ellieroth
Written on Oct 10, 2012
Enter a fantastical world of dangerous faeries, wicked princes and one half-human girl who discovers her entire life is a lie.Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared when she was six. Ten years later, when her little brother also goes missing, Meghan learns the truth--she is the secret daughter of a mythical faery king and a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she loves, 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.
Books and novellas in the Iron Fey series:
The Iron King (special edition includes "Winter's Passage"* ebook novella)
The Iron Daughter (special edition includes the "Guide to the Iron Fey"*)
The Iron Queen (special edition includes "Summer's Crossing"* ebook novella)
The Iron Knight (special edition includes "Iron's Prophecy"* ebook novella)
The Lost Prince
The Iron Traitor
The Iron Warrior*Also available in The Iron Legends anthology
Books in the Iron Fey: Evenfall series:
The Iron Raven
- ISBN10 1335016031
- ISBN13 9781335016034
- Publish Date 5 May 2020 (first published 1 January 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Inkyard Press
- Edition Reissue ed.
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 432
- Language English
Reviews
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Oct 1, 2012
ALSO POSTED ON MY BLOG:Afterwords
Well. You can just look on my (many) GR status updates about The Iron King to see it definitely had an effect on me - I kept having things to say about it.
In all honesty, I wonder if this wasn't because the Iron King was my first buddy-read more than anything else. Because The Iron King was a good book, but it didn't blow my mind... And I desperately tried to hide that.
When I started this book, I pretty much knew nothing about it. The last time I read the synopsis was eons before and I was just a little too lazy to read it again or something. So I didn't know what to expect, yet I was surprised by what I got. Does that make sense?
The world of The Iron King strongly resembles that of Wicked Lovely, with its faeries, courts and michief. In my original review, I stated that I would pick this one over Wicked Lovely. That was a lie. What I actually meant was that this book would appeal more to young adults and ya lovers because of it's adventures and quirky characters. It's the book I would give my bookworm niece to read.
But on a personal level, I probably love Wicked Lovely a lot more.
Our main character is Meghan Chase, and can I just say I was very impressed by her? She shows remarkable cleverness despite the unknown world and rules she falls into, she is brave and loyal and she is such a caretaker. I just wish she'd stop promising deals without a second thought to what it may cause.
Puck/Robin is Meghan's bff. I had really mixed feelings towards him. At first glance, I loved him. But after he showed his true form and started being so harsh and mocking toward Meghan who literally knows nothing of his world instead of explaining things to her, I wanted to slap his face off.
Then there is Ash, a handsome Winter Prince. And... that's it, really. I know everyone is like *fangirl screaming voice* Aaaaaaaaaaaaashhhhhhhhhhhh *normal voice* but I don't see the appeal. He was too all over the place - one minute cold, then sweet, then bored, then caring, with barely a warning in between. Decide who you are, then come back to talk to me, mm'kay?
And because I wasn't really feeling it with Ash, I wasn't the biggest fan of the romance. Mostly because it appeared really abruptly. Where is the falling-in-love sense? Where are all the little sweet moment that make up that process? I didn't see them.
I will admit to liking the two of them together after, though. Their first kiss had me tingly all over, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and hope they will swipe me off the feet in the next book. Oh, and here's to hoping that foreboding sense of a love-triangle will not come to fruition, or at the very least not be heavy on it.
My favorite character is not a human or a fairy though. No, my favorite character is a cat. A wickedly cool one at that. Grimalkin is the Cheshire cat of this universe and I dig it.
And finally.. Ethan. God, the adorableness! I love children in books, and Ethan is just such a cute one. Fingers crossed he is a part of the next book!
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Old Version
You can Find My Review in My Blog, Drugs Called Books
The Iron King has been on my To-Read list probably for as long as the book existed. I read the summary years ago, thought it was interesting and marked it as To Read (this is when I still didn't know of Goodreads and relied on the Amazon buying lists to remember what I wanted to buy).
I never actually got around to reading it, for a reason I can't explain. Possibly, it's because it talks about Faeries, and those have always been one of the least attracting super natural being to me. I don't even know why, I guess probably because of Tinker Bell and the normal portrayal of Faeries in my childhood stories ~shrug~
Anyway, a friend suggest we read a book together, and we both thought it was high time we read this book.
I guess we're both very happy about that suggestion.
The Plot
I haven't actually read the summary before marching into this read, not in the last few years anyway, so I came into the reading completely blank. I didn't know what the expect, and I was surprised by what I got.
The world of this book reminded me a lot of Wicked Lovely, with the faeries, courts, and the ending. However...
To read the rest of this review, go here!
Note to self:when the oracle said that Meghan's first child would give her a lot of grief, I wondered to myself if it'll have something to do with the second series. And I read the summary of The Iron Prophecy accidently, and it seems like I might be right! Hooray me!
sleepseeker
Written on Aug 5, 2012
violetpeanut
Written on Jul 21, 2012
As a fairy tale i enjoyed the book. The plot moved along nicely and I really liked the characters (Grim was my favorite). Having said that, there was something about this book that just didn't work for me. I can't really put my finger on it. I found myself skipping over paragraphs here and there. I don't know if it was the writing style or something else. In any case, I generally enjoyed the book but could not rate it higher. I'll check out the next in the series.
EDIT:
After thinking a bit more I've realized a couple of things that didn't work for me. First, the main character, Meghan. While she was generally a likeable character there were quite a few eye-rolling moments where she just does stupid things and needs someone to save her. I'm not expecting her to be a warrior princess or anything but some of her reactions to the situations she finds herself in are a little ridiculous.
Also, the love angle. I wasn't thrilled with the whole "love triangle" aspect of the story. I think it's overused in YA books. Also, the relationship between Meghan and Ash goes from 0-60 in 2 pages. There's a lot of sexual tension but there's almost no development of a relationship there.
I still enjoyed the basic story and will check out the next in the series.
nannah
Written on May 24, 2012
(light spoilers, you are warned.)
I was absolutely enchanted by Nevernever and how Kagawa described it, and even though the plot was stale and way overused (a sister saving her brother who was kidnapped by the fay) I was enjoying Iron King. It's been a while since I'd read a book about the Fay and I thought this one seemed very promising. Sometimes the writing was a bit stilted, but the majority was beautiful and evocative.
But then Ash came to play a larger role. I almost started to groan at everything he said and every time Meghan looked at him and admired his "so perfect, awesome, captivating" beauty. On the last leg of the book, his character and "relationship" with Meghan made me want to put Iron King down and just not finish. I write relationship with such hesitation because there was no substance to whatever they were pretending to have, and there was no room for anything to grow (let alone begin) in the time the novel allowed.
I remembered the words on the cover: "A love doomed from the start," and I immediately was intrigued--well, immediately as in when I found out Robbie was actually Puck. This could be a cool (and rather cute) angle; I mean, Puck isn't one I would think of normally to play the romantic lead. How would Kagawa pull this off and keep him in character? I was sure there would be a lot of hilarious miscommunication between the two and it was already making me smile.
And then I realized Ash wasn't just going to be that hunter. Every time he appeared, Kagawa made it certain we knew how absolutely handsome he was. I think every single adjective for beautiful was used to describe him and it made me sick. Not to mention, Ash never really SAID anything: he growled it (which is a rather impossible dialogue tag to be honest) or muttered it, which really got old after a while.
And then Puck had to be out of the way so Meghan and Ash could somehow bond. Before "it" happened, I was actually annoyed at how only Puck was getting hurt during that scene. Then it all came clear: of course, Meghan and Ash somehow needed to fall in love before the end of the book. Right.
Somehow, Meghan and Ash DID fall in love. Almost immediately.
And then near the end, during the climax, everything was so ridiculous it took a great amount of willpower to finish it. Ash was so hurt by the iron that he couldn't even stand. Then suddenly he's swinging his sword and defending Meghan. Okay, adrenaline, I'll just say it was adrenaline. And then a couple pages later: "It's taking all my concentration not to faint." And then somehow he's on his feet and running and swinging his sword around again. And THEN, he's pretty much unconscious on a floor, barely able to speak, and then he gets up AGAIN and escapes out of these long tunnels. The ending felt terribly rushed, and it was riddled with continuity errors, such as when Meghan first wielded Ash's sword, her fingers burned from the ice. The second time, the ice wasn't even mentioned. I flipped back to the other scene for a while, but it didn't make sense.
Not to mention, how this whole book parallels Labyrinth to a drastic degree. I almost thought Ash would come out in a scene wearing tight pants and start to sing.
I'm being really harsh, I know. I guess I'm bitter because I LOVED (as in really really loved) the book until Ash got a larger role to play. I think he's largely the reason that I'm going to return the two other books of the series to the library unopened.
mitabird
Written on May 11, 2012
Jordon
Written on Apr 7, 2012
--
Errmmm, well, there was nothing wrong with this book. It was written well, there was lots going on, you understood what was happening. Except that I got bored. I have realised I do not really enjoy Faerie stories. The world of the fey always seems so dark. Personally I like it when I feel happy after I finish a book. Sad maybe because I didn’t want it to end. But happy at how the story was told, how it made me feel, how it ended.
All the faery stories I have read have not made me feel like that. So I have come to the conclusion I personally do not enjoy stories about faeries. The fey world is just too crazy, complex and dark. The fey themselves are crazy, complex and very dark. Even the nice natured fey, still a dark side to them. That is the fey.
But putting my personal feelings aside, this book was a good book. The story was well thought out. I just probably won’t be reading the next books in the series.
Miss J
x
wyvernfriend
Written on Mar 1, 2012
Deep Breath.
The book.
Meghan is living a life of poverty, trying to keep under the radar and not be noticed or bullied too much. She remembers her father disappearing, but her life is otherwise pretty normal. Suddenly she starts noticing someone is watching her, and her life changes for ever. Her brother is kidnapped and she finds that he's been taken to faery, she follows with her best friend Robbie Goodfell (yup she finds out later that he's Robin Goodfellow or Puck) to rescue him and finds that she's the King of Faery's daughter and her life is never going to be the same again.
It's not a bad read, there were occasions when things began to lag a bit but I expect there will be later payoffs. And what was that memory she lost?
bookishzelda
Written on Jan 14, 2012
I loved Meghan in the book. Probably one of my favorite female heroines. She isn't a complete dip that kept obsessing over every little decision. She is strong when she needs to be and weak when anyone would be. She slowly comes into her true self, rather than walking into Faery and having super powers out of nowhere. I really liked the progression of her character in this book and am excited to see what new surprises lie in store for the rest.
Puck/Robbie is the easy going best friend who obviously has a crush on Meghan. I enjoyed the way his character ligthens the mood. I also like how Julie fits the lore of his character into the story as well. Although I could never picture Meghan with him, he reminds me of every girls best guy friend that is simply a friend. Ash on the other hand, I loved from the minute he was introduce. There is just something about the dark brooding type. I like the fact that he is kind of a villain, not the perfect prince charming. It gives a little more depth to his character. Besides who isn't a villain in the land of Faery. How could I not adore Grim, the matter of fact cat, he says how it is and doesn't spare feelings. I'm interested to see how he uses the "little favors" he seems to be collecting.
I never thought I was into Fey lore, or books about it. The more I read the more I enjoy it. It's a magical world that isn't poises and roses. The Fey are mean spirited and selfish and I'm glad it was kept in tact in The Iron King. The Iron Fey make perfect sense and fit into the story well. What a great job.
The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the romance between Meghan and Ash. I felt I needed a little more to make it believable. I kind of feel like there is more there. He never really acted like he hated her and had shown up in the mortal world which made me wonder how long he had been watching her. There is still much that is a mystery. I can only assume that their story will evolve more in the later books and this was simple the door that leads to that.
Overall what a great book. I couldn't put it down and I'm anxious to get the rest of the books. I'm so glad they are all already out so I don't have to wait.
ladygrey
Written on Jan 7, 2012
About half way through it settled into a space that was interesting and had good character dynamics and a stronger narrative thread when Ash and Meghan and Puck and Grim were working together. But then that was all fractured and the story was over run with the inevitable effect of technology on faery (which admittedly was a impetus for the story) and its peril.
The world [a:Julie Kagawa|2995873|Julie Kagawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1257816454p2/2995873.jpg] described was beautiful and unique and interesting, but her language didn't evoke it strongly and wasn't particularly enthralling.
Mostly it was some interesting ideas and some almost interesting characters in an unoriginal framework. There was definitely something here that never quite worked out. Good theory, poor execution.