The Iron KingBy: Julie Kagawa
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
368 pages
I bought this book
5 out of 5 stars!
From Amazon....
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.
Why I couldn't put it down: In a word, magic.
Reading The Iron King was like being a kid and going to Disneyland for the first time, it filled me with a sense of wonder and awe and left me craving more (yeah, I've already picked up the next book in the series.) Julie Kagawa's descriptions of the world of Faery were lush and lyrical and I was completely transported and checked out of housecleaning and TV watching and those darn Facebook games for the two days it took me to devour this book.
The Iron King opens with the main character, Meghan Chase, remembering her father's mysterious disappearance on her sixth birthday and we get the hint that secrets will be revealed as she discloses that it's not until ten years later that she finds out exactly what happened that fateful day. We are then introduced to the important people in her life, her family and her best friend, the devoted practical joker Robbie. From the beginning, things seem a little off in her world...her family reacts strangely to her at times and she starts seeing things that just shouldn't be there. Then her little brother starts acting odd and things finally come to a head when his behavior gets completely out of control and he viciously bites Meghan on the leg. At this point, her friend Robbie has no choice other than to reveal the truth to Meghan...that he is the famous Puck of legend and lore and that her brother has been taken to the land of Faery and replaced here in our world with a changeling.
Puck and Meghan enter the Nevernever and begin their quest to rescue the boy. And, as in all good tales of quests and adventures, they encounter danger and magical creatures and their strengths, weaknesses, and convictions are challenged along the way. Meghan discovers she is the daughter of Oberon, King of the Summer Court and we meet the handsome and dangerous Ash, prince of the Winter Court, sworn to bring Meghan to his mother, the evil Queen Mab. But of course, what he didn't count on was his attraction and growing feelings for Meghan and soon he joins her and Puck on their search for her little brother. Now personally, I'm not completely sold on the budding romance between Ash and Meghan. Their feelings developed a little too quickly for my tastes and and some of his emotions were a little hard for me to buy into. Plus, I like Puck!!! But hey, I'm willing to reserve judgment until I read the rest of the series (but seriously, go Puck ;)
As for the rest of their journey, along the way we discover Puck and Ash have one heck of a history, we are introduced to the amazingly fabulous talking cat Grimalkin (love him!) and we learn the secrets of the Iron King and the effect our modern technology and dreams of progress are having on the world of Faery. Danger lurks around every corner and one must choose their words carefully in the Nevernever, but magic is most definitely afoot. All in all, Kagawa has done a brilliant job of creating a world that is rich and detailed and just may leave you whispering "I do believe in fairies, I do..."
I'm not a fan of the official trailer for this book...it's basically just various clips of the cover image cut with some text. BORING (why oh why do they do that???). But, I found this fan made trailer that I thought was really pretty cool and does a much better job of making you want to read the book....and I want you to read the book!!! So here you go...
6 comments:
Love your review and the fanmade trailer! Okay, I seriously need to read this series soon.
Thank you for the wonderful review! And what an awesome trailer. *In awe*
What an awesome review!
I LOVE this line: "Why I couldn't put it down: In a word, magic. Reading The Iron King was like being a kid and going to Disneyland for the first time, it filled me with a sense of wonder and awe and left me craving more."
You make me want to drop everything and pick this up. FAB job :)
I loved hearing your thoughts. And I'm glad you liked this book too (very validating).
I too felt that Meghan and Ash fell for each a little too quickly, but I also fell for him right along with Meghan. I even went back through and underlined all the parts where they had interaction to try to figure out what it was that made the attraction. Honestly, I wasn't sure but I still found the attraction to be magic.
Yay Angelique! I really enjoy this series, and I completely agree, it's like going to Disneyland for the first time - at first you're overwhelmed by the creativity of it all, but then you can't imagine having to leave:) Can't wait to see what you think of the next 2 books!
Wow, I hadn't seen the trailer before. It's awesome.
Post a Comment