The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1) in YA and Beyond

Jan 22, 2011 Jen Halligan rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club, signed-by-author

I'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could... This is the first "Fae" book I've read unless The Hobbit counts. I'm really not that familiar with the faery world, creatures, and courts. It took me a while to stop analyzing it and just go with the story, which did pull me in pretty quickly. I found it amusing for the characters (maybe just Puck) to use f-bombs and swear in the Nevernever since I guess I always thought the imagined world fed by dreams and imagination would be child like. Maybe it's be ...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Sam rated it liked it

Shelves: read2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I can't decide whether to rate this two or three stars. Lets just say, a 2.5. So, average.

The plot was unique, I'll give it that, but there was absolutely NO character development. The only thing I knew about Meghan at the end of the book was that she makes bad decisions if they'll save someone she cares about. I guess that can be construed as a good or a bad quality, but it was her ONLY quality. That, and her blind devotion to saving her brother, coupled with her insane love for Ash, WHO TRIED I can't decide whether to rate this two or three stars. Lets just say, a 2.5. So, average.

The plot was unique, I'll give it that, but there was absolutely NO character development. The only thing I knew about Meghan at the end of the book was that she makes bad decisions if they'll save someone she cares about. I guess that can be construed as a good or a bad quality, but it was her ONLY quality. That, and her blind devotion to saving her brother, coupled with her insane love for Ash, WHO TRIED TO KILL HER.

I read this blog post on In Which a Girl Reads about 'bad romance', which is to say, manipulative, abusive romance. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the love that Ash and Meghan had was a 'bad romance', but it certainly strayed that way. First of all, they knew nothing about each other. NOTHING. In fact, Ash even tries to kill her. His only redeeming quality is that he is beautiful and he can sword fight. There's this little struggle within him to stay away from Meghan, but it is so cliched and annoying and urgh. The only reason Meghan falls in love with him: HE IS BEAUTIFUL. Seriously? Seriously.

In the beginning, I totally thought there'd be a little Puck/love storyline because he was at least likable, even if Meg didn't know him too well. He was funny and quirky and he had a dark secret. Perfect, correct? Apparently not. Puck was the only one who actually stuck out for me at all.

Minus the relatively little character development, the story was decent. It wasn't mindblowing. It was okay. Near the end, it got very fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat, but that was the only point.

The last huge thing that bothered me. The author used sentences like this a lot: Grabbing the sword from the ground, I ran toward the man. (This one is just made up.) This is a huge no-no. These actions cannot happen all at once. I'm really disappointed that the editor didn't catch this because it is so distracting.

Would I recommend it? Get it from the library, I say. I am really disappointed when I read books that I feel I could've written better. ...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Falling for Books (Tia) rated it really liked it

First Line: Ten years ago, on my sixth birthday, my father disappeared.

Favorite Quote: "My closet!" hissed the figure. A spiderlike hand darted out and grabbed the doorknob. "My closet! Mine!" And it slammed the door with a bang."

My thoughts:
The Iron King has been on my to-be-read list forever! I decided to go ahead and pick it up! I’ve heard so much about this book. I really liked this book and the take on faeries. I liked the whole fantasy aspect of this book.

I’m starting to realize that I re ...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Christie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, ya, paranormal, series

I really, really enjoyed this book. It actually made me want to go back a read more Shakespeare and reread some of his stories. I don;t think that has happened in a while lol.

I enjoyed nevernever and the parallel to classic stories. This was a very creative and a new twist on paranormal stories. I like the way technology was added to a paranormal faery world. Even though the book left me in tears, I can not wait for the next one and I have to admit I leaning towards team Ash.

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May 21, 2011 Darcie rated it really liked it

Shelves: rate-4

I really enjoyed that this book took you to another world - a very inventive world. I am such a sucker for series - I wish I had book #2 to read now. :)

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Dec 12, 2010 Erinp Plumley rated it it was amazing

what a fun fantasy. some language and sexual content---fyi for those of you who have preteens who you think might want to read......i'm looking forward to starting book 2! ...more

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