Book Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Yes - Book #3 in The Iron Fey series.

Cover: This cover has my least two favorite things for covers. One, the color pink and two, a model in the front. 

Rating: 3/5 I had high hopes for book #3, but unfortunately, I still don't think the series is my cup of tea. Book #3 is MUCH better than Book #2, but it is still a 3/5 for me.

Previous Reviews: The Iron Daughter

Review: As usual, the first section will be spoiler free and the second half will be full of spoilers. You have been warned! No blaming me if you read something you didn't want to read. So, to my surprise, the Part 1 of the book was done very well. Part 2 was alright, but Part 3 just changed my review from a 4/5 to 3/5. Now, I love cheesy relationships, but I think Meghan's life is the epitome of cheese lol...

We're back to where we were left off in book #2. Summer & Winter vs the Iron Realm. Meghan is the only person that has a chance of saving the Faery world. Can she do it?! With the help of her dark, territorial, alpha prince Ash and her overly jealous friend Puck, the three go off to find a way to kill the False King. AKA a very basic story plot.

Now, even though I am bashing the book a bit, there are some good points in this book. For one, Meghan is a lot less useless in this book. She is able to stand up for herself and learns some awesome skills. She is still annoying though. Her mind is 70% occupied with Ash, 25% occupied with how to hate Puck and win him back, and 5% how to save the world.

In this book, we were also introduced to a couple of new characters as well. My personal favorite addition is Razor. Honestly, the bantering between Ash and Puck were always funny to me and the mess that Razor creates makes the book slightly better. Grim is still sassy as ever. This is one of those books where the supporting characters really (REALLY) support the main character. Without them, Meghan wouldn't be able to do anything. 

Besides Meghan being annoying as usual, her relationship problems annoy me. I don't like love triangles, but dear lord, the whole " I hate you Puck" and then 5 minutes later "I miss you Puck" annoyed me. I think in this book, she switched from hating and missing Puck at least three times. Part of me felt like Kagawa was adding all of this drama for the sake of having drama. There is no need to have a new emotional drama every 7 chapters. I would have preferred Meghan & Co. focus on the task at hand.

Not only is her friendship annoying, but her relationship is annoying too. Ash gets butt hurt over EVERYTHING. Meghan does X thing, but X thing is super offensive in Faery culture and Ash takes it to heart and goes sulking. Then Grim has to explain why X was a bad choice and then Meghan goes apologizes to Ash and they make up. This happened like seven times in the book. Hello Ash, Meghan has been a fairy for a little over a year, you can't learn an ENTIRE new culture within a year. Also, stop being so obsessive, let the girl do what she wants. 

I honestly don't know why I'm going to read book #4. Actually, I do. I am stubborn, and I hate leaving books unfinished. So, I'll be reading book #4 sometime in the future. I need a break from Meghan & Co. lol... 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This section is my rant section. I mean... I technically ranted above in my spoiler free section, but now I'll rant about the spoiler parts. As usual, this is my personal opinion. I know there are die-hard fans of this series. I'm not here to pick a fight, just stating what I thought :)

In the book, Meghan gets reunited with her biological father. She finds out that her father and mother were geniuses in music and art. Since faery people like the super talented, Meghan's parents were the center of attention in the faery world. One day, Oberon, the summer faery king, came down and did the deed and BAM! Meghan was born. Because Oberon is an unfaithful old geezer, his wife Titania wanted revenge and tried to kill Meghan's dad, Paul. Puck, hearing about Titania's plan, saves Paul by hiding him in Leanansidhe's territory. Meghan eventually find out that Puck "lied" to her for 10 years, says that he is the worst person EVER! *gasps*. Anyway, she forgives him like a week later. All I have to say about this situation is, MEGHAN, PUCK SAVED YOUR DAD'S LIFE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE PISSED AT HIM. Seriously, without Puck, your dad would have been turned into a daisy or something worse.

Then, we have Ash. Dude, you need to pick a girl. You can't just tell Meghan "I love you so much I would die for you" and then add "just like I would have done for Ariella." Seriously? Why do you talk about your ex so freaking much? Part of me feels awful for Meghan. She is living in the shadow of Ash's ex-girlfriend.

As for Meghan, all I have to say is "I told you so." Legit, Machina was trying to help you the ENTIRE time, but you kept pushing him away. Everything could have been solved eight chapters earlier if you would have just listened. Again, Kagawa added more filler drama that was unnecessary. If Meghan was just a tad bit denser, the world would have died lol...

Now, the cherry on top, the ending of this book. I think one of my biggest pet peeves in fictional works from books, movies, TV series, anime, etc. is when a character dies and comes back to life. This is just my personal pet peeve, but holy, Meghan ruffled my feathers. Not to mention, I don't even know what could the "enemy" in book #4 be. If Kagawa just killed Meghan and gave Nevernever peace, I would have given this book a 4/5. Maybe I just hate Meghan too much lol...

Favorite Line: 

Fairy godmothers didn't exist, and even if they did, they wouldn't wave a magic wand and make everything better. (Not without a contract, anyway.) Besides, I had something better than a fairy godmother; I had my faery knight, my faery trickster, and my faery cat, and that was enough. 

Top 3 Favorite Characters

Grimalkin - This cat is the sassiest cat I will probably ever read about. I love the condescending tone that he gives to Meghan. Without him, I don't think Meghan & Co. would have been able to progress as far as they did. Grim thinks about nine steps ahead of others and always have the answers that everyone needs. 

Glitch - I like this new guy. Although I barely know him compared to the other characters, I like his personality. He is loyal to his cause and doesn't give two cents about the love triangle.

Razor - I love Razor. Think of him like a goofy dog except made of metal. 10/10 would personally own a Razor.

Alright! That is the end of my review. Sorry it took a lot longer than usual for me to pump this review out. The next book I will read is Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi. Thank you to all who have supported me and read until this point :)