*Copied over from Bloggers[heart:]Books*I don't do the faery/faerie/fairy/fey/etc. thing. There was one time a year ago where I did all the research and character charts but never actually sat down and wrote the book. My interest in faeries pretty much went no further then my love of Tinkerbell, which had flared up at the time I decided to write that novel. But between the fact the author and I share the same name (okay, Julie's not my ACTUAL name. But pretty much everyone besides teachers call me Julie), the GORGEOUS cover, and the whole plot about finding her brother, sucked me in.'What about brothers?', you may ask. A very good question. I'm 15, just a little younger than Meghan in this novel. My brother is 5. The idea of my little brother being kidnapped really hits a chord and makes it even easier to relate to a very good character. (/end personal notes)Now, the actual book.I. Am. In. Love.This book has plenty of romance, and honestly, I'm not even sure which I guy I prefer. Do you know how insane it is that I DIDN'T pick a guy? No, I picked Grimalkin. When you read this, you will (hopefully) see why I'm Team Grimalkin. And I'm kind of hoping somebody will MAKE a Grimalkin because I would most definitely buy it.In fifth grade I had a very small role (I don't even remember her name...it sounds something like Hippo though) in A Midsummer Night's Dream. For those unaware, this is a Shakespeare work that features many faeries, including Oberon, Titania, and Puck. In The Iron King, you get to revisit them. I didn't know that until I began reading and was pleasantly surprised.I'm going to have to leave with this one final note or this review will become super spoilery: The descriptions of the faery land made me think a lot of Alice in Wonderland. Not the traditional one, more of a Tim Burton one...if Tim Burton was a bit more sane. I don't know if that's just me on my Alice cracked brain (I was, again, in a play version of this and I'm seeing it in theaters next month) but I really liked it. It almost made it easier for everything to be seen in my head.The only *real* downside in this book was the ending. I know I say this a lot, but the ending seemed kind of rushed and I really wish that Julie would've fleshed it out more. With the pacing of the novel, it did flow well, but I would've liked to see more before everything went BOOM. The "me-being-whiny" downside, is that the sequel doesn't come out until August and I have to wait until then to read it because I'm not that cool. (Although, I did just read the Acknowledgments and her mentor and I share an actual name. That's kind of cool, right?)
