Review - The Iron King (Julie Kagawa)

 Synopsis

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.                                                                        -Goodreads.com

 My Review

As a child, I had an obsession with the movie ‘Labyrinth’ needless to say; it is still one of my favourite movies to this day.  So when I read “The Iron King” I was immediately thrown back into a similar narrative of the movie. In saying that, the storylines are very different, but there’s definitely a feel to the book that is reminiscent of the movie. A teenage girl’s younger brother is stolen by the Faery/Golbin King, and she has to travel into the Faeryland/Goblin kingdom to save her brother before time runs out. 

Elements of Midsummer Night’s Dream and Alice in Wonderland are also present, with Grimalkin the ‘cat’ as a guide to Meghan during her adventure in the Nevernever. Kagawa is able to take this mash-up and create a thing of beauty, which is fast-paced, full of adventure, danger and budding romance.

Unfortunately ‘The Iron King’ doesn’t have David Bowie in tight fitting pants *Mmm*...but it DOES have Ashallyn' darkmyr Tallyn aka Ash, with his dark mysteriousness, and stoic nature, and many other interesting and well developed characters.  

Kagawa did a fantastic job of creating the world, and the different fey. Overall this book was a great fast-paced adventure, just sadly with fewer dance numbers...

My rating: 4/5

For those of you who have not seen Labyrinth before, or are too young to know of it (your missing out) here’s a sneak peak: