Summer’s Crossing (Iron Fey #3.5) by Julie Kagawa

The final book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey Series comes out Tuesday October, 25th. Each week until the release date I’ll Book Talk and Review a book in the series…including those novellas!

I’ve become addicted to the series, so whether this is your first time with the books or you’re eagerly awaiting The Iron Knight‘s debut, a little trip to the Nevernever is good for everyone!

Without further Ado…Summer’s Crossing

BookTalk

Ash and Puck are on a mission. Ash has granted one too many favors during the course of the series. Someone was bound to collect…

Queen Titania and Leanansidhe have a long-standing feud. One that forced Leanansidhe into her own kingdom of the in-between. Two very beautiful and very powerful women, determined to fight over any crumb they can find.

Enter “The Violin” A beautiful instrument Queen Titania has stolen from Leanansidhe. Obviously, Leanansidhe wants it back…And she wants it back now. Leanansidhe sends Ash into the realm of the summer court to retrieve the instrument capable of making such glorious music.

Puck is Ash’s best bet at retrieving “The Violin”. But can Ash trust Puck to fulfill his end of the bargain?…Can Puck remain stalwart to an old friend? or will he fall prey to the perfect crime; expose Ash and Puck gets Meghan all for himself…And neither of them saw that “The Violin” was never really an instrument at all…

Review

I’m reviewing this book after having read the final book of the series. So my view on why I liked this novella is a little different. You see, looking back on the read, I find that the best part of this story is getting to see the relationship between Puck and Ash. This continues into The Iron Knight, but having such a focused story centering around just the two characters really exposes the intricacies of their relationship.

I think at times I forget how close Ash and Puck once were. We see peeks into this past in other books, but here we get a taste of how much they once enjoyed working together. Best Friends in the fullest sense. These boys had fun! They pulled pranks, they fought, and hunted, and fell for the same girl (again and again apparently, lol). It’s just so sad to think that they lost that…

And then we have Puck…and Puck’s issues. In the novella you get the feeling Puck is hiding a lot of deep emotion behind the facade of wit and sarcasm. And I honestly couldn’t blame him for considering feeding Ash to the Lion that is Queen Titania. It would solve all of his problems. No more rival…Meghan would be all his…a perfect storm of double-crossing. And, much as I like Puck, I don’t think he’d have a problem carrying off the lie that it was all an accident.

This was such a well done preview of the final book. Even though technically you don’t have to read the novellas to enjoy the main books in the series. I suggest this one as the perfect background to make the reading of The Iron Knight that much more enjoyable.

Rating: 4.5/5 Action packed novella exposing the history of the most famous Faery Bromance

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The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3) by Julie Kagawa

The final book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey Series comes out Tuesday October, 25th. Each week until the release date I’ll Book Talk and Review a book in the series…including those novellas!

I’ve become addicted to the series, so whether this is your first time with the books or you’re eagerly awaiting The Iron Knight‘s debut, a little trip to the Nevernever is good for everyone!

Without further Ado…The Iron Queen

BookTalk

“My name is Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.” (from Goodreads)

Meghan and Ash have found love. They’re banished from Faery and attempting to go at it alone…in the realm of the mortals. Though both are giddy with their newly free and established love both knows their story isn’t done yet. The Iron Realm is growing, still poisoning the Nevernever spreading sickness and disease faster than the fey can combat it. Meghan is their only hope. The only person to have taken down the Iron King once. Now he’s calling for her…The Iron King haunts Meghan’s dreams. She’ll have to learn to fight her own battles or lose more than the world of the Nevernever…Meghan will forfeit her own life.

*Minor Spoilers*

Review

I think I was a little frustrated at Meghan that she didn’t immediatly tell someone about her Iron King dreams. Obviously they mean something…something vital. And yet she shares them with no one till the book is almost complete. As a reader I felt frustrated with this, though Grim is always around to explain that all will be learned in due course and that everyone has to learn it for themself. Blah, lol, can’t the cat just tell us everything we need to know?! But then I suppose we wouldn’t have this enjoyable series of books…just a few pages of monologue from the cat…

I was happy to see that Leansidhe was still good to Ash and Meghan. She could have turned on them when they came to her kingdom of the inbetween with nothing. And yet, she helped them. I like that about Kagawa’s books…you’re always finding aliances in the most unlikely areas. Its fun to see all these creatures who shouldn’t be friends help eachother. The Fey’s point of view is such a cold and manipulative one…I like that their actual actions betray the ability to become moral or “human” at times.

I loved when Meghan was asked to save the day by the Summer and Winter Fey. Just to see her have that much power. Loved it. Also, it was obvious that Ash and Robin desired to go back to the Nevernever. Besides the fact that I knew when I started the series that there were more books than just the three, Ash and Meghan just seemed sort of stuck in the inbetween. No real life to lead on either side of the paranormal line. While it was nice to see Meghan making breakthroughs with her father, it was definitely a situation that couldn’t last forever.

The ending. Oh, that ending. And Meghan and Ash, the vow…oh the vow. I don’t want to major spoil these two points for anyone. But how lovely they ended up being. Such a wonderful set up for the fourth book. This third started out a little slow for me. But I was really digging it’s ending.

Rating: 4/5 Shucks, the vow, the ending, the blending…good stuff.

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The Iron Daughter (Iron Fey #2) by Julie Kagawa *Spoilers*

The final book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey Series comes out Tuesday October, 25th. Each week until the release date I’ll Book Talk and Review a book in the series…including those novellas!

I’ve become addicted to the series, so whether this is your first time with the books or you’re eagerly awaiting The Iron Knight‘s debut, a little trip to the Nevernever is good for everyone!

Without further Ado…The Iron Daughter

BookTalk

Meghan Chase has returned to the Nevernever. She must fulfill a bargain made to a Winter Prince…The Winter Prince she’s fallen in love with. But Meghan’s about to find that the infinate time of the Faery and their prejudice between the Summer and Winter courts is all but insurmountable. The Ash she followed into the Wyldewood is not the Ash who delivers her to Queen Mab and the Winter Court. The Winter Prince turns so cold that “Frosty” would be considered a lustful term.

Soon a lost love, a royal assassination, and a dash through the terrible Briars will deliver Meghan on another chase of the Iron King. Alliances with unlikely fey and a relationship Meghan should think better of serve only to bring her closer to her Destiny…

Review

*Spoilers*

Finally Meghan shows a little spunk! I mean, the girl apparently has powers beyond belief, we know that she’s super loyal and empathetic…but there have been times in these books that I’ve just wanted her to stand up and shout “Listen to Me!”. And she did. She took Mab down a notch. Meghan, Ash, and Puck have saved the day in each novel and yet no one gives them any credit for it. When Meghan is in the middle of that battle field, hanging on her last strings I’m happy she finally lets her feelings fly…great scene.

Of course that show of strength doesn’t last long. Ash admits to loving Meghan and though he’s the last of the Winter Princes. The only one still true to the kingdom he’s ousted because he fell in love with a girl who is equally trying to restore peace. Seriously these faery’s annoy me! Can’t they just let the love go and thank these two for trying their best to save the day. What is equally as shocking is that Meghan follows Ash out into exile. She’s been working so hard in the Nevernever and throughout this book she’s shown a few more romantic sentiments to Goodfellow…Even though I don’t like the love triangle I wasn’t sure she had reached the point of blindly following Ash into exile. I guess I was wrong.

Obviously, with two more books to go in the series Meghan and her band of faery boys are not finished with the battle in Nevernever…But I’m sincerely hoping that Puck finds himself a new love interest. I don’t like the love triangle in this series at all. There just isn’t enough draw from Meghan to Puck. And my heart hurts thinking of the day that Puck will finally realize that Meghan is never going to go for him. It’s all just a little awkward and I honestly don’t understand the attraction to Meghan. One guy…yes, Multiple guys…no.

What keeps the reader going is Kagawa’s plots. They always fill in like a cobble stone path, never what you expect but a perfect fit. The Winter Dance right when the human hormones were needed. Iron Horse joining the good guys and staying so loyal. Heck, even Leanansidhe not double-crossing anyone and doing her part to save the day. Was anyone else surprised at how cool and not so scary she ended up being?

And yet I am filled with questions at the end of this book. Is Meghan really the potential Iron Queen? If she is, how will this fix the troubles of Nevernever? How will she and Ash still manage to stay together? How will Puck deal with it all? And serisouly…will we ever figure out Grim’s part in everything?

Rating: 4/5 Because the ending really is that good

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Winter’s Passage (Iron Fey #1.5) by Julie Kagawa

The final book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey Series comes out Tuesday October, 25th. Each week until the release date I’ll Book Talk and Review a book in the series…including those novellas!

I’ve become addicted to the series, so whether this is your first time with the books or you’re eagerly awaiting The Iron Knight’s debut a little trip to the Nevernever is good for everyone!

Without further Ado…Winter’s Passage

BookTalk

“My name is Meghan Chase.

If there are three things I’ve learned in my time among the fey, they are this: don’t eat anything you’re offered in Faeryland, Don’t go swimming in quiet little ponds and never, ever, make a bargain with anyone.”

Meghan Chase is following the mysterious Winter Prince Ash through a passage to the Winter Kingdom. She made a contract with this man, a man who’s cold exterior warms her in ways that could be fatal to a Summer Princess. Their attraction could mean death for both of these royals. While not yet a full-blown romance their feelings for one another will only be encouraged by this journey…While the relationship seems to be headed in a hopeless direction, the couple won’t have to worry about its repercussions if The Hunter catches them first…

Review

I liked this novella. I think I liked it more than Kagawa’s first book in the series The Iron King. I was pared down. Far simpler in its fairy tale scope than the first. It could be that I was already familiar with the characters and their story plots. But I liked that the hunter was our main focus and that places and creatures we’d already met were glossed over. I wasn’t overwhelmed with creature and place descriptions like I had been in the novel.

What I liked about this little teaser of a story was it made me realize some mad respect for Kagawa’s knowledge of fairy tale history. I took a few classes in college on fairy tales and what I’ve always loved about this type of literature is its history. How cultures spread far and wide still came up with so many similar tales and characters. When the big bad wolf says

““I am Wolf. I am older than you, older than Mab, older than the most ancient faery to walk this realm. I was in stories long before the humans knew my name, and even then they feared me.”…”I am the wolf at the door, the creature that stalked the girl in the red hood to grandma’s house. I am the wolf who becomes a man, and the man who is a beast inside. My stories outnumber all the tales ever told,…”” (34, ePub ed.)

I was so inspired by this quote. It is amazing to think of all the tales we grew up with…how far back they truly reach. I think that in this tale of passage to the Winter realm of the Unseelie I truly began to respect the spectrum of lore Kagawa is honoring. And the tale does just what it’s supposed to. It whet my appetite for the next book in this series and gave me a view of a legendary character that does deserve some respect.

Rating: 7.5/10

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