The Iron Queen 3 out of 5 star review

The Iron Queen (Harlequin Teen) by Julie Kagawa

This is the 3rd book in the Iron Fey series. I've read other fantasy/urban fantasy books that included magical elements and fey elements and enjoyed them immensely. For the most part, this book held most of the elements I like in fantasy - a well-created alternate world, brilliant characterization, battle scenes that come alive. Julie Kagawa did a beautiful job where all of that is concerned. 

I was very surprised that this book was the 3rd in the series - not because I missed much in the first two books, but that the main character was a weak, whiny female who had already beaten the odds in the earlier books and yet was still a wilting, weak character for a little over the first half of the book. She was continuously fainting, leaning on male characters for support and it was growing more tiresome with each page. I realize this book was published by Harlequin, but did they not get the memo that most people don't like weak female characters anymore? 

I persevered and made it past the first half of the book and was rewarded for my efforts by a climax that was brilliantly written, where the main character finally stopped being weak and dependent. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book - I have some mixed feelings about it. It was very well written, character development was done well, created world was imagined well. If only the protagonist wasn't a weak female for the first half of the book, then it would have been perfect.