Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publication Date: February 1st, 2010

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: After finished The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, I was really craving some more of her writing. I had this one sitting on my shelf waiting for me so it was a no-brainer what my next read would be. And now after reading this book, I have added Julie to my list of must-read authors. I gotta get more of her books and keep my eyes out for new ones.

There is no boring introduction, or slow start in this book. We start off right away getting emotionally punched in the gut by events that happened to the main character Meghan. And may I just say, doesn't she just have the coolest, best, name ever?! Ha, I was seriously excited when I seen we shared the same name. I see lots of Meghan's, but usually they don't have the "h".  Anyway, moving on. I was immediately drawn to Meghan. Right away I just wanted to be her friend, to comfort her, and to hug her. She has a sad family history, with the loss of her father at a young age. When her mom re-marries, the new guy is nice enough. But it seems like he forgets Meghan even exists half the time. If being invisible at home isn't enough, at school she is rejected and picked on brutally. Luckily, she isn't completely alone. She has a best friend named Robbie who I also liked right away. He is so jovial, optimistic, funny, and very supportive and kind to Meghan.  He also carries this mysterious quality. I could tell there was more we didn't know about him and I couldn't wait to find out what it was.

It wasn't long until all the fun began, and we found out just what Robbie was hiding from Meghan. From then on it's a non-stop roller-coaster of fairy tale adventure and we're riding front seat right along side Meghan. The story was written in such a way that it really felt like you were right there experiencing everything with her, it was incredibly exciting and scary at times to say the least. Mostly the latter. Due to a certain event, Meghan must travel into the faery world. Known as Nevernever. What a perfect name eh? The Nevernever is a wonderfully beautiful and terrifying place. Part of me would die to go there, but at the same time I probably would die if I did. So I guess I'm content to just read about it for now. During the fantastical adventure we came across so many beings; Ogres, Trolls, Giant Hounds, Talking Cats, Goblins, Sirens, Elves, Faerys, Phoukas, and even more! It was like so many awesome fantasy stories combined, making the ultimate Faery story to rival them all. There was definite obvious inspiration from Shakespeare. Some of the stories it reminded me of were Narnia, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and if you've ever seen the movie Labrynthe  with David Bowie in it, it reminded me a lot of that as well. While I did find likenesses from these other awesome stories, this story was still unique and sits in a league of it's own.

The other two characters I loved were Grimalkin and Ash. Grimalkin is  a cat, and the definition of cats at their finest. He is proud, reserved, clever, and really only speaks when he sees the need to input his two cents. Yeah, of course he talks! He's the most epic cat companion anyone could ask for, and Meghan is lucky enough to cross paths with him inside Nevernever. Although his motives and goals are never really clear, he tags along and helps because he doesn't want to miss out on all the adventure and action. If I could be any one in the story, I would be Grimalkin. Then there's Ash, he's the prince of a rival Fey group. He is incredibly gorgeous, strong, smart, and loyal. Unfortunately he's also severely deadly and Meghan is on his list of enemies. Of course this complicates things the love story comes into play, since Ash is the one Meghan has feelings for, oh dear. Despite how complicated that relationship is and could be, I am still rooting for them! I'm a little of a hopeless romantic, and their story has so much romantic potential!

Again, I'm leaving you hanging with story line. I just really don't like to give anything away. But this story covered so many emotions. I laughed out loud at parts, I was on the verge of tears in others. Sometimes I was holding my breath with fear, and some parts even made me feel a bit queasy. There are some gory parts, but I do enjoy a little bit of gore in my stories! I definitely recommend this book! I am kicking myself so hard now for not buying the rest of the series at the same time. I know what my next purchase will be when I make it to the book store next! I'm so glad I came across Julie's books, I'm eager to read more of her work and I wish I had discovered her sooner! Great things have come form her and I'm sure we can expect even more greatness in the future!