The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆☆ [5]
Release date: Feb. 1, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: paperback
Source: bought
Pages: 363
Series: Iron Fey (#1)
Challenge: --
Summary: 

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 have never 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.

Wow, this book is amazing. It was fast-paced, with hardly any slow moments or downtime in between all the action. Not to mention that the story itself isn't flowery or just driven by love like other faerie books might be - this one had some pretty gruesome elements in it, and a couple of the descriptions of the different characters actually frightened me a bit. The plot was also pretty unique in comparison to most other faerie books. It just made sense, and fit in with the world that Kagawa created.

Meghan got on my nerves a little bit, especially in the beginning. There were several times when she had to be saved by somebody else, because she either wouldn't move out of the way or she didn't know what she was doing. Towards the end, though, I began to like her a lot more, because she actually began to fight for herself. She still had a few "damsel in distress" moments, but I learned to ignore it.

I LOVED all the characters. Puck was pretty awesome, and he had a lot of really funny lines. And I really don't know what to say about Ash, the main love interest. He's just amazing. Really. He's definitely high up there on my favorite characters list. The other few side characters, even if they didn't have a big part, were all very interesting and different. I actually don't think there was a character that I disliked.

The ending of the book had me dying to read more. Now I can't wait until I get my hands on The Iron Daughter!