how seamlessly Kagawa tied them into her storyline.

Kagawa is a brilliant storyteller. From early on it was clear that she had put a lot of care and detail in crafting the Nevernever. The story is told through the point of Meghan. Kagawa definitely had her favorite descriptive adjectives, but I never felt that any of the words she used became tired. It became clear that she was trying to depict this world in a very specific light, and I'll be curious to see how Meghan's perspective of the Nevernever evolves as the trilogy continues. I'd also like to add that Kagawa did have some romantic elements in her story, and I thought they were excellently done. The emotions felt realistic and passionate, yet never over the top or eye-rollingly cheesy.

As much as I loved Kagawa's writing, I think the strongest part of this novel is the characterization. By the end of this novel I loved many of the main characters. At several points throughout the novel I found myself honestly wanting to hug one character or throttle another. I also thought Meghan was a great protagonist, and the type of female I'd like to see more in YA. She knew what she wanted and she was determined. While she was naive at times, by the end of the novel she learned to kick butt, but also seemed way more mature. I don't want to write this review without mentioning Ash and Grimalkin. A part of me swooned for Ash, and I found Grimalkin both wise and funny. I can't help but think of him as being similar to the Cheshire Cat in personality.

Overall, this is a fantastic read. Each time I read a chapter and had to set this book aside again, I thirsted for more, immediately thinking of when I could pick this up again. Kagawa's done a fantastic job of setting up for the rest of the series while still crafting a novel which can stand on its own. If you've been intrigued by this book even a little bit, absolutely go for it. I for one will be eagerly and impatiently awaiting The Iron Daughter, this novel's sequel, as I bask in the excellence of this debut. ...more

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Apr 09, 2010 Emma rated it did not like it

Meghan Chase's birthday is tomorrow. Sweet sixteen. It rolls off the tongue promising magic, romance and opportunity. It's the age when girls become princesses and go to dances. Sixteen is when a girl is supposed to find true love while the stars shine for her and a handsome prince carries her off into the sunset. All the stories say so.

Meghan does find magic on her birthday, but it's nothing like the stories talked about.

Instead of romance and happily ever after, Meghan finds her four-year-old ...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Christina rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Well, the author has an eye for fairies.
The adventure side of this story was really quite good; clever in places, imaginative, and not a note out of place in the various creatures and cultures of the Nevernever. The whole "technology is killing our souls" thing, well, it's been done before. Oh, it's terrible how humanity is losing all its collective imagination because now we have technology we never think up brilliant things THAT RELY ON TECHNOLOGY like oh, say, artificial hearts. Space explora Well, the author has an eye for fairies.
The adventure side of this story was really quite good; clever in places, imaginative, and not a note out of place in the various creatures and cultures of the Nevernever. The whole "technology is killing our souls" thing, well, it's been done before. Oh, it's terrible how humanity is losing all its collective imagination because now we have technology we never think up brilliant things THAT RELY ON TECHNOLOGY like oh, say, artificial hearts. Space exploration. Better solar power. No imagination required there, right? *ahem* Ending sarcasm for a moment. Tolkien was very big on this so it shouldn't be a surprise when a fantasy author comes out with it, but it's not very creative.
The changeling bit was excellent and genuinely creepy and the various consequences of all of the actions and deals were consistent. The author came up with a really excellent fairyland and that's a legitimate win.
Okay, on to the complaints.
The characters were number one, specifically Our Heroine and Our Hero. Our Heroine was such a wuss throughout so much of the book that I couldn't stand her for most of it - and even when she wasn't a wuss, she didn't have much of a personality. Yes, she was out of her depth in dangerous situations, but I lost track of the number of times she screamed and jumped behind one of her male protectors. As a tormented school outcast, you'd think she'd have a few resources when faced with danger...no? Okay. As for Our Hero, wow. Prince Bland of Blandonia was possibly the least sexy hero I've ever met, and I've met quite a few. He made Peeta Mellark look like Mr. Darcy.
I'm guessing that eventually there will be a romantic rivalry with Prince Bland versus Puck, and I'm also guessing Prince Bland will win (I'm guessing because I don't, at this point, intend to read the rest of the books), which is a shame because Puck had some genuinely interesting moments. Plus I'd be interested to read a book with a romantic lead who was a bit of a drama queen (a book aside from "Howl's Moving Castle," which remains one of my favorites). However, Puck kept vanishing from the story, leaving a distinct lack of humor and interest (Grimalkin did his best).
However, as far as the love story/Our Hero goes, this is my main beef with the book, and I really cannot stress this enough:
WE NEED TO STOP TELLING TEENAGE GIRLS THAT GUYS WHO THREATEN TO KILL THEM ARE SEXY
I'll hold off on the rape culture/domestic violence statistics rant because this is the internet and you can find plenty, and probably many of them are better-articulated than mine. But telling a girl that the guy who SEEMS all scary and like he might kill you is really going to have your back and soften up later is dangerous and irresponsible and damn it, YA romance authors, this needs to stop. ...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Shoshanah rated it really liked it

I feel like I'm way late to Julie Kagawa. Not that I haven't wanted to read her for years, it's just that it's taken so long for it to happen. But better late than never, right?

This book surprised me, in that it wasn't quite what I expected it to be. It reminds me a lot of Alice in Wonderland, except with fairies or fey. It was just a lot more adventure that I anticipated, and I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

I think what was difficult for me is that Megan travels to so many different pla ...more

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Jun 06, 2018 Sarani Rangarajan rated it liked it · review of another edition

It was fine

As a YA, it was certainly pretty good, mostly clean, and minus a lot of internal agonizing that I find annoying. There are better YAs out there, but this one is worth your time. Interesting premise and I have to say I liked it. I’m not sure I’ll read the rest of the series, but I’m not as much of a fan of YA as I could be.

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Feb 04, 2011 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: fairies, fantasy-and-sci-fi, young-adult

from the NPR poll of great Young Adult fiction ...

Oy. Rave reviews led me to believe this would be awesome. I should know better. This comes from the same school of YA fic as Twilight and City of Bones. Loved those? You'll love this.

End result : it was entertaining, and I'll read the sequels. Eventually. I think this is one of those YA books that's really for young adults. As a middle -aged person, it didn't really WOW me, but I'll definitely recommend it to my 10yo daughter in a year or two. ...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides marked it as decided-not-to-read

Shelves: children-ya, fantasy-fiction, cover-pretty-white-girl

Just seemed too ... insipid. Except for Grimalkin. I just kept recognizing the allusions to/borrowings from other things, and getting yanked out of the story.

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