The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
ISBN: 9780373210367
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Released: October 25, 2011
Page #: 367
Source: ARC from NetGalley

Summary (from GoodReads):
"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."
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First Lines: (from the ARC, so subject to change in final version)

"'Oy, ice-boy! You sure you know where you're going?'
I ignored Robin Goodfellow as we wove through the gray murk of the wyldwood, pushing further into the soggy swamp known as the Bone Marsh. Mud sucked at my footsteps, and water dripped from twisted green trees so covered in moss they appeared sheathed in slime."
Page 9
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Review:

If you haven't read the first three books in the Iron Fey series, there will most definitely be spoilers. This whole book is about post-trilogy stuff... so tread carefully!

Okay, so in an attempt to do a summary...
The Iron Knight is written from the perspective of the Winter Prince, Ash. It is after the huge war of the Faerie worlds - and Meghan Chase has become the Iron Queen. Ash has sworn to protect her and be with her forever, but he cannot do that as a regular faerie. He goes on a huge quest to earn a mortal soul so that he can be with Meghan. It's a much bigger thing than anyone expected - he literally has to go to the end of the world to succeed. And even then, it's a fight to the death.

One thing this author is good at is serious adventurous quests. :) The series started with a big one - and each book has had some version of one. This last book was the biggest quest of all. Ash is faced with all manner of crazy characters. I personally loved that the Big Bad Wolf was involved in the story. All so he would continue to be remembered. That's a very cool idea. There's also a lot more about Ariella who was mentioned in previous books, but she was gone before we met Meghan. It was very interesting to get that side of the story.

I truly enjoyed getting to know Ash better. There are some descriptions from his point of view that I think we missed a lot in the first three books. Also, I was surprised by some of the descriptions in Meghan. For some reason, I honestly hadn't pictured her the way Ash talks about her. But it really helps me love the other books more after hearing his whole story.

There was a part that I thought I was really going to hate the ending. I'm not going to give you much detail, but one of Ash's trials shows you something you didn't realize was going to happen. But I felt better after that part - I was just worried that I was going to hate how things turned out. As it was, I really enjoyed the ending. It's open enough to have more stories about different characters... but it fully completes this story. I really think it's well done and I fully loved it.

Well, all in all, I'd definitely recommend this entire series. I think this last book has been a wonderful addition to an already awesome series. I've handed these books to lots of customers and I cannot wait until this book is published and I can hand it around as well. I will be looking for the next thing by this author as well - she's definitely got my vote for anything she writes in the future. Definitely read this one... and if you haven't read the first three, you need to do that immediately :). They're wonderful.
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