I just finished Julie Kagawa’s YA novel, The Iron King and am itching to download book 2, The Iron Daughter, to my Kindle. But first I’m making myself read a couple of other books in my stacks and finish my own book, Tributary. Because a girl’s gotta have some measure of self-control….
The goodreads.com Summary:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6644117-the-iron-king
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 Two Cents
I thought this was an engaging fantasy novel. Kagawa does an amazing job of building this unseen world of the fey, and all their different courts. I wasn’t a huge fan of the iron court—it strained my ability to suspend disbelief and felt vaguely agenda-driven. I think it mostly broke down for me because of personal experience. I correlate a lot of “technology” with “creativity/imagination” not as the antithesis of it; my husband and I both are dependent on tech to write novels, share thoughts on the web, write music, create videos, etc. But that said, I loved the rest. And given the name of the series, I suspect I’ll just have to suck it up and get used to it. Author’s prerogative and all!!
Meghan is drawn into the world of the fey (faeries/fairies and other mythical creatures) and discovers she is the halfling (half fey, half human) daughter of King Oberon (whom you might recognize from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream) and she is drawn into that world on a very personal mission in which more and more of those/what she loves is in peril. Add in the intriguing Prince Ash from a rival kingdom, and the infuriating but engaging Puck, and there’s some good romantic tension too. I want to see what becomes of Meghan, a girl belonging to two worlds…and with six+ books in the series, I’m anticipating lots more adventure and page-turning reading.
Mama Bear Warnings
Quite a number of minor swearwords, but otherwise, pretty clean.