The Iron Queen

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Released:
Harlequin Teen
ISBN13: 9780373210183

4.5 Stars/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
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.

The Iron Queen is thoroughly enchanting in every way; Kagawa seems to be able to find every possible heartwrenching method of drawing you even further into her magical fae world.

Remember how I mentioned in my earlier reviews of The Iron King and The Iron Daughter that Meghan kind of bothered me? Yeah, not anymore. Meghan matures beautifully from a girl into a strong young woman. But the progress is natural, and completely justified after everything she's gone through in the previous novels.

And Ash is even more swoonworthy than he ever was before. He's still Ash, and doesn't lose any part of himself that made him so attractive in the beginning, but there's a slight warmth and lightheartedness that wasn't there before. The relationship between Meghan and Ash is still complicated, but plausibly so. Summer and Winter together? It's obviously not going to be easy, and was never expected to be simple.

My biggest pet peeve was that Meghan was so honest about leading Puck on... but continued to do so up until a point. Just... give the poor guy a break already.

I was utterly entrhalled with The Iron Fey world and can I just say how much I adored the faery traditions? Particularly the one between a knight and his lady... sigh. It sounds lovely and truly romantic.

The theme of relationships is evident throughout the series, but particularly at this point in the series. Family, friendship and love are all valued very highly by Kagawa's characters and it's beautiful to see how these various relationships play out as Meghan navigates the Nevernever world. Something I really appreciated was how grave the idea of sex was treated. It comes up as an issue between Ash and Meghan as the sexual tension is building, but it's something they both treat reverently and don't barge into quickly. It really pleased me to see it treated that way, as something of a commitment between two people in a YA book.

The last thing that broke my heart as I was reading it was the revelation of Meghan's father. The thought of losing one's memories is something that completely terrifies me, and I know this was one part that really tugged at my heart strings.

I'm just really glad I waited to read this series until I had a copy of The Iron Knight on hand, because I really don't think I could handle waiting for more after the ending.