Review: THE IRON KNIGHT by Julie Kagawa

TITLE: The Iron Knight
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
AUTHOR WEBSITE: www.JulieKagawa.com

GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy
FANTASY ELEMENT: Faeries
PUBLISHED: October 26, 2011  - Harlequin Teen
MY RATING: 3
FIND ON: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

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 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.

REVIEW:

To start this review off right, I’d have to say that I will read anything that Julie Kagawa writes, regardless. Why? Because I love the Iron Fae Series with fervency. Each book holds an adventure, each with new and interesting characters and plot twists.  BUT… The Iron Knight left me wanting. It was strange in the fact that it’s told from the point of view of Ash, Megan’s brooding love-interest. The important word in that sentence is “brooding.” I love him less because he’s kinda grumpy and smug all the time. Megan is cool, Puck is amusing, Ash is kinda not as loveable now.

It’s strange to me that Julie would choose to tell a story from his point of view. And I have to say, it’s kind of odd when a female tells a male’s story. I don’t really trust a woman’s view of a man’s point of view anyway. Some of what Ash narrated was questionable. (I can’t pinpoint what, though.  Sorry.)

With all of that said, it wasn’t that bad of a story. It was rather narrow in its cast of characters, which was a bummer. One of the best things about the Iron Fae series is that the books are full of interesting characters, until this one.

As the series stands, I want to know everything that is going on. So for the fact of getting more of the saga, yay! But the delivery was kind of disappointing. There is a section in the book where it goes all “narration” on us. Boring.

RATING:

Overall The Iron Knight gets a rating of 3: Good. I had rated nearly every book from this series at a 4 or 5. I think the shifting of points of view was what damaged it for me. If this was pared down to make a novella, it would have been better. (Like “Summer’s Crossing” from the POV of Puck.) But this is a full length book. Ouch.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

If you’re an avid follower of The Iron Fae series, it’s questionable if you’ll like this book. I think it’s worth reading to have more of the story but hopefully it won’t disappoint you too much to make you want to quit the series altogether. Let’s forgive Julie for this one. Bring on more Iron Fae!!

More Books by Julie Kagawa:

The Iron Fae Series:

Book 1: THE IRON KING
      Novella: Winter's Passage
Book 2: THE IRON DAUGHTER
Book 3: THE IRON QUEEN 
      Novella: Summer's Crossing
Book 4: THE IRON KNIGHT
      Novella: Iron's Prophecy (not yet reviewed)
Book 5: THE LOST PRINCE (not yet reviewed)
Book 6: THE IRON TRAITOR (new in Nov 2013)