Review: The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa (Plus an Exclusive Q&A with Julie Kagawa!)

Title: The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey
Book #: 4
Pages: 361
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.51
Published: Oct. 25th, 2011
by Harlequin Teen

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.

Taschima's POV:

The Iron Knight was the cherry on top of the sublime journey that was The Iron Fey series. The Iron Queen is one of the most perfect and heart breaking endings. I loved how everything went down, but we all knew it couldn't end like that. We are romantics and while a sad ending like that might have been poetic we are all deep inside looking for that happy ending. That is what The Iron Knight is for, to give us closure and make us live happily ever after along with our favorite characters.

We have one adventure left. Ash made a promise to a queen to be beside her and protect her forever, and he plans to keep it. But for this he must journey to the end of the world, and back. He can't do this alone though, not that Puck would let him go at it alone. Puck, Grimalkin, and a third party who shall be left unnamed, will accompany Ash, because if he went alone, well, where would the laughs come from? We all need the bickering between Puck and Ash.

The best thing is that we get closure on so many different things, even things we didn't think needed closure. Ash and Puck's history comes back to bite them in the ass. But it does give them an opportunity to mend their friendship. Ash finally gets a straight answer on the whole Meghan issue. It was just so great! The only thing I would complain about is that for a minute there Julie Kagawa had me worried about Ash and Meghan's future. In a part of the book it shows you a possible future, and this part had me very very worried. I believe some pulling of my hairs might have occurred... But, as always, Julie Kagawa manages to surprise us once more and give us the thing we needed to be happy.

This book reflected Ash's personality in every way. It's dark and emotional. It answers so many questions about some of our favorite characters! And how everything was dealt with... so magical, so awesome!!

The Iron Knight isn't as epic as The Iron Queen was, but it gives the reader the closure we needed. It's more about Ash and Meghan and unsolved problems. It was just right. I loved it, and if you are an Iron Fey fan you will love it as well.

Goodreads Status Updates:

07/24 page 386 100.0%

07/23 page 360 93.0% ":D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D"

07/23 page 319 83.0% "It seems that no matter his choice his future will suck, I wonder what will actually happen..."

07/23 page 163 42.0% "That part was freaky and horrible, I hope that never happens, though it would make for a hell of a story."

07/20 page 83 27.0% "Whaaaaat!?"

07/20 page 60 20.0%  *Spoiler* "Learning more about Ariella. Hmm I seem to like her o.o she is very different from the cold heartless girl I pictured every time she was mentioned before." *Spoiler*

07/19 page 38 13.0% "Oh yes, that's my Ash, giving someone some well deserved ass kicking <3"

07/19 page 18 6.0% ""I will be with her again, or I will die. There aren't any other options.""

-Exclusive Q&A with Julie Kagawa!!!-

· Do you keep a glossary of characters so you don't get confused with all of the monsters and creatures of Nevernever?

            -Not really.  They sort of all live up in my head, and wow, that sounded schizophrenic.  Little known fact about authors?  We listen to the voices in our heads. ;-)

· Is Puck going to get his own book? Are you going to do any spin offs of other characters now that Ash and Meghan are together? Any chance for a novella of Ash and Meghan's new life together in the Iron Kingdom?

            -There is a spin off series in the works.  This time it's Ethan Chase, Meghan's younger brother, as the protagonist, and I'm sure there will be many a cameo, including the original four.  But that's all I can reveal at this time.  

· Do you try to incorporate what you learned in your kung-fu classes into your novels?

            -Lol, actually, I take Kali as well as Kung Fu, which is a Filipino martial art using sticks, swords, and knives.  And yes, it has been tremendously helpful in staging fight scenes.  Totally worth the "badges of courage" I bring home every so often.

· Your new series is a post-apocalyptic vampire series. That sounds really different from the Iron Fey series! Did you find it harder to write about vampires than feys?

            -It was very different.  I think the hardest thing to deal with was the fact that the vampire story takes place in the real (thoughpost-apocalyptic) world, and I have to have things make sense.  I can't just explain things with: "they got there through faery magic," lol.

I love this woman!! I can't wait for all her new books to come out, I'll be the first one in line for every single one of them!