Book Review - The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa (Book Three)

Published: 2011 (Harlequin Teen)

Format: eBook (Kindle)

Pages: 358

Read: 11 January 2014






Description (Goodreads)

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

Once again I'm drawn into the story of Meghan Chase, Ash, and Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) and I am loath to put it down for too long.

The third book in Kagawa's series, it starts with Meghan and Ash now exiled from the 'NeverNever' (Fairy realms) because of their love. Unsure what to do now that  they're both in the mortal realms (considering Meghan can't really go back home with a former Winter Court prince in tow), Meghan determines to get her memories back of her father, which were taken in the first book, and rescue her father from Leanansidhe.

In order to do that, she needs to go back to New Orleans, to the Oracle who took those memories from her in the first place, and along the way meets Glitch and his host of rebel Iron Fey, eager to kidnap her and keep her safe from the false Iron King who has set his sights on conquering the NeverNever as well as on killing her. She narrowingly escapes of course, with the help of Ash and Puck, who appears again to help her out, but Meghan in the last two books has changed. She's been up against a lot of crazy stuff, and like all protagonists, she wants a way to defend herself. So starts her training with her magic, and a little sword-action in there too!

I quite liked this series. It's got a decent enough pace and because Julie Kagawa tends to write in an easy-going manner with enough action to keep you interested, the third book didn't disappoint in that respect. I've read other YA books with more character depth, and a little more tense action, but overall I enjoyed The Iron Queen. There's a lot of series that drift out after the first book, but I'm interested to see how this series progresses, especially as the next book is written in Ash's point of view.

I think I'll give three out of five of Puck's grizzly bear tennis balls.

Check it out on Goodreads