The Iron King

Meghan Chase is expecting an ordinary 16th birthday with having her mom take her for her driver's permit test being the biggest thing (if she remembers). Instead she is humiliated at school and comes home to find that her 4-year-old brother has been kidnapped by faery. She is determined to get him back. With the help of her friend Robin (better known as Puck), she travels to faery to get her brother back. She has lots of adventures, makes some enemies, and finds some friends including a cat named Grim and a prince named Ash. Ash and Puck are ancient enemies but united in helping Meghan finish her quest. Great adventure story.

I was hoping for something much more enchanting. A new world to explore. A riveting character who has depth! I got none of these things. The potential was there and I wanted it to happen. The new world, though interesting, was rushed through and redundant. It felt fun but not fascinating. Can we please get over this horrible story line (which made its biggest hurrah in the flick "Pretty in Pink") of the best friend who gets put on a shelf for some brooding stranger? I thought we all decided to ban idiots from falling in love with people for no other reason than "he was so sexy I couldn't keep my eyes off of him..." back when Twilight debuted. PLEASE give me one or maybe even two (since the emo guy is SO great right?) GOOD reason why the guy who has been there for you your entire life and takes care of you isn't the one you would choose! Yeah, yeah I get it when you feel brotherly affection for someone as opposed to something else but let's not put the teenage hormone as the ONLY factor for your choice of love interest!
Aside from that, it just fell flat. I could potentially read the second book. Maybe. On a rainy day when I don't have anything else going on and want to avoid doing the dishes.

A great story with good, diverse characters. Like another reviewer, I didn't really connect with Meghan. Overall I enjoyed the story a lot, am definitely looking forward to reading the next books, and did find myself thinking about the characters and the story when I wasn't reading it.

A quick enjoyable read without a lot of emotional involvement. The plot is fairly predictable and I never felt that any of the major characters were in any real danger, so there wasn't much tension. The magic is creative and fun.

I went into this book having already read The Lost Prince. with that in mind, some of the characters were familiar to me, but I don't feel that it ruined the story for me at all.

I love the world that the author had created. I was completely enthralled with the story and found myself being completely sucked in and unable to walk away.

I felt a strong connection to Meghan. I always felt as a teen that I didn't fit into the world I lived in and felt almost invisible to those around me. Of course, I didn't have write the answer that she did.

My favorite scene in the while book was when Meghan finally figured out who Robbie was. I literally nearly sprayed iced tea all over my Kindle I was laughing so hard! I even tweeted that fact at the author.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

This book had me from the very beginning. It gave me the feel almost of the most twisted love triangle out there. As far as the romance goes though it had the friend/ brotherly figure, the forbidden love, and of course the crazy stalker man. Not a romance novel but an adventure filled with crazies and magic I can't wait to read the others.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Harlequin Teen, 2010
363 pages
YA; Paranormal; Faeries
1st in Series
4/5 stars

Source: Bought from the store

Summary: Meghan Chase lives on a farm on the outskirts of town; a boring ordinary existence. But that's about to change as her younger brother is kidnapped and she sets off to faerie world to rescue him and learn the truth about her heritage.

Thoughts: I'm currently cursing myself for not writing up this review immediately after I finished because already I don't remember everything.

It reminded me of Labyrinth as there is a young girl who travels to another world (was it a faerie world in the movie?) in order to rescue her baby brother [I think I prefer Labyrinth.] Meghan however travels because her brother was stolen and a changeling was left in his place. And when she travels she meets her father, king of the faeries, and discovers that she is a valuable asset to the ever feuding faeries.

Unfortunately they're dying as humans believe less in magic and more in technology. And there are also creatures made of iron who are threatening the faeries so there is plenty of conflict. Meghan is rather stupid much of the time but I suppose it would be a very overwhelming experience to travel through faerie world when you're only sixteen.

Team: There are apparently teams for either Ash or Puck. It's pretty obvious that Meghan prefers Ash but I don't know why. I am Team Puck, her best friend who knows her inside and out and is also funny, although I know it is futile. Ash is pretty much a jerk and I don't think he laughs very much.

Overall: Intriguing beginning to the Iron series with appealing descriptions. I want to read the other books.

Cover: This is a gorgeous cover! The colors are striking and there's a mix of flora and more metal looking decorations.

I have one word for this book... FLIPPING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love how detailed this author waz and how it literally played with your emotions ,making you cry, or scream with rage, to laughing with joy, and cooing with the affection for Ash's and Megens forbidden love. You will not regret buying this book. So dont just sit there and keeping reading this with a goofy grin on your face BUY IT!!! ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Complete Awesomeness! This book was an Alice in Wonderland meets Chronicles of Narnia meets Inkheart. There were animals, magic, action and adventure. I loved every sentence. Ms Kagawa is a wonderful story-teller. This book is great for boys and girls alike. The action begins from chapter one and will have you hooked until the end. Megan finds out that her brother has been kidnapped by the Fairy World and replaced with an evil changeling. She travels with her best friend Puck into the Fairy World to find him and many wonderful adventures abound.

I really enjoyed the fantasy world created by Kagawa. I flew through this series and I'm currently reading Iron Knight (4th book). I recommend this book to those who love to lose themselves in vivid fantasy worlds full of unique characters. The plot is great! I'm glad I took a chance on this one.

Loved the mythology in this. The world building was great and this first story laid a great foundation for the rest of the series.

Kagawa's mythology reminded me of Neil Gaiman's gods and creatures in American Gods. Both stories had very similar ideas regarding the old beliefs versus the new, although Gaiman's book is by no means aimed at a YA audience. I also enjoyed Kagawa's references to pop culture particularly to anime.

I rarely read past book 1 in YA series but I might just have to because I have to know what happens to Puck.

Well written prose, intriguing characters and imaginative worlds made this a fun read.

I got this book because the introduction was interesting. And I could not stop reading when I first started this book! I loved the action and the funny moments! I would recommend this book to people that love fiction! Like me!!!! :)

I've heard fantastic things about this series - I mean, Kristi at The Story Siren loves it. What higher praise can it get? So I, of course, was expecting it to be fabulous. And I really did enjoy The Iron King, but it took me a while to get into.

I don't know what it was about it that was hard for me to get into - I liked Megan and the world of the fairies. To be fair, I had a super busy couple of weeks while I was trying to read it, so I think that must have contributed to it.

I liked Megan a lot. Her devotion to finding her brother reminded me a lot of The Labyrinth and I love that movie! I thought her personality was well done and she had many dimensions. She was confused and upset and terrified, but strong and brave when she needed to be.

I know a lot of people like Puck, but he just wasn't around enough for me to say whether or not I liked him. Maybe that will change in book two. Ash, on the other hand - swoon! A lot of people wanted me to let them know when I finished reading it if I am "Team Puck" or "Team Ash" and let me tell you - Team Ash. He's dangerous and sexy and I love that in my literary men. I often root for the best friend type in books, but only when there's not a sexy and risky other option. It was around the time that Ash showed up that I started to really get into it, to be honest.

In terms of story, I found The Iron King be very original. I've been reading a lot of fairy/faerie books since I started my blog and I haven't seen a story like this yet. The fairies in this book had a variety of strengths, but also weaknesses, which I thought was neat. Their world was like nothing I'd ever read, as well as the creatures. How cute is the grimalkin?!

I will definitely be picking up book two - The Iron Daughter, and the third book, The Iron Queen when it comes out in February of 2011. It's a great series and I'm glad I pushed through my initial not-feeling-it feelings.

The Iron King is a wonderful blend of the characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream with an original story and the added element of a half fey teenage girl.
It seems Puck has been keeping an eye on Meghan for years, although Meghan only knew him as her best buddy Robbie, not as the immortal fey of legend. All of this changes though on her 16th birthday when Meghan's little brother Ethan is apparently kidnapped by the fey and a bloodthirsty little changeling left in his place. Meghan soon finds herself thrust into the adventure of her life as she travels to the Nevernever to rescue her brother. Along the way, she starts to come to terms with who she really is and that she is not as helpless as she thinks.
I enjoyed the unique twist Kagawa added with the Iron Fey. It was interesting and made sense in the context of the story. I can't wait to find out more about the pack rats and some of the other iron fey. The world building was perfection, I absolutely lost myself in the Nevernever and was thoroughly entertained by all of the creatures Meghan ran into on her journeys. The fey were represented in a way that was true to many fey legends, but with Kagawa's own spin. I love stories about the fey, so I was so pleased at how beautifully they were portrayed in this novel. I did however wonder what made Kagawa write Titania as such a spiteful character.
Grimalkin was probably my favorite overall, I adore witty sarcastic characters, and this snarky cat was brilliant. Meghen seemed to be a bit of a weak character, I would love to see her grow more into what power she has, meaning both her magical abilities as well as personally, throughout the rest of the series. I'd like to see her show a little more backbone. I also really enjoyed Puck's mischievous nature as well as Ash's brooding aloofness.
Overall, the Iron King was highly entertaining, full of adventure, and certainly memorable. This series will be joining my shelf of favorite reads of 2010.

Was pleasantly surprised by this book. I bought it on Kindle for my daughter to read and ended up getting sucked into the book myself! It was one of those novels that you just couldn't stand to put down for a moment! It is well-paced. The characters are wonderful. And there is a nice blend of adventure, excitement, humor and that all so important bit of romance with the very familiar 'love triangle' situation. There's a mixture of new, fresh characters with a few classical ones thrown in (and given a new breath of life).

And the romantic triangle is interesting, although not progressed very far in this book. With two, dare I say, anti-heroes as contenders for the girl's heart (although I have to admit I'm partial to Puck and hope he comes out the winner in the end...after all, the breathtaking handsome ones always win the girl, it would be nice to see the 'underdog' come out on top once in awhile.)

Am going to suggest this book to all my friends. And I am looking forward to seeing what the author puts the heroine through in the next installment!

Damn. Another book that started off slow but pulled me in midway through. It gets 4 stars for making me want to read the next book. Entertaining. A good read. I recommend this for young adults/teenagers. The characters are funny and you fall in love with them. Some you love to hate and some you cheer for all the way through. I'm not a spoiler when it comes to book reviews because time and again I've read reviews and ...dun...dun...spoiled!! So, you'll just have to read to get the details...sorry! But, it's definitely fantasy but it flips to the real world every so often. I love the play on Midsummer Nights Dream in this book!! Ok..ok...done...now go read it! :P

I should start by saying that I enjoy stories where faeries are darker and more malevolent, so this was just what I was looking for. I also need a believable, sympathetic protagonist, and I got that in Megan Chase. There are quite a lot of stories out there about a half-human/half-fae getting involved in faery politics, and Iron King is one of the best I've read.

The story flowed well, and was one of the few that I've read lately where the ending didn't feel rushed or thrown together.

Loved the characters (got to love a book that throws in Robin Goodfellow), and there are definitely enough questions left unanswered to fill more books. At the same time, the ending was satisfying and I didn't feel left in the lurch. I liked the way the author incorporated belief and faery power, and the changes our world makes in the Nevernever.

This is a YA book, but I would recommend it for any readers who love stories about faeries.

When you read this book you would never guess that it is the author's first novel. The story is riveting, I couldn't put it down. When my husband insisted on talking to me, I had to explain to him that I really couldn't focus on anything but what I was reading. I won't give you a synapsis, (that was done by professionals) I will say that if you enjoy stories about the fey, you should definitely read this book.

The storyline was good, but the writing technique was average. Though they are definately worth the read if you enjoy the whole adventureous faery tale. The writing also improves a lot as the series progresses. I am now up to the Call Of The Forgotten series in the Iron Fey world and am throughly enjoying them.