Book Review of The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3) by Julie Kagawa

Book Title: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3)

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 368

Author: Julie Kagawa

Date Published: 25 January 2011

Synopsis:

In less than twenty-four hours I’ll be seventeen. Although, technically, I won’t actually be turning seventeen. I’ve been in the Nevernever too long.

When you’re in Faery, you don’t age. So while a year has passed in the real world, agewise I’m probably only a few days older than when I went in. In real life, I’ve changed so much I don’t even recognize myself. MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE. I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.

THIS TIME, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.

Review:

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the Iron Fey series. I absolutely loved it!

Meghan Chase is a wonderful character. I really liked her and her character growth throughout the series. She has faced many difficulties and several challenges in her time in Faery. She has fought against The Iron King (and won), travelled through treacherous landscapes and had her heart broken by a Winter Prince. However, her greatest challenge is still yet to come. She must brave the Iron Fey's lands once more to confront the new Iron King and stop his march to conquer the other courts, as well as making the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect the ones she loves.

I had been in a reading slump before picking up the first book in the series. Once again, I was pulled into the story and found myself completely entranced with the world of Faery. I loved meeting Robin Goodfellow aka Puck again, as well as the Cait Sith, Grimalkin and Ash, the Winter Prince.

I started reading this story as soon as I had finished with The Iron Daughter, as I wanted to find out what happened next. The descriptions of the faery world and creatures living within it are vivid and felt real. As I sat reading, I could picture every scene in my mind's eye with ease. I would love to see this made into a movie or TV serial, though it would probably rely a lot on CGI for the various creatures living within it.

Meghan is a lot stronger than I gave her credit for. This is a coming of age story that left me breathless. In this story she finds out a secret that has been kept from her for ten years and it reunites her with someone she never thought she would see again. On the other hand, she finds herself being torn between her human family and her destiny in Faery. Her relationship with Ash deepens amidst danger and she struggles to reconcile her feelings for him and her duty. Her ability to control iron glamour is finally explained, even though I had made the connection with it to her battle with Machina in the first book. And I had a sneaking suspicion that things would not be easy for her and Ash as the story progressed. However, when I reached the end of the book, it was with mixed feelings; I wanted the story to continue, but I also didn't as I didn't think my heart could take any more battering. Once I had finished it though, I sat with tears streaming down my face and thought, "Wow!" and my respect for Meghan increased. I wasn't a pretty sight; I was an emotional wreck. It is not often that this happens to me, but I must be a masochist because I am now looking forward to reading Ash's story, The Iron Knight, as soon as possible.

Julie Kagawa has written a fantastic Young Adult series. I love her writing style, which is fast paced and exciting. The flow was also wonderful, as each scene moved effortlessly into the next. She has found a firm fan in me and I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

Although there is a scene of a sensual nature, it is not explict and fades out. However, there are scenes that have some violence or are a little gory. Therefore, I do not recommend this to readers under 15. However, I highly recommend this book if you love YA fantasy or paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton

View all my reviews

           

About The Author:

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn't getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a
real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.

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