Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Today's blog is about the first book in a YA series I recently read. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa marks the beginning of Meghan Chase's journey into Feary, where she will meet with first her birthright and eventually her destiny. This book is the first in the Iron Fey series. I really enjoyed this series, though like most YA Paranormal Romances it got a little sappy in some places. What sets this series apart from others in its genre is the hybrid fey who are born from the imaginations of modern humans.

Meghan Chase is turning sixteen. While Meghan is very excited about her birthday, she is disappointed to find out she is the only one in her family that cares. In short, Meghan's life sucks. Her  father disappeared when she was only six. Her mother moved her away from the life they had shared with him to a small town where she remarried a very nice man, a struggling pig farmer who struggles to remember Meghan even exists. At school, Meghan is very unpopular and the popular crowd go out of their way to make her life a living hell. Her only friend is Robbie Goodfell, who happens to be her closest neighbor, which means he lives less than two miles from the Chase farm. Robbie is also unpopular but as the school's master of pranks, he tends to not be harassed very often. Meghan resigns herself resentfully to spending her big birthday evening babysitting her younger brother. A task she has been assigned because even her own mother forgot her birthday.

Unfortunately for Meghan, Faery has other plans for her big day. Her brother is kidnapped and a changeling is left in his stead. Meghan must journey into Faery to save him. Along the journey Meghan finds out some hard truths about her past, her father, and her best friend's true identity. She also encounters a Faery Prince named Ash, who is the mortal enemy of Robbie Goodfell, wants to capture Meghan for his mother, Mab,...and is the one person who could actually help Meghan find her brother and bring him home before it is too late.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me very strongly of Labyrinth from the beginning so I was very pleased when it both embraced the more traditional fairytale myths and created a path for a new type of faery to travel the back woods of Faery. Ms. Kagawa does well in building her world. The characters are well developed and dynamic, yes some are a little predictable in nature but what more can you expect from characters like Oberon, Tatiana, Puck, Grimalkin, and Mab? The charm of this book, and really for the entire series, is the deft skill in which Kagawa blends the old and well worn with the new and shiny. When I finished Iron King, I immediately went to Overdrive and searched out the next books in the series. The other titles include Iron Daughter, Iron Queen, and Iron Knight,. The series also has several novellas: The First Kiss, Winter's Passage, Summer's Crossing, Ash's letter to Meghan, Iron's Prophecy.

One caveat with this series is the novellas. While it is possible to read the books without them, they are integral to the story. Also there is a fifth book listed on Kagawa's webpage as being in this series, it is titled The Lost Prince. On Goodreads it lists this title as the first book in the Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten series. This appears to be a spinoff with a second book titled The Iron Traitor. I have not read either of these titles yet, but they are both on my TBR list.