The Iron King/Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey, book 1); young adult, fantasy; 363 pages

When I picked up this book, I had a few simple expectations:  I knew this book had won a RITA, so I was expecting a stand-alone book with lots of swoony romance, that I could ready quickly and move on.  I didn't bother to read the back of the book, or maybe I would have known better....

Meghan Chase has never felt like she belonged, either at school or in her own family.  She has Robbie, her prankster best friend, but he's the only person who's ever paid any attention to her.  But, on her sixteenth birthday, Meghan's baby brother is kidnapped, and Meghan must travel to Faery to save him.  *coughLabyrinthcough*  Along the way, she learns that Robbie is actually Puck (yes, that Puck), and that she's the daughter of King Oberon of the Summer Court.  Her unique tolerance for iron makes her a valuable asset in Faery, and soon rival courts are fighting for her, while Meghan is just trying to stay alive long enough to find her brother.

On that note, I found it unbelievable that she had lived to the ripe old age of sixteen, given the general cluelessness Meghan exhibits for most of this book.    She's ridiculously slow to pick up on the rules of Faery, and she had to be told some things multiple times before she gets them.  And no, I don't mean things like not saying "thank you;"  I'm talking about the location of her kidnapped brother.  I might have let all that slide (this is a first novel), but the "romance" pretty much put me over the edge.  Puck is the guy I singled out from the get-go as the romantic lead; he's already in love with Meghan, and he's generally awesome in a non-Edward Cullen way, so point to Kagawa for originality.  Then, halfway through the book, Puck gets chucked to the wayside so Meghan can fling herself at the Supernatural Stereotype:  the conflicted Unseelie Prince with emo hair.  Did I mention this prince is actively trying to kill her when she falls for him? How messed up this that???

I rode out this book so I could count the pages, but this is the first in a trilogy (why did this win a RITA, again?), and I don't think I could make it through another two books of this, unless it's to see what happens to Puck.