Review also posted at The Wandering Fangirl.

I've been getting into lots of fae-related books lately (two books from my last library trip are fae stories), and I really enjoyed The Iron King. It's a great romp through well-known fairy tales with a dash of wonderland thrown in, and I especially loved the sorta steampunk addition in the iron fae. At times I felt the story went a little too fast, at the expense of our heroine Meghan. She does some selfless things (going to save her brother, making deals to make sure she can), but ultimately the book ends up being cycle after cycle of Meghan stumbles into danger, someone bails her out. I enjoyed Robin Goodfellow (though I prefer [a:Rob Thurman|121825|Rob Thurman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1310421838p2/121825.jpg]'s much more adult take on the puck) and Grimalkin, similar to the well known Cheshire Cat. What I didn't particularly care for, and what bothers me in most genre YA, is the romance being slotted into the book. It felt out of place for Meghan suddenly falling for someone in the span of, what, two days? Three? (I lost track with all the action going on.)

There's enough good about The Iron King to make up for the issues I have with it. I'm not particularly rushed to get the next book in the series, but I'll eventually pick it up because I did enjoy the world Julie Kagawa has built.