Title: The Iron Queen The Iron Fey #3)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 2010

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 358

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library; A to Z Title: I

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.

Warning: Tread carefully if you haven't read The Iron King and The Iron Daughter. 

What a way to end the trilogy!  I was on the edge of my seat the entire book.  It opened with a bang and ended with a bang.  Constant action, or at least movement.

The book focused more on the war between the realms than the romance between Meghan and Ash.  Thank goodness!  I got very annoyed with the romance angle in the second book.  Kagawa redeemed the love story by focusing more on the larger world than the inner insecurities of Meghan.

The return of Machina and Ironhorse, albeit not in physical form was a nice touch.  I loved how Kagawa paints these characters are evil when we first meet them.  But over the course of the trilogy we come to see that not everyone is black and white in this world.  These characters had/have certain redeeming qualities.  It just took us and Meghan a while to notice them.

The title of the book alludes to what happens in the end.  Not that I minded the foreshadowing.  I figured at the end of book one that Meghan would become the Iron Queen.  It makes sense.  Yet, when it happened, I was still surprised.  Her transformation was wonderfully done.  Congrats!

I've heard that there's a fourth book coming, The Iron Prince, focusing on Ash's story.  Obviously at the end of The Iron Queen we get a bit of a teaser about Ash's new adventure/quest/suicide mission?  I'm definitely putting it on my TBR list with an asterisk.  (That means I really want to read it soon!)  Great trilogy,  Great world, Great characters!

I don't usually do this, but I had to share with you one my favorite lines from the book: "I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at the skeletons again, fingers interlaced in death as they had been in life.  And I wished that, for once, faery tales--real faery tales, not Disney fairy tales--would have a happy ending." (page 38)

The Iron Fey

• #1 The Iron King
• #1.5 Winter’s Passage
• #2 The Iron Daughter
• #3 The Iron Queen
• #3.5 Summer’s Crossing
• #4 The Iron Knight
• #4.5 Iron’s Prophecy
• #5 The Lost Prince
• #6 The Iron Traitor
• #7 The Iron Warrior