Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Rating: 8.5/10
Hello and welcome back.
Do I like books about the fay? I admit to nothing! Do I read them for the drama? You can’t make me confess. Do I also read them for the legitimately scary things that happen? Okay fine maybe. As you may have gathered The Iron King is, in fact, a fairy book. I read it when it first came out in 2010, but recently interest in the series has been reignited due to the beautifully redesigned anniversary covers. I mean those things are stunning and I need them in my life. No worries they shall be mine once they are out. Anyway… back to the book. I forgot how much fun this book was. I really did. And there is a talking cat! A sassy sarcastic talking cat. I’m sold.
So the book opens with our narrator Meghan, named that before Meghan Markle came onto the scene, is your typical insecure teenager. I don't mean that in a negative way. Most teenagers are insecure. That is kind of the whole point of being one, and in books, you get to watch them grow out of that insecurity and into people who are so much better. She lives on a pig farm with her mother, stepfather, and four-year-old half brother. Things are not perfect but they could be worse as Meghan soon realizes when fairies kidnap her baby brother and leave a serial killer changeling in its place. I mean that thing scared me. IT spilled oil on the floor to make the mom slip and hurt herself. There is nothing more terrifying than a cute child who wants to murder you. Luckily for Meghan, her best friend just so happens to be Robin Goodfellow of A Midsummer Night’s Dream fame.
Meghan is whisked off to the Nevernever, and just like her, I’m terrified. She was kept in the dark about scary things all her life so of course, she needs some time to learn to cope and come to terms that monsters exist. I read quite a few reviews calling her annoying and whiny, but I respectfully disagree. She had a few justified freak-outs throughout the book but kept her eye on the prize, or rescuing the toddler as it were. Along the way, she really grew as a person, but her arc is obviously not complete. This is a series and she has a lot of growing to do. I liked her focus on a goal from the beginning. Yes, she gets distracted by pretty boys, as many of us do, but she doesn’t let go of her mission. I like that quality in a girl.
Meghan has multiple relationships that shape her. One of them is the relationship with her dissipated father, so when the memory of his is taken away it’s jarring to the reader. Meghan thinks nothing of it of course because she forgot all about it. In order to rescue her brother, she sacrifices something equally precious to her and she doesn’t even know it. I like the sense of balance demonstrated here. Nothing comes for free in the world of faeries and Meghan doesn’t even fully realize it yet. At the end of the book when she gets angry at her mother for “hiding” another father from her is jarring because we know the truth but she doesn’t. It’s always nice to see that in their journey characters gain things but also lose things, and in this case, we had a very clear demonstration.
My only gripe with this book and the reason I didn’t rate it higher is the boys. I loved the boys but the problem was their relationship with each other was much more clear than their connection to Meghan. I think their actions and her thoughts just didn't align. There is so much potential for the future set up in this book, but it isn't developed to its full potential in this book. Meghan and her relationship with Robin Puck felt contrived. He deserved better development because there is so much to explore there. He is hundreds of years old yet gets treated by Meghan like a sulky teenager a lot of the time, most of the time undeservedly so. Sometimes it’s deserved because we are all children when angry. Ash is better handled. You sense his past in his actions and his behavior. But because this book did such a good job focusing on other things he too is underdeveloped. I don't appreciate character waste and those two have been wasted in this book Here’s hoping Puck’s coma is going to give him some time to think and focus on himself. He deserves that. ANd here’s hoping we get more of the Meghan/Ash dynamic in the second book to the point where I believe in the angst Meghan wants to see. So far I don't really see it but I want it! I want the journey for the relationship. Sadly in this book, there just wasn't time. May I suggest another hundred pages? I feel like I'm always suggesting another hundred pages.
I also would like to dive more into the dynamics between the courts, which seems promising, as Meghan is off to the Unseelie Court at the end of the book. I want to explore more of the consequences of Meghan being the daughter of the Seelie King. I want the girls of the courts to get together and overthrow the king because I don't like him. Come on ladies stand together! I want to explore more of the concept of Iron Fay. It’s such a good idea. Tell me all about how this will affect the world.
In short, I really enjoyed this book. It was so good in many ways, but in the few crucial ways, I wasn't satisfied so I couldn't give it more than I did in my rating. I am looking forward to actually finishing the series this time, because shocker, I never finished it! Why do I do this to myself? I just don’t continue with the things I enjoy by choice, you know, like an idiot.
Anyway, see you all soon and thanks for joining,
Anna
