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ari_nicoleee's review against another edition
5.0
Wowowow this book has really blown me away. I love the cross references of real life and the mythical life and the author truly knows how to write a book! I cannot wait to continue to read the rest of this series!
veraann's review against another edition
3.0
***3.5 STARS***
Usually the series that have books about fae thrown in them make the fae bore me. This book was interesting. It was typical fae realm with a twist. The end left enough open for me want to read more of the series to see what happens next. There were a couple parts that started to drag for me, but then picked right back up. Since I am usually not a reader of the fae books, but this one kept me interested enough to finish and want to read the next book Id say I enjoyed it. Not quite a 4 star for me, but close.
Usually the series that have books about fae thrown in them make the fae bore me. This book was interesting. It was typical fae realm with a twist. The end left enough open for me want to read more of the series to see what happens next. There were a couple parts that started to drag for me, but then picked right back up. Since I am usually not a reader of the fae books, but this one kept me interested enough to finish and want to read the next book Id say I enjoyed it. Not quite a 4 star for me, but close.
boo_the_ghost's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a solid read! Great if your just looking for a fun romp around the fae courts with magic shady deals and a cat that is pretty much my icon.
yulie's review against another edition
1.0
Gosh, this book had so much promise. I admit, I've never read a book dealing with faeries before and so I was quite enamored... at first, anyway. The deal with the faeries and everything quickly became repetitive and predictable. We get it! Don't make deals or give your name or thank faeries if you don't want to be in a world of trouble! What does the protagonist do? Well.
Don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate that faeries and creatures of the like are tricky and mischievous, and quite enjoy that element. What I didn't enjoy was the female protagonist, Meghan, being completely hopeless and idiotic about her situation, running off all willy nilly and going against every piece of advice given to her. It was really infuriating.
It was also a complete mystery to me why she fell in love with Ash out of the blue and barely cared for Puck, who clearly gave her more attention, had her best interests at heart and was described as quite charming and handsome anyway. Her attraction to Ash was just so... arbitrary.
Meghan Chase is essentially a useless 'damsel in distress' main character, and none of the relationships or characters in this book are really fleshed out. Meghan wants to save Ethan? Sure, that's great, but we don't actually get any good glimpses of WHY Meghan really cares about Ethan. They could've done a lot of building here, I thought, but it was just "I have to save my brother," coming out as a plot device every now and then, and during other scenes she didn't even think about her brother and spent her time being completely attracted to Ash for no. good. reason. I get that he's hot, but he tried to kill you and continues to threaten to kill you, and you suddenly ignore all that and the advice of your best friend and just fall in love with him anyway even though he has shown you no redeeming qualities except for his handsome appearance? Genius. Her sullen rebellion towards Oberon was really annoying to read, too. There's a line between being stubborn for the right reasons and just being moronically rebellious just so the lead character is 'tough' and 'brave.' Additionally, it's a complete mystery to me why anyone would listen to Meghan's plans when better alternatives are offered at every turn. She is a selfish lead who facades under this 'I'm so good, I'm just trying to save my brother!' plot point, and it is completely infuriating when she uses this and endangers not only her friends and 'love interest', but also THE ENTIRE FAERIE COURTS. Seriously. Someone should tell Oberon about the Iron Fey, right? Nope.
A lot of scenes included are also a little useless or just caused the book to drag out unnecessarily. I get that Meghan is in a world of danger here, but it got to a point where I was skimming the pages to skip what should be exciting scenes of action, danger and tension... only to turn the page and be confused because suddenly the last scene was resolved and the characters were simply thrown into another troubling situation without much consequence or thought to the first. A lot of the scenes in the book don't matter. For example, Meghan working in the kitchens for a few days doesn't matter at all, and added nothing to the plot except a boring read and Meghan earning 'grudging respect' from a supposedly tough task-giver, which is truly a tried cliche.
I really wish this book didn't fall flat, because I thought it had a lot of promise. The story ended up being flat and the premise slightly ridiculous towards the end. Humans don't imagine anymore and that is why Nevernever is fading lately? Really? Humans *aren't imagining anymore?* Okay. And how long has iron been in existence?
I'll cut it short here, because I could go on about inconsistencies in the book, useless plot points and the shallowness of the characters for quite a while. Definitely wouldn't recommend this book.
Don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate that faeries and creatures of the like are tricky and mischievous, and quite enjoy that element. What I didn't enjoy was the female protagonist, Meghan, being completely hopeless and idiotic about her situation, running off all willy nilly and going against every piece of advice given to her. It was really infuriating.
It was also a complete mystery to me why she fell in love with Ash out of the blue and barely cared for Puck, who clearly gave her more attention, had her best interests at heart and was described as quite charming and handsome anyway. Her attraction to Ash was just so... arbitrary.
Meghan Chase is essentially a useless 'damsel in distress' main character, and none of the relationships or characters in this book are really fleshed out. Meghan wants to save Ethan? Sure, that's great, but we don't actually get any good glimpses of WHY Meghan really cares about Ethan. They could've done a lot of building here, I thought, but it was just "I have to save my brother," coming out as a plot device every now and then, and during other scenes she didn't even think about her brother and spent her time being completely attracted to Ash for no. good. reason. I get that he's hot, but he tried to kill you and continues to threaten to kill you, and you suddenly ignore all that and the advice of your best friend and just fall in love with him anyway even though he has shown you no redeeming qualities except for his handsome appearance? Genius. Her sullen rebellion towards Oberon was really annoying to read, too. There's a line between being stubborn for the right reasons and just being moronically rebellious just so the lead character is 'tough' and 'brave.' Additionally, it's a complete mystery to me why anyone would listen to Meghan's plans when better alternatives are offered at every turn. She is a selfish lead who facades under this 'I'm so good, I'm just trying to save my brother!' plot point, and it is completely infuriating when she uses this and endangers not only her friends and 'love interest', but also THE ENTIRE FAERIE COURTS. Seriously. Someone should tell Oberon about the Iron Fey, right? Nope.
A lot of scenes included are also a little useless or just caused the book to drag out unnecessarily. I get that Meghan is in a world of danger here, but it got to a point where I was skimming the pages to skip what should be exciting scenes of action, danger and tension... only to turn the page and be confused because suddenly the last scene was resolved and the characters were simply thrown into another troubling situation without much consequence or thought to the first. A lot of the scenes in the book don't matter. For example, Meghan working in the kitchens for a few days doesn't matter at all, and added nothing to the plot except a boring read and Meghan earning 'grudging respect' from a supposedly tough task-giver, which is truly a tried cliche.
I really wish this book didn't fall flat, because I thought it had a lot of promise. The story ended up being flat and the premise slightly ridiculous towards the end. Humans don't imagine anymore and that is why Nevernever is fading lately? Really? Humans *aren't imagining anymore?* Okay. And how long has iron been in existence?
I'll cut it short here, because I could go on about inconsistencies in the book, useless plot points and the shallowness of the characters for quite a while. Definitely wouldn't recommend this book.
beaktastic's review against another edition
5.0
I was looking for something quite quick and easy to read on train journeys when I went away for a few days, before starting a group read the day I would be getting back. I was able to download a .pdf file of this book months ago and it's been sitting on my kindle waiting to be read since and so I decided now was a good time. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of it but I have to say I was wonderfully surprised by the book.
The Iron King tells the story of Meghan Chase, who is just approaching her 16th birthday. She lives on a farm with her mother, step-father Luke and 4 year old half-brother Ethan. Meghan has never felt particularly popular or wanted, and vainly hopes that turning sweet 16 will change that. It does, but not in the way she expected. On her 16th birthday, Ethan starts acting wierdly, and Meghan discovers that he has been replaced by a magical creature called a Changeling, and Ethan has been kidnapped and taken to the Faeryland, known as the Nevernever. Meghan then must embark on a journey to find and rescue Ethan, aided by long time friend Robbie who already knew that Faeries existed, and she learns a lot more about herself than she ever suspected...
I have to say, I haven't really read many books about Faeries, so a lot of the story and the world felt quite fresh to me, while at the same time obvious thanks to what I have read and know about traditional fey lore. The whole world felt so real and was just so well thought out. I liked they used the common idea of gaining strength from the publics belief in the characters and how that strengthens or weakens the fey..
What I really loved about the book were the characters. I thought Meghan was a good main character. She acted like a fairly typical 16 year old girl, but I liked how she grew stronger and smarter and how she adapted to the Fey world over the course of the book, and as it is narrated from her POV you do really learn about her and her personality. Robin was a great 'sidekick' type character. He's just a perfect, funny, witty sidekick type character who always looking for a bit more fun. He was just great, Grimalkin was also great, your typical quiet but intelligent guide and teacher character, and essentially the Cheshire Cat.
Ash was a good love interest character, and you could see why Meghan liked him, which was refreshing when a lot of YA Literature these days can be quite lazy as to the relationship building between the love interests, since the audience knows they'll just end up together. But you could feel the attraction between them.
Overall, I thought this was a really good and interesting book, and it felt quite fresh whilst using and building upon basic faery lore and stuff. It was a lot better than I was expecting and I look forward to reading the next books in the series.
The Iron King tells the story of Meghan Chase, who is just approaching her 16th birthday. She lives on a farm with her mother, step-father Luke and 4 year old half-brother Ethan. Meghan has never felt particularly popular or wanted, and vainly hopes that turning sweet 16 will change that. It does, but not in the way she expected. On her 16th birthday, Ethan starts acting wierdly, and Meghan discovers that he has been replaced by a magical creature called a Changeling, and Ethan has been kidnapped and taken to the Faeryland, known as the Nevernever. Meghan then must embark on a journey to find and rescue Ethan, aided by long time friend Robbie who already knew that Faeries existed, and she learns a lot more about herself than she ever suspected...
I have to say, I haven't really read many books about Faeries, so a lot of the story and the world felt quite fresh to me, while at the same time obvious thanks to what I have read and know about traditional fey lore. The whole world felt so real and was just so well thought out. I liked they used the common idea of gaining strength from the publics belief in the characters and how that strengthens or weakens the fey.
Spoiler
And I liked how this played into the creation of the Iron fey, and how they were born from the dreams of future technology and stuff, as it wasn't an idea I'd ever really thought about beforeWhat I really loved about the book were the characters. I thought Meghan was a good main character. She acted like a fairly typical 16 year old girl, but I liked how she grew stronger and smarter and how she adapted to the Fey world over the course of the book, and as it is narrated from her POV you do really learn about her and her personality. Robin was a great 'sidekick' type character. He's just a perfect, funny, witty sidekick type character who always looking for a bit more fun. He was just great,
Spoiler
and while it was very obvious early on that he was some kind of Faery creature/person, I did not expect him to be revealed as Robin Goodfellow, aka. Puck! I liked this kind of portrayal of Puck, but I remember Puck being kinda different to how he is here...Ash was a good love interest character, and you could see why Meghan liked him, which was refreshing when a lot of YA Literature these days can be quite lazy as to the relationship building between the love interests, since the audience knows they'll just end up together. But you could feel the attraction between them.
Spoiler
I didn't really like the love triangle part between Meghan, Ash and Puck, as I thought the Puck x Meghan thing was a bit weird and I just thought they would be better as friends or have a more brother-sister relationship. It was obvious that Puck kinda had feelings for Meghan but it did just annoy me and it felt a bit tacked on to create tension and drama and slow down the developing relationship between Meghan and Ash.Overall, I thought this was a really good and interesting book, and it felt quite fresh whilst using and building upon basic faery lore and stuff. It was a lot better than I was expecting and I look forward to reading the next books in the series.
vanikr's review against another edition
5.0
Plötzlich Fee ist ein wirklich schönes Buch. Ich finde diese Feengeschichte wurde super umgesetzt. Ich liebe die Figuren, besonders Maggie und Ash. Ich habe Ash von Anfang an geliebt. Ab und zu bin ich ein bisschen abgeschweift, aber irgendwie liebe ich Sommernacht trotzdem und ich will jetzt unbedingt den 2. Teil lesen, weil ich wissen will wie es mit Ash und Meghan weitergeht.