De ijzerkoning ; De ijzerprinses (The iron fey)

The Iron Fey #1-2

by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. But she never could 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 and stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…. 

The Iron Daughter

Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, Meghan is now prisoner to the Winter faery queen. And as war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows the real danger comes from the Iron fey—but no one believes her. Worse, Meghan's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone could be deadly…. 

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fae, Ebooks

766 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2013

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these first two books! ❤ I wanted to add so many fantasy pictures to try to show what I saw in my mind but it would take weeks to find that kind of stuff. If only I could draw =)



I'm going to do a short review of each book. Let it be known that I want Puck as my best friend only and I'm in love with Ash and I don't care what anyone else thinks =) Although, I have a million book boyfriends but that's neither here nor there.

The Iron King

I have a whole page of notes on this book that I don't even understand so I'm just going to muddle along and hope I get some of it right!

Meghan Chase lives with her mom, brother, dog (Beau), and stepdad. I was mad at what happened to the dog, I had to mention that. They all lived out in the sticks (which is a good place to live) but Meghan's stepdad wouldn't let her have things like a computer without dial up, cell phone, the norm.

**I guess I should say some spoilers will ensue**

Meghan does have a friend named Robbie that has been her friend forever and a day. Turns out he's really Robin Goodfellow (Puck) who is from the Seelie Summer Court sent to watch over her all of these years.

Well, it seems now that she's at the ripe old age of what? 16, she's starting to see things. Turns out she's part human and part fey princess. Her dad is King Oberon of the Seelie Court. All kinds of cray starts happening and Meghan's brother Ethan gets stolen and taken to the Unseelie court, or so she thinks. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Puck takes her to Nevernever to find Ethan and bring him home. He tells her this is going to be a very terrible place for her and they might get killed but onward they go.

Holy crow! This world is packed full of everything! Satyr's, Dryads, ugggg, I can't list them all. It's just a wonderland <--- No pun intended. Accept when things are trying to kill and eat you then it's not so wonderful. But I mean the whole book is just rich with beautiful scenes and splendor and some blood and guts and handsome dudes and what not and so forth.

Anyway, Meghan meets her father and it's a little much to take in but there you have it.

Oh and before they get to the Seelie Court, Meghan gets to meet a certain cat named Grimalkin who reminds me of another certain cat in another story =) He helps Meghan out when she gets separated with Puck. But in this realm you have to make deals and contracts with everything and you better watch what you say.

Anway, back at the Seelie Court Meghan is trying to settle in and wrap her head around things and freaks out a bit when she looks in the mirror and she has the pointy ears =) She also finds out she has some pretty cool powers.

Then the Unseelie court comes for a visit and we get to meet Ash, although he was trying to kill Puck earlier so Meghan had already seen him before.

She spends some time with him through-out the book and falls in love. But she does that dumb arse kissing Puck stuff once in awhile in both books. I'm like like ew, just stop.

Then they find out that the Iron King has Meghan's brother Ethan! And the Seelie and Unseelie court are like, who the hell is the Iron King? We know of no such person. Welllllll, he's the reason your world is dying. Yep, their world is slowly dying. AND just being around any of the Iron people can kill the other groups. Iron is deadly to them, with the exception of Meghan, she's just too cool for all of that Iron can kill me stuff. (I did want to smack her and some other people several times, but I still love her tenacity to help others)

Meghan makes a deal with Ash to come with her, Grim and Puck to save her brother Ethan from the Iron jerk. This involves getting something from a dryad that can kill him because nothing else can.

We go on a whirlwind adventure and things happen for the good or so you think.

Either way I loved the first book!

The Iron Daughter

So in the first book, Meghan made a deal with Ash that if he helped get her brother back home, she would go back to the Unseelie court with him. His evil old mother Queen Mab wanted to have her because she is resistant to iron and just because she's an arsehole too that I didn't like one bit.

Ash acts like an arse to Meghan too but he doesn't want his mother to find out that he's in love with her because she would kill them both or banish them or who knows what.

Note: Some evil beings in the book killed a wolf and a unicorn. I think they should be blown up for that act alone. Or ripped apart would be better. Now, back to the review.

Nowwwwwwww, we have Iron Horse coming out of the woodwork. He was a horse or dude when he wanted to be that was with the Iron King. But when The Iron King was killed, some fake person took over and Iron Horse wanted Meghan's help to try and set things right. And on we go on another adventure with the crew. Ash almost gets himself killed in this one but Meghan saved him.

They had to get him to a healer though and that was so much fun. She cracked me up the whole time. Then they were all going off to a party to try to get the sceptor back. Crap! I forgot to mention the sceptor That is the reason Iron Horse came back around was because the sceptor was stolen from the Unseelie Court and one of the Winter Princes and his wolf was killed. This sent Queen Mab into a rage and she blamed it on the Seelie Court and started a war. She wouldn't listen when Meghan tried to tell her the Iron peeps were back and they stole it. There is some other bad stuff that happened but I won't say.

Back to the party. (I'm going to quit reading two books in one because I'm all over the place worse than I normally am!)

They are getting ready to go through a portal or a thingy (I forgot what they called it) from the nurses house. She gets onto them to behave.

I didn't miss the subtle look that passed between Ash and Puck, either. Ash kept his expression carefully blank, but Puck's mouth twitched with a faint smirk-one of his dangerous ones-and his eyes narrowed a fraction.

The nurse must have seen it, too, for she clapped her hands briskly, and I jumped about three feet in the air. "May I remind you three," she stated in a no-nonsense voice, "that even though this is a party, we are there for a specific reason. We are not there to spike the punch, seduce humans, glamour the food, challenge males to a fight, or do anything pertaining to mischief. Is that understood?" She shot a piercing glare at Puck when she said this, and he pointed to himself with a wide-eyed, who me? look. It did not amuse her. "I will be watching you," she warned, and even though she was barely four feet tall, white-haired, and shriveled like a prune, she made the threat sound ominous. "Do try to behave yourselves."

Needless to say, some people died that I didn't want to die and other things were set to rights and other things were not. I can't even imagine what's going to happen in the next book but I hope it something good because even though it was a good enough ending, there are still things pending that need to get done and I'm not sure how they are going to do that!

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this series. It was dark and romantic and beautiful. The characters were complex and brave. They make the best available choices. The world was kind of scary but definitely somewhere you want to go in your fantasy book mind. There was a unique take on the effects of all of today's technology on our imagination. A beautiful dark fairy tale with lots of light too. Ash, one of the male leads had the best lines of any hero of any book I have EVER read in the third installment of the saga-The Iron Queen. Just to get to those lines was worth the read. Highly, highly recommended to all who love YA paranormal romance and Fey in particular. Like I do! :) And even though it's YA it's a mature story. Not sex mature... just complex characters mature. I'd recommend this to my teenage nieces and any age up from there. Happy reading!

[Cari]

This is a good series. It's funny, fast-paced, action-packed and strong in the romantic department.

Warning: The comments below may contain spoilers!!



The "Iron Fey" series features two things that I don't think are quite common in the fantasy YA world: a protagonist that fully embraces her power and a love triangle that does not dominate the plot. In fact, it dissolves into the background in a very nice way. The end of book 3 was oddly satisfying: tying loose ends and leaving some room for the imagination to fill in the gaps. In that sense, it was refreshing.

However, at times it felt like the battle scenes and descriptions went on for longer than they should have. The fourth book rambles quite a bit and feels like a novella that was turned into a novel by just adding fillers. My suggestion for book 4 is not to read it immediately after book 3. I think I would have enjoyed it more later on, as a way to revisit the series.

Now that all is said and done, Meghan and Ash are a very cute couple but Puck and Grim stole the show. :)

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first book in the series but the second was really disappointing. I didn't like Meghan and I definitely didn't like Ash and I also didn't like their hot and cold romance. I liked Puck and Grimalkin. They were the only characters that I actually liked.

First book revolves around Meghan finding out that she is the daughter of the king and how she belongs in the faerie world.

Second book revolves around Meghan and Ash's romance and very little about anything else. Meghan just cries and cries and cries some more over Ash.

Not a bad series but not the best either.

3 and 2 stars respectively.

[Monica Laurette · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT DON'T BE SHY AND JUST READ THIS IT WILL BE THE BEST DECISION YOU EVER MADE IN YOUR LIFE.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit heeft echt een eeuwigheid geduurd maar het is eindelijk gedaan! Yes Yes Yes. Dit boek was te cringe. Ik denk dat ik te oud begin te worden voor deze boeken. Maar eerlijk ik vond het leuk. Dit is gewoon super makkelijk te lezen. Een perfect boek om uit een reading slump te komen. Ook hou ik zo veel van elfen. Damn, I wish I was one.

2.5 sterren van mijjjj :))

[Paolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo libro vale 3.5 e forse poco più.
Non è male, assolutamente, e questa edizione mi è piaciuta tantissimo.
L'unico problema è che non sono riuscito a farmi coinvolgere pienamente nelle vicende, e soprattutto non mi sono affezionato ai personaggi. E poi abbiamo un inizio molto affrettato, già al capitolo quattro il lettore immaginava tutte le vicende, e riusciva benissimo ad azzeccarle tutte o quasi.
Molto prevedibile, anche se abbastanza piacevole. Una scrittura fresca e per niente difficile, mi è piaciuto molto questo lato.
Consigliato per chi vuole allenarsi con l'inglese e magari leggere un fantasy niente male, seppur qualche pecca.
E per favore, abolite i triangoli amorosi, grazie.

[Teig G · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't horrible, and not sure if this would be much of a spoiler, but it was hard to get through because the romance fell flat for me between Ash and Meghan and every chapter it felt like all she did was cry a lot. There isn't anything wrong with that, per say, probably just a regular ol' human reaction, but it made it hard to get through and predictable.

I loved the concept of the book, with the iron fey being born and all that, but that was the only thing that kept me going, to find out more information and see where it could unfold. I did enjoy most of the characters and the dialogue, but for me it isn't my favourite story telling of faeries.

[Alexa]

I already own my copies of The Iron King & Daughter, but somehow, I want this because of reasons.

It's like I have an obsession with The Iron Fey

[TrinBrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the storyline! I was not expecting the book to be this good.
The only thing I would like to change is how Meghan Chase always lets people fight and defend her. I felt through out the book that Meghan liked when people fought for her. She is annoying at times like when she knows that Ash is going to pretend that he doesn't know her in the winter court, but to her stupidity, she thought he hated her, and was planning to make her love him from the beginning.
He literally told her right before they went to the winter court that emotions were a weakness, and she thinks that he is going to show his emotions in front of everyone that he loves the summer court princess that everybody else hates.
You may be asking why I gave this book such a high rating for all those big issues. Well, even though I cringed every SINGLE TIME Meaghan said something stupid, I loved the rest of the main characters and the storyline that went with it.
If you have read "The young elites" you will understand when I say Ash is just like Enzo, but at the same time totally different. Ash and Enzo have both lost the person the first loved. The only difference between the two is that Enzo has Fire powers, and Ash has ice powers.

Puck. Puck is probably my ultra favourite character in this book. He is what keeps the book going when it gets a little slow at times. I don't know why, but I like the on going, never stopping feud going on between Ash and Puck. Puck is the all-time trickster/prankster of the summer fey.

This is probably one the best fantasy books I have ever read.

[Jami M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two books in this volume, The Iron King and The Iron Daughter. I enjoyed Book 1 and some of Book 2. This is a very young series and highly readable. I don’t have much to say other than I like the world of the faery and reading the part of the book that took place in the winter court totally complimented my winter world.

Overall a good series for middle school readers.

[Liberty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!!! Loved it!

[Toula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the audio love the performance

[Patti Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much. It is literally the series I go to when I'm having a rough time and just need comfort books. They are fabulous books and I can never get enough of Julie Kagawa!

[EA Solinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since Holly Black released her Modern Faerie Tales, countless tales of teenage girls who discover their connection to the fae have been published.

Most of them are pretty generic. However, "The Iron King" and "The Iron Daughter" may be two of the rare few who even comes close to Black's urban fantasies -- Julie Kagawa's first two novels are filled with hauntingly lyrical prose and a likably down-to-earth heroine. Even better, she weaves some rare, unique faeries into her world.

In "Iron King," Meghan Chase discovers that her brother Ethan has been replaced by a malevolent doppelganger. Her friend Robbie Goodfell informs her that Ethan has been kidnapped by the Unseelie Court and replaced by a changeling -- and in her quest to save her baby brother, Meaghan will discover the truth about her long-absent biological father. And to save Ethan, she must venture into the realm of a new king of fey -- the Iron Fey.

"The Iron Daughter" sees Meaghan imprisoned in the icy court of Winter, due to a contract she made to save her brother. Even worse, Prince Ash is suddenly treating her... well, frostily, and his brother Rowan is messing with her. But when the Iron Fey kill the crown prince and steal the Scepter of the Seasons, suddenly Summer and Winter are about to go to war -- and the only person who can stop it is Meaghan.

"The Iron King" starts the series off pretty well, most of which is Meaghan trying to get her brother back and dealing with the mysterious forces of the Fey world. "The Iron Daughter" turns the fey romance/fantasy into something much darker, introducing blood, torture and treachery into Meaghan's story.

Kagawa's exquisite prose is why this book stands head-and-shoulders above most other faery tales -- she laces the story with hauntingly lovely scenery and luscious descriptions ("Will-o'-the-wisps and globes of faery fire drifted between them, sending shards of fractured light over the walls and floor"). On the other hand, she inserts some moments of pure horror ("... his face blue and wrinkled, his lips pulled into a rictus grin").

And the faery world she creates is suitably "rich and strange" -- while it's hauntingly beautiful, everything there is deadly. The Winter court is icy, glittering, savage and unforgiving as a blizzard. But with the idea of "iron fey," she also adds something new to the genre: faerie creatures who are based on modern technology.

Meghan is a fairly average teen girl in the first few chapters, getting mocked at school and struggling with a crush, but she blossoms into a very strong, capable young woman after her brother vanishes. She does seem to wilt in the second book, where she cries more and doesn't seem freaked-out enough. However, she perks up somewhat when the story picks up.

We also have the required love triangle. Puck is a deliciously mischievous sidekick who knows how way through some nasty situations. And the chilly yet passionate Ash has some lovely chemistry with Meaghan, and his subplot has a twist that is both wrenching and romantic.

"The Iron Fey Volume One: The Iron King\The Iron Daughter" combines Julie Kagawa's first two strong, ethereal fantasy novels -- and will leave readers anticipating the outcome of Ash and Meaghan's story.

[Marie Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third reading of the whole series, because it’s so good. I picked up the first one just to read a few chapters and ended up spending the whole day reading it. Love the interactions between Puck and Ash more than anything else. The series kind of stalls for me when it moves to Meghan’s brother, Egan.

Still the best Faerie series I’ve ever read, although happy for suggestions :)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julie Kagawa is a fantastic author; I started with her newest (at the time) writing, the Blood of Eden series, and I have been working through the rest of her repertoire. The Blood of Eden series is still her best work, very raw and less angsty. Her newest series Talon tries to balance that out more, but the Iron Fey series certainly falls more into the standard angsty two love interests cliche than the other series I've read of hers. Despite that drawback though, she always writes well and gives real depth to the fantastical worlds she creates as well as the characters in them. I love the tie in with Shakespeare (and I could swear the Labyrinth movie offered some inspiration as well) and the fey world's clash with our love for modern gadgets/technology. If the reader looks hard enough, they can see the layers she created in this alternate world. Worth the read, even if you are tired of the overused two love interests plot.

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terribly written. The story is okayish and because of who I am I cannot help but want to finish the series. It is interesting if predictable. There are serious syntax errors though that should have been edited out. There are story issues as well. At one point Ash calls Meghan to get her attention and then two pages later he says her name again and Meghan thinks "this is the first time he called me by my name" uh...two pages ago he also called you by your name... There are half a dozen issues like this. But if this book is on the best sellers list, then there is hope for other iffy authors like myself.

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is A LOT of plodding narrative in this series, but there is also more than a fair degree of entertainment. Seems like the sort of story that would be 1/3 better if it were 20% lighter. Hence three not four stars. Somebody get Ms. Kagawa a copy of The Last Unicorn as an example of what I mean. Having said that, this is a series I will most certainly continue with, since, well, it is free at the library and I'm invested enough in the life and times of Meghan Chase to want to continue. Whether this is a series I shall finish? Open question.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the plot line of this book and how the main character coped with everything so well. She didn't panic as much as i would and received lots of help. Although, most of the time i would say she is pretty stupid. The romance is okay but i still am upset with how fast it developed, once again. Of course, the settings were amazing as well as the characters. I loved how this author added in Puck because he is one of my most favorite mythical creatures. Besides the norm i would say this book is pretty good but not amazing. Could use a little work on plot line.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this series as I'd won The Iron Traitor in a contest and had read that this series should be read in order. This book contains the 1st and 2nd books in Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series so it was a perfect start for me.

I have left individual reviews for each of the books in this book... I will just say here that I LOVED them! This is an epic tale! IF you love YA fantasy, pick up this book and start on your own flight of imagination with Julie!

5 STARS!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I've read a bit heavier books recently, so I thought the whole book was a bit slow, but I really enjoyed the storyline. I can't wait to read the second part/book.

UPDATE: So I think I liked the second one more than the first one! I'm not too fond of how much Meghan is attached to Ash and she falls to pieces everytime he breaks up with her. But I do like the overall story line. I can't wait to find the other books and read them too!

[K.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't dislike this book, but the world of the fairies apparently doesn't intrigue me as much as I thought it would. The ridiculousness of some of the characters certainly lends itself to this world, but I couldn't get invested. Puck was a highlight, but he was only in about half of the book. I don't think I'll continue with the other novels, but if you're big into these types of tales, this seems to pull a lot of inspiration from the classic stories.

[Mackenzie Bohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my where do i even begin? I love this series and have always wanted to own it so that i can read it again and again. it is so cute and is full of action and romance. It has been a while since i last read it but i am still remembering how much it is still in my mind. This is one is those series that you can read again and again. Is it possible to give it more stars?

[Lauren Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this volume from Goodreads! Yay! I never win anything, so I was so excited to get this. I had already read The Iron King and The Iron Daughter and was delighted to read them both again. I love the entire series. I really like how they pulled the first two books in this series together into a volume. I can't wait to collect them all!

[Ibedamnd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was a harlequins romance when I started reading this book... It was an adventurous book, and it was good entertainment... But I could have done without all the romantic scenes. It was an okay read, but it didn't really excite me enough to want to hurry and read the next book in the series or anything.

[Madeleine S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa was a really good book. I love that it's in the modern world and in the Fey world. I like how all the characters are all sort of crazy and different from each other. I especially like Grimalkin the were cat. I love how he knows just about everything, but he doesn't tell anybody unless he gets something in return.

[Sharon Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of parts of this I liked, and even though you are fighting in a world of fae, and never land creatures, some parts that I thought were just overly rediculous. This entire story so far reminds me of the movie "Never Ending Story." I'm going to read the 2nd book, but it better get a little better than the first one.

[Lauren]

The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1) - 2 stars
I thought this book was really hard to get through and I didn't really end up liking the characters, especially the main girl. The concept of the story was interesting but I did not think that it was executed very well.

Not finishing series

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads contest. It had a completely different vibe than what I was expecting. It is Labyrinth meets Returns to Oz meets The Neverending Story. Somehow it works really well.