Review: The Iron King

The Iron King 
Julie Kagawa
YA Paranormal, Fantasy 

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.

I was soooooo sure I was gonna love this. I mean, look at the above! This is exactly the kinda thing I would adore! Sounds like Wicked Lovely, or the Mortal Instruments. Brooding hot guy, hilarious best friend, faery world- it's exactly my cup of tea. 

Except it wasn't. I was so excited but it fell flat. The characters were just so.... one-dimensional. Like, nothing they said or did showed any personality at all. If I didn't know who was speaking, I would never have been able to tell the voices apart. The only exception to this rule was Puck. Good God, I loved that boy! He made me laugh and and cry each in turn. He was the only redeeming person. Ash, much as I wanted to be obsessed with him, didn't charm me. He was nothing special, honestly. There was only one bit where he really talked, and even then it was just like reciting his personal history. It wasn't that he was devoid of feeling- he (and everyone else but Puck) were devoid of personality. (I don't know, does that make sense??)

The one thing I liked was the world and it's rules. I've seen a lot of different interpretations of the fey- In Apprilynne Pike's Wings, the faeries of the various of the differ seasons differ in power. In Wicked Lovely there are 4 courts. The Iron King's theme was similar to that, with two different courts (kingdoms) who thrive on the imagination of humans. I thought that was pretty great. The twist is this- humans are imagining new things now. Technology and development, therefore creating new fey- iron fey. Yay originality!! That was cool. 

I've decided to give the Iron Fey series the benefit of the doubt. I'm assuming the reason the characters didn't go anywhere was because the author was busy with world building. I feel like the series has a lot of potential and that the plot will thicken and the characters will develop and I'll be happy. Hopefully. 
Rating: 2.5 stars


Still no internet, still hanging at friends' houses to blog. Oh well.
Love, Esty