Book Review: Iron Crowned (Dark Swan #3) by Richelle Mead

Summary: 
Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…


Review: 
I'm really enjoying this series.  Richelle Mead has done a great job creating this urban fantasy series, with complex characters, great plots, surprising plot twists, and of course, a love triangle.  My only complaint is that I have to wait for each book to come out.  I really love it when I can read an entire series back to back!

Comparisons between the Dark Swan series and Vampire Academy are inevitable, at least for me.  How can I not compare Adrian the royal Moroi and Dorian the fairy king?  Even their names are similar!  One huge difference between the two series is that Dark Swan is adult while Vampire Academy is YA.  Richelle Mead's adult novels have some pretty hot and heavy scenes in them, and Iron Crowned was no exception.  I find that too much of that cheapens a book for me.  I prefer reading about love and the depth of a connection.  I love when characters take most of a book to finally get together.  It makes the relationship mean more to me.

Even though I really like this series, I don't like Eugenie.  Something about her doesn't sit well with me, and it's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is.  I think it's the mark of a great author to make me like a book when I don't like the main character.

I think that Iron Crowned was the best Dark Swan book so far.  There were a lot of plot twists that I didn't see coming, and Mead has thickened the plot, which makes me think that book four will be even better.

At the end of the day, though, reading any of Richelle Mead's other novels besides the Vampire Academy series is like eating an apple when I really want chocolate: just not enough.  I can't pick up a book by Richelle Mead without getting "hungry" for Vampire Academy.  I have to really talk to myself to make myself give her other books a fair chance! 

Appropriate for a younger audience: 
No

 


1 comment:

  1. Girl aren't you suppose to be resting instead?? ;P

    You're still a lean mean reading machine with reviews that continue to blow my mind.

    Adding this one to my wish list.

    PS I've looked into getting the box set on the J R Ward's Brotherhood series. My hubby is going to kill me... but ahhhh c'est la vie ;)

    PSS Doing giveaway of Meyer's latest Twilight Official Illustrated Guide... I know you love Twilight... so come on by and sign UP!

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