*Spoilers*…The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa…*Spoilers*

So I very much-loved The Iron Fey Series. Thus my month-long Tuesday reviews of the entire series…even those novellas…I was pretty proud of myself running through the whole text without giving away too many spoilers. But, Oh, the restrictions of keeping my beans contained! It’s like being given chocolate cake and just having a bite a week…No chance to savor the whole slice that is The Iron Fey.

Well I’m off the No-Spoiler Wagon my friends. The beans are being spilt…

Shield your eyes…

Read no more if you’d like to keep the mystery that is Ash intact…

Without Further Ado…My Thoughts

*Spoiler Alert*

Ash’s Dream-Real-Fake Life

Oh my gosh, stop my bleeding heart. While I was reading this section all I could think of was how adult Kagawa played it. She held nothing back…Ash had this bittersweet life. True, he got to be with Meghan and his son, but he also experienced old age, jealousy, etc. And still he chose that life. Even I was wavering after that trial…but Ash just stuck with it. He felt such love and longing for his former/fake/dream life that he’d do it all again, knowing he’d be doing it as a human rather than a fey.

The human in me appreciates the potential sacrifice Ash is making. Loved him for it. And I don’t know that I would have been that strong…

The Puck Situation

My heart aches for Puck. ACHES. He’s a good guy, really he is! But he gets totally shafted in this series. No supernatural Jacob/Reneseme ending for this guy. Throughout the series he’s been a stalwart friend, even to his enemy, and a faithful lover of Meghan. Yet, at the end of this series Puck is still in love with Meghan, he’s formed a bromance again with Ash…There was a fleeting moment in which I thought he might get a shot with the back-from-the-dead Ariella…but nope, he’s still alone!

Seriously…anyone else screaming for a Puck spin-off? One in which he gets the girl? Maybe the glory too? Give Puck a chance! lol. I feel as though this is the only lose end I see. Puck’s story just didn’t feel complete. I’m just not quite sure how he moves on with it all…

The Ex-Girlfriend

WTF?! Did anyone else see Ariella coming back from the dead? Not even recently back from the dead…she’d been alive (sorta) the whole time!

What about her ghost dancing in the flowers? What was that? Color me baffled.

Again I give props to Kagawa for playing this all in a very adult way. Ash spends a lot of thought choosing between his lost dream of Ariella and his new relationship with Meghan. Kagawa fleshes out this situation in such a real way that there were times in which I thought Ash just might choose Ariella. I was nervous, I was kinda angry, and then once Ariella did all the right things…I was kinda sad. Ok, really sad. Weepy sad. Maybe they shoulda given her to Puck…Just saying…

The Lack of Meghan

I think this made the book strong, and yet at times I felt like something was missing. I know, bipolar much?

I guess I loved this book because it was just Ash’s story. His voice was strong, and one that we didn’t see too much of in earlier books. I think the single voice made the story powerful. It harkened back to legends of a time long past. A time before multiple narrators and dystopian-teen-fiction. Loved it.

But like I said. There was some part of me that missed Meghan. I wanted to see her view. Her thoughts and worries for her love. Her reaction during Ash’s real-life-dream-life. Every previous book has shown her P.O.V. and I missed her. I think because we never heard from her it kinda felt like she was too busy ruling to think about Ash. And while I know it’s not true…I just got a sense of that ever now and then. Anyone else?

*sigh*

Maybe I’m just sad it’s all over. True, this was one of the best endings to a series I’ve ever done. I felt really satisfied that Ash and Meghan’s story was complete. Except for my hope for a Puck spin-off I’m quite content to let this faery tale rest.

But I’d love to keep rehashing…Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? I’d love to hear it 😉

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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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