The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Iron Queen
(The Iron Fey Book #3)
by Julie Kagawa

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Paranormal Romance

Review on behalf of Dark Fairy Tales

In less than twenty-four hours I'll be seventeen.

Although, technically, I won't actually be turning seventeen. I've been in the Nevernever too long. When you're in Faery, you don't age. So while a year has passed in the real world, agewise I'm probably only a few days older than when I went in.

In real life, I've changed so much I don't even recognize myself.

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.

The star-crossed lovers of this tale, Meghan and Ash, are trying to adapt to their new status of being exiles from Nevernever as well as working on their budding relationship. Yet, they quickly get dragged back into a bloody war while at the same time discovering Meghan's father for the first time in years. With the fairy world slowly being destroyed, Meghan cannot foolishly divide her time between her two existences anymore. And with a power that truly scares her, Meghan realizes she must face her destiny, finally choose sides, and learn what 'sacrifice' really means.

I fell in love with this story from Book # 1 since it was/is a pure fantasy mixture of the classic 80s movies Labyrinth and The Princess Bride - all with a fun modern twist. Now with the dark war between the fairy kingdom ensuing, add some of the fighting sequences from Lord of the Rings/Narnia to the mix as well. Meghan is no longer the young naive half-breed daughter of a legendary fairy king, known as "Princess" to most, but is now a tougher version ready to face a world where she accepts there will be no easy answer to things.

I really wanted to like this book and get caught up within the story again, but sadly I felt there were parts that seriously dragged and others that I desired to skip all together. Maybe it was that the fairy world is no longer 'new' and exciting to me anymore since Book #1 or maybe the spicy relationship triangle factor was toned down some from Book #2, but overall . . . I just wanted more from the tale. I wanted Meghan to fight harder for Ash, I wanted her to not shy away from her unknown powers, and I wanted a story that captivated me throughout.

Though some characters remarkably stood out for me (i.e. Glitch), others were flat annoying (i.e. Gremlins!) and I found myself disliking the story more and more with their every appearance. In the end, The Iron Queen is truly a heart-wrenching tale of love and loss (and I shed a tear here and there) but as a whole, I would rank this book as my least favorite of the series. During those rather slow parts, I was even secretly rooting for Puck to step up as new 'boyfriend' material OR something tragic to happen to Ash *gasp* but that wishful thinking wouldn't pan out so well for THE IRON KNIGHT (Ash's Story) up next!

Likes: NEW ORLEANS! Woo-hoo!

Dislikes: Nasty gremlins! Ugh!

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