Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

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...˝

(source: Goodreads)

Yes this is another 5 star book from Julie Kagawa. This is the third book in the Iron Fey series, and yes I finished this book in a day. I am not saying it´s strange for me to finish a book in a day since I am a really fast reader but that kind of reading is reserved only for really , really good books.

This will not be a spoiler free review, there will be some major spoilers ahead so you have been warned. 

MY THOUGHTS ( SPOILERS AHEAD ) :

First of all I just need to say one thing. I love, absolutely love Julie Kagawa´s writing style. I just don´t have the words to describe how much I love her writing. It is so beautiful and amazing .I wish all the writers would write the way she does. She makes this bond between you and her characters, like not many writers can make. Love it. Definitely will continue reading her books. She has become one of my favorite authors ever because of these books.

And now, about the story. I loved every part of this book, every single character  was written perfectly. I loved Meghan developing as a character. She has become so strong, and that was what I wanted after reading the second book in the series.  She was weak in Iron Daughter , a damsel in distress  and now she is the Queen, and not just by the title but with her personality and bravery.  

She has come a long way as a character. All the characters in this book did. I loved to see them all develop and sort of mature. 

Ash has become someone I really like and who I can see with Meghan. Much less moody than in the two books before. He is finally opening up to her and trusting her with her decisions even though some times it´s still hard for him because he is afraid of loosing her. One of the best moments in the book was when Meghan asked him to teach her how to fight and when he said that he was thinking the same thing. that meant he is finally starting to see her as his equal. 

Meghan and Ash´s relationship is finally that, a relationship  . When she asked him to be her knight I was so happy, and i could feel all the emotions of that scene. It was one of the most beautifully written scenes of the book. 

Puck has sort of come to terms that he will always be Meghan´s best friend but still in some of the sentences he says you can see he is still hoping to be something more in the future. I do love Puck, and I really want  some happiness for him in the last book. 

There are a few new/old characters in this book. I was happy/sad to see that Ironhorse has taken care of some of the things Meghan needed even though he died in the second book. As I said in my previous review he is one of the characters that I honestly never thought I would love as much as I do now. 

Grimalkin is here being sarcastic and sassy as always. I love when they are walking through the Nevernever to find the Iron King and suddenly Grim disappears ,and you know there´s something going to pop up . When he is gone there is always trouble. 

We meet Glitch , the first lieutenant of the last Iron King Machina . he is here to stop Meghan from going on a quest of finding the new Iron King because he is afraid that if the Iron King kills Meghan he would become unstoppable . I liked his character. I sort of imagined him to look like punk Puck. 

This story was so action packed . It had that sort of Lord of The Rings feel to it. I love when a story involves a quest because there is always so much mystery, unexpected events, and action.

A lot of events happen before the war against the False King starts. The Iron Fey rebels have grouped with Summer and Winter to defeat the forces of the False King. It was an epic battle , Meghan´s speech was inspiring, and I was able to picture her on that horse talking to the mass of Iron rebels  and them responding to her with their fists in the air. It was like watching an epic movie. 

Oberon and Mab were there controlling their forces  and fighting alongside the rebels. I loved the moment when Mab made a path for Meghan so that she could get to the False King´s fortress. I could have imagined Meghan´s face in that moment, because I had the same ˝What ?? ˝face as her.

When Meghan , Ash and Puck finally come to the fortress they learn the identity of The False King. It´s Ferrum . Old and angry man that Meghan met in the second book in the tunnels that were leading to the castle of king Machina. I sort of knew it was him already in the second book so that wasn´t that much of a surprise. What was surprising to me, and what eventually made me sob uncontrollably was when Meghan finally realizes how to control both the Summer and the Iron inside herself and when i realized what she was about to do. The moment when she lets go, and the moment when Ferrum hits her was when I had to put down the book. It was so emotional I couldn´t go on. And from that moment till the end there were just more and more tears coming down my face. 

And just when I thought I couldn´t be more heartbroken , comes that scene when Meghan says to Ash that she wants to go back to the place where all began, to the tree that grew when she killed Machina so she can transfer her powers to that tree , so she can save all Nevernever. And Ash says that  he is going to take her there, even though it was in the heart of Iron Realm and it could kill him. Puck says goodbye to her in his own Puck way, and Ash takes her away. 

When Meghan released Ash and used his real name to make him leave so she could save him, the moment before she thought she would die, I knew she was going to live and  then it really hit me. She send Ash away. she survived because the magic she send to the tree healed her and she was the Iron Queen now.

And then there was the council meeting where she was presented as the Iron Queen to Winter and Summer courts. Puck was there and was happy she was alive, but there was no Ash. 

In the epilogue she goes to see her family to tell them everything that has happened and to tell them she is not coming back for some time. When she starts to go back from the house she finds a dog, with a chain around his neck that tells her that this is a gift from Ash. She thinks she can sense him nearby but she doesn´t see him.

And at the very end of the book we get Ash´s point of view where he is looking at her and the dog while he is hidden behind a tree. And Puck is near him too. Ash is going on a quest to find a way to be with Meghan again and Puck is going with him to help.

This was the best book in the series so far. I have one more book to read and that is The Iron Knight and a few novellas to complete the series. 

I am starting to read Iron Knight today and I think I will read it by tomorrow. This is truly one of the best books I have ever read. I had so many emotions while I was reading this book it was unbelievable.   I recommend it to everyone. Even though you think you don´t like faerie  stories you will love them after you read this books.

Happy reading awesome bookworms <3