Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa + Giveaway

Book Description via Goodreads:

361 pages, Paperback

October 25, 2011, 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.

Source: Netgalley & Gifted (Thanks, Mom!)

Note:

I’ve been postponing reading The Iron Knight for as long as I could. I got the ebook in Netgalley and I downloaded it right away but I realized that I couldn’t read it at that time. I had just finished The Iron Queen and I wasn’t ready to end the series. Then I tried reading it, I got to less than page 200 before I stopped because again, I didn’t want it to end. And then early this week, I walked in the bookstore, went to the YA section and saw a copy of The Iron Knight. I held on to it and never let go.

My Thoughts:

Ash was always an interesting character for me. Aside from Puck and Meghan, he’s my favorite. I like how his character was a complex ‘badboy’ with a twist – he was an Unseelie Prince. Ash was so many things: determined, fearless, icy to the core but at the same time held a soft spot for Ariella, his former love and Meghan, his queen. From The Iron King, I witnessed how he changed because of Meghan. He left his icy shell, letting himself out into the open, honest and vulnerable. But in The Iron Knight, I met the totality of Ash. He was Winter Prince, vulnerable Ash, exile Ash, and determined Knight. The most important question in this novel was that, who is Ash? Who does he want to be?

With his oath to Meghan, promising he would find a way to come back, he went on a mini-journey to find Grimalkin the cat. Considering that the said cat was always disappearing, it was not an easy task to accomplish. He was accompanied by Robin Goodfellow, who, as always, injected as much humor into this installation as he could. They bickered, threatened each other and fought one another. Through all of this, the tension between them intensified as Ash’s oath to Ariella – to avenge her by killing Puck – weighed on the Unseelie Prince’s shoulders. The friendship and enemy-ship of these two fey guys were an interesting part of the novel.

In an attempt to gain a human soul, Ash, Puck and Grimalkin ventured to a Seer, who knew the way to the End of the World, where Ash could fulfill his oath. It was an unforgettable adventure. I traveled with them, growing weak, eager and anxious as they got one step closer to their destination. The Journey itself was full of surprises. The River of Dreams was one of my favorite parts of the path. It was filled with the debris of human imagination. Imagine a river and now imagine dumping random things in it: books, apples, coffins, dragons and other mythical creatures. I encountered several new, extremely bizarre characters that chilled me and disturbed me.

The Iron Knight stood out because this novel, no matter how fey and magical it was, had a human touch. When I say human touch, I mean that it was close to how a human would narrate. Swirling emotions, dreams, doubts, thoughts, worrying about the future more than necessary, pain, loss, grief, regret and conscience. Throw all of these in with magic, danger, high possibility of death, drama, long distance, no talk relationship and you get an amazing result. Through old memories, dreams and hopes, I got to learn more about Ash than in the first three books combined.

The ending of the Iron Fey Series is phenomenal. I was really happy when I found out that there would be a book for Ash (because I’m Team Ash.) I wasn’t disappointed. I loved every word of The Iron Knight. To everyone who hasn’t read the series yet, this is the perfect time to start it. I highly, insistently, passionately recommend this to everyone who loves fantasy, romance and adventure!

Rating:

*CLOSED* Giveaway: The Iron King/ The Iron Daughter/ The Iron Queen/ The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa *CLOSED*

And now, because I LOVE The Iron Fey Series...and because I've reached 844 followers (which is SO awesome - thank you for the support!), I will be giving away a book from The Iron Fey Series that YOU haven't read yet. One or maybe two lucky winners will win! If you haven't started the series, this is the perfect chance to get your hands on The Iron King. If you've read The Iron King and haven't gotten a copy of the next installment, you can get The Iron Daughter or The Iron Queen. Or if you're Team Ash and you want to finish the series...you can win The Iron Knight.

Rules:

Must be a follower (since, of course, this is a Thank You Giveaway for my followers)
Open internationally! Ends on December 15!

Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

Tell me which book of The Iron Fey Series you want to win.

Extra entries (not required):

+2 spread the word: twitter, goodreads, wherever (please leave link)

+2 sidebar link

That's it! Come back on December 15, 2011 to see if you won!