Thursday, September 20, 2012

Review: Iron Fey Series

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. 

Alrighty then, I think it's safe to say that this is the first series review Ya Novelties has ever accomplished!!!  Whoot whoot!  Yes, yes, for those of you that are already familiar (and in love) with this, you might know that there is, in fact, a fourth novel of the Iron Fey series. * Gasp!*  Yup.  It's called the Iron Knight, and it is also (quite expectedly) written by the amazing author Julie Kagawa.  Aaaand why didn't I include it in my fabulous review?  Well, ma chère, it's because I haven't read it yet. * boos and hisses* Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I'll get to it. * Looks off into a faraway land* Yes.... s o m e d a y.

How can she hold that smile for so long?  It's magic!  Magic I tell you! 

Onto the review.  This will obviously be an overall review, so that will mean spoilers.  Don't worry, I'll warn ahead of time for those who do not enjoy spoilers.  I'll try to keep clean of any secrets. 

Now, let's start off with the characters. 

CHARACTERS - OK, even I have to admit--this series may be a bit cheesy, but I tell you, it's good! 

OK.  I've read the summary of Iron King.  The first thing that comes to mind is LOVE TRIANGLE.  Yup, there is one heck of a love triangle in this story.  It's the usual cast of characters - the one clumsy girl that'll save the day, the cold-hearted-cool-but-so-hot-in-an-attractive-sense-prince boy, and the cute-funny-I-don't-want-him-to-get-hurt-in-that-love-polygon-gosh-darn-it best friend. 

Key to the Stereotypical Charcters:

Clumsy Heroine = Meghan Chase

Cold Prince Dude = Prince Ash

BFFL of Heroine/Funny Guy = Puck

Although the characters may be (really) stereotypical and cliché, you WILL fall in love with the characters.  Their personalities are quirky and funny, and really quite human (well, if you ignore the fae part).  I truly enjoyed reading about Meghan.  I loved reading and watching how she matures and grows mentally and physically in this story.  My favorite book in this series would be the second part of Iron Queen.  That is the part of the series where you can truly see how much Meghan has grown as a person and fae. 

As for the classy love interests, I have to say, I was sooo on Team Puck.  Well, actually.... now that I think about it...I think that I liked both Ash and Push so much, that I decided to be on Team Meghan...oh, I don't know!  All I can say is that I definitely wasn't disappointed in Meghan's choice.  Poor Meghan.  If I had to choose between Ash or Push, I would be so lost!  I wouldn't know who to pick! 

STYLE -

I really love Julie Kagawa's writing.  Kagawa is one of the few YA authors that can write a book that I won't ever want to put down.  Usually, Kagaway writes through the character's eyes, which my favorite style.  I love how Kagawa can capture what a character is feeling, thinking, and perceiving the world around them in a way that seems to be so effortless.  Her writing flows and is easily understandable that it's like Kagawa plops you right into her own fantasy universe.  Not to mention, Kagawa always plans the perfect joke at the right time! 

The whole series is written as though through Meghan's eyes, except for the last book, Iron Knight.  That book is the adventure of Prince Ash, and is narrated through him. ( Unfortunately, that's all I can tell ya without giving away key info....) Honestly, with the Iron Fey series, you can really stop reading after Iron Queen. ( Hey, that's what I did, and I'm here giving you a review of what I thought of the "whole" series.) 

PLOT -

As I said earlier, the Iron Fey really isn't to be enjoyed for its originality or uniqueness, because you WILL find that there are many cliché/stereotypical/predicted things in this series.  I mainly enjoyed this series because it was a mix of everything I liked.  Fantasy, action, well-timed humor, love triangles, awesome kick-ass heroine, and 2 loveable guys that weren't total jerks/creepers to the heroine *cough**cough* Edward. 

OVERALL -

Overall, if you hadn't guessed, I really enjoyed reading this series.  Personally, I don't think it's necessary to read the fourth book, which was really, it seems to me, written for the hard-core fans out there.  I was perfectly happy to stop after reading #3. 

I gave this series a 4.5 because I felt some should be taken off for its lack of originality in some parts.  Other than that, this series was perfect. 

I loved the characters, their personalities, the cute plot, the great and forever amazing Puck and Ash, and of course, Kagawa's amazing writing prowess.  The Iron Fey series is definitely one of my all time favorites and it could be yours, too, if you gave it a chance.  So as they say....

I still haven't finished the first book of this series.  I really like the characters and the plot, but I ended up putting it down and never had the time to pick it back up.  I have read Kagawa's upcoming Iron Fey spinoff though.  And it was awesome!  And, best of all, you don't really need to have read (or finished) the Iron Fey series to enjoy it! 

Truth be told, I didn't like the first one at all.  I had a hard time reading it, and I just never found myself picking it up.  But I still decided to give the series another try and read the second, which I fell in love with!  I can't wait to see what the third and fourth one have in store! 

I totally agree with you.  Unlike Rosie, I thought this series was a little iffy at times.  It has its high points and its low, but overall it's a great series.  You should definitely the third and fourth soon.