Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Book Review: The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa




Title: The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publishing Date: October 25th 2011
Length: 394 pages
Genre: YA fiction, fantasy, romance
Source: Netgalley

Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing.

Unless he can earn a soul.


To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale.

And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Summary by Goodreads 





“My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl.”

Guess who is talking?

 “I was Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn, son of Mab, former prince of the Unseelie Court, and I was not afraid of a witch on a broom.”

Exactly! Our favourite ice prince, Ash. And we are lucky enough to name him our narrator, too. It is unusual that the first three books were narrated by Meghan and the 4th and last instalment in the THE IRON FEY series is told from Ash’s point of view. Nevertheless it is awesome to finally be inside his head and know what’s in his heart. Ash always felt like a withdrawn character to me with inscrutable thoughts and feelings. Now that we get to slip into his head I love him even more than before. Ash’s story is definitely one that deserves to be shown on the big screen one day!

Ash is so strong on the outside, in THE IRON KNIGHT we see him as emotional and vulnerable as never before. He has to sort out his friendship with Robin Goodfellow, the feelings for his lost love Ariella that somehow still seem to be a part of his present emotional life and to find a way to be with his queen Meghan.

From all four books in this series this one seems like the book which had the most powerful spell on me. Numerous references to popular fairy tales and encounters with mythical or just miraculous, creepy or strange creatures, supported by the excellent and creative writing by Julie Kagawa, fuelled my imagination and made THE IRON KNIGHT such an awesome read.

As this last part of Ash and Meghan’s story is told from Ash’s perspective and his probably grandest quest is the centre of attention in THE IRON KNIGHT, we don’t really get to read about what’s happening to Meghan during that time. That fact didn’t bother me at all, because Ash’s story is probably much more exciting than hers in this part of THE IRON FEY series.

Our friends Ash, Puck, Grimalkin and two other very special fellow travellers are great together. They are on a constant travel, come through so many different areas and visit numerous new cities and characters that the story never even gives you the slightest chance to rest. The settings and little adventures our group experiences were definitely to my like. I love everything about this book. The witty, funny and teasing verbal duels as the dark and dangerous obstacles a love has to overcome are what make this story such an extraordinarily grand read.





1) of the prince with the strongest will in the entire Nevernever
2) of a cat that knows how to make a great entrance
3) of best friends forever
4) Julie Kagawa found the best team to send out on a quest of epic proportions
5) of the biggest adventure of all 





5/5 ***** THE IRON KNIGHT is a magical & mythical read with glamorous and unforgettable characters around the heart-melting ice prince, cheeky Robin Goodfellow and the tough iron queen.

Adventures of epic proportions and the journey to the depth of your heart await all fans of prince Ash and his friends! 






* Haven’t started with THE IRON FEY series yet? Read it now!

* Have a look at Julie’s newest book, THE IMMORTAL RULES, coming out April 24th 2012.

* Read an excerpt of THE IRON KNIGHT

* You can read a deleted scene from THE IRON KNIGHT here

* Click here to read An Iron Fey Valentine. 

* Read the love letter from Meghan to Ash here

* Click here to watch the book trailer. 

* Visit www.juliekagawa.com for further information about Julie Kagawa and her books.

* Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for giving me the chance to review THE IRON KNIGHT!

 

3 comments:

  1. Gosh, The Iron Fey series. I seriously need to reread them some day. They were so, so good. And the last one, with Ash as our narrator! It was definitely impressive to see things through his eyes. I wouldn't have minded a tiiiiny bit of more romance, but Julie Kagawa and her creepy monsters kept me entertained!

    Now we only have to wait until Fall, I think, with Ethan's story. Maybe we'll still see some of TIF characters, although I'm dying to know Ethan's own role in that world! :D

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  2. There are no words to describe what this series does to me. I am so freaking in love it's not funny. Julie Kagawa wove an epic tale here that is missing nothing and yet has everything a readers heart desires. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and I cried so many time during this series... also not funny... :)
    Glad you loved this series as much as I did!!!

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