Review: IRON QUEEN by Julie Kagawa

TITLE: The Iron Queen
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
AUTHOR WEBSITE:  www.juliekagawa.com
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
FANTASY ELEMENT: Faeries
PUBLISHED: Harlequin Teen (January 25, 2011)
MY RATING: 4
FIND ON: Amazon


SYNOPSIS:

(Provided by Publisher)

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:

Banished from the Nevernever, this book flings its main character in an interesting chain of events not only to get her back into the world of Fey but to propel her into battle against the false king who is taking over the Iron Kingdom and poisoning the other worlds. I couldn’t get enough of this book. I read it nice and slow so that I could savor every conflict, every moment.

It is no longer a mystery to the Summer and Winter courts that Megan and Ash were telling the truth about the Iron Fae. Now they are summoned back to the Nevernever to bring down the new, false king. There is a lot going on inside and outside of Megan. It’s intriguing to watch.
Megan Chase has grown and changed, in book 1 she flung herself into conflict without thinking. In book two she accepts help from others, enemy or not. In book three, she must learn about her opposition before leaping into battle and make educated decisions. She’s still head strong, but not to her detriment.

I am beginning to like the relationship between Megan and Ash. Things really start to develop in this third book. Where in book 1 it may have all been physical attraction, then in book 2 maybe they liked the surface level stuff about each other, now in book 3 we get down to the nitty-gritty and they still love each other. Baggage and all. Now that’s love! Yay!

RATING:

I’ve been rating each of these books at a 4. But this book really hit the mark. I didn’t know what to expect, and it really let my imagination fly. There are more new interesting characters to meet, more new places to see, more new conflicts to resolve in this book. I have to rate it at a 5. Excellent! Worth Every Minute! Highly Recommended. This series has now made it to my favorites list. You rock Julie Kagawa!

And to compare this to my other favorite series: Twilight had grown more and more outlandish the more books that came out. But this one gets more and more interesting and exciting.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

I’d recommend this book to those who love fantasy and to those who don’t know if they like fantasy yet. It’s the second series I’ve ever read in this genre and worth every minute invested in this story. If it were a movie it would be rated PG-13. Minimal language, no sexual stuff—only implied stuff that makes your heart skip.


SERIES REVIEWS:


Book 1: THE IRON KING
      Novella: Winter's Passage
Book 2: THE IRON DAUGHTER
Book 3: THE IRON QUEEN 
      Novella: Summer's Crossing
Book 4: THE IRON KNIGHT
      Novella: Iron's Prophecy (not yet reviewed)
Book 5: THE LOST PRINCE (not yet reviewed)
Book 6: THE IRON TRAITOR (new in Nov 2013)