The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
How Received: ARC
Disclaimer: Quotes used in this review are from the advanced reading copy and therefore may not be the quotes seen in the actual book.
Meghan Chase is the invisible one in her family. They tend to forget she's there. Actually, most of the school tends to forget she exists - unless you count her best friend, Robbie.
Then her sixteenth birthday comes about - and suddenly her brother has been replaced by a changeling, Robbie is actually the infamous Puck, and she may or may not have to rearrange the entire structure of the faery world to get her brother back.
Then, of course, there's the matter of the ice prince who would as soon kill her as kiss her...
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Welcome to the world of books, Julie! And might I say, I will be quite happy to see more of you.
I loved the way the book was written. It was easy to follow, engaging, and overall just fantastic. The plot could have been improved - but hey. It's a well written faery book with fantastic characters. I ain't gonna argue.
I found Meghan a lot of fun to read through - she has the ability to be completely terrified and say something that just makes the reader giggle in the middle of it all. Ash (the winter prince) was really interesting, and I do adore him. Very mysterious.
Favorite character, though, has GOT to be Puck. Oh, how I love you, how I love you, my dear Puck... She captured him perfectly - playful and devilish and caring and wonderful.
[SPOILER ALERT]
I had two small, minor, teensy problems with this book.
1) I ADORED that she brought her iPod. I did. I kept expecting her to realize she could use the iron in it for something. Anything. And then she trades it to be brought to the Iron King. Um... anticlimatic? Especially with how often the iPod is mentioned.
2) SHE CHOSE ASH. Seriously? Could you not see how much Puck adored her? I love Ash, I do, and he's much more mysterious and serious and deadly than Puck is. But why must we always choose the mysterious and serious and deadly guy? She could have still chosen Puck - or better yet, been torn between the two - and had the next book be just as famazing.
[/SPOILER ALERT]
I do have a favorite quote, though!
"The Nevernever is dying, human. It grows smaller and smaller every decade. Too much progress, too much technology. Mortals are losing their faith in anything but science. Even the children of man are consumed by progress. They sneer at the old stories and are drawn to the newest gadgets, computers, or video games. They no longer believe in monsters of magic. As cities grown and technology takes over the world, belief and imagination fade away, and so do we."
"What can we do to stop it?" I whispered.
"Nothing." Grimalkin raised a hind leg and scratched an ear. "Maybe the Nevenever willl hold out till the end of the world. Maybe it will disappear in a few centuries. Everything dies eventually, human."
The Iron King or Tithe: I love Holly Black. But I love Julie Kagawa just a bit more.
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10. Worth buying, worth reading, and an author to keep an eye out for.