#Saturday Review - The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa (Young Adult, Fantasy)

Series: Call of the Forgotten # 3
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

The Iron Prince—my nephew—betrayed us all.

He killed me.

Then, I woke up.

Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned to learn that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was temporarily torn away. Although humankind's glimpse of the world of Faery lasted just a brief moment, the human world has been cast into chaos, and the emotion and glamour produced by fear and wonder has renewed the tremendous power of the Forgotten Queen. Now, she is at the forefront of an uprising against the courts of Summer and Winter—a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.

Leading the Lady's Forgotten Army is Keirran himself: Ethan's nephew, and the traitor son of the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase.To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, search for answers long forgotten. In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethan's enemies must become his allies, and the world of the fey will be changed forevermore. 

The Iron Warrior picks up a month after the end of The Iron Traitor with Keirran making a heart breaking decision and Ethan being saved by a miracle. Waking up in his sisters kingdom of Mag Tuirredh, Ethan learns that in death, even if temporary, the veil between worlds was torn open which allowed humans to see the Fey.  

Now, in order to save the one place he hates the most, the place that tore his sister from his family, and left him with serious abandonment issues and anger issues towards the Fey, Ethan must find Annwyl and the amulet that binds her to Keirran. He must find a way to stop Keirran before he and the Forgotten Queen go to war with the Fey courts. 

Not unlike Ash's story where he traveled to the ends of the earth in an effort to find a soul so he could stay with stay with Meghan, Ethan, Kenzie, Razor, Puck, Wolf, the Thin Man, and Grimalkin must do their own bit of traveling and face difficult challenges in order to prevent a full scale war and save Keirran from his own stupidity. 

Keirran is on a mission to save the Forgotten, the Exiles, and of course, the exiled summer fey he fell in love with, Annwyl. Keirran has become the Forgotten Queen's chosen warrior, and stands for the banishment of the Winter and Summer courts, and the return one queen rule over all kingdoms except for the Iron Kingdom. 

The Oracle once told Meghan that the child she carried would either unite the courts, or destroy them. In a way, Keirran did just that. He united the courts against the Forgotten Queen who was even worse than the current Queen of the Summer Court, Titania. After declaring Keirran a traitor to faery and exiling him from the Iron Court, Meghan must make amends for her decision to keep the prophecy a secret from both Ethan and Keirran. 

She must trust her brother to find a way to get through to Keirran before it is too late. In a way, I have never respected Meghan more than in this book. She's become a powerful Queen, and never once turns her back on her family no matter how bad they behaved. I loved the ending. I think it was done just right to leave even the most fickle reader happy.

Favorite character? Kenzie - loved this girls spunk, fierceness, and unwavering support for Ethan. Here is a girl who suffered with leukemia since the first book was released. Here is a girl who ignores those who treat Ethan with disrespect, and follows him into danger with almost unwavering heroism. I know this girl has got a whole lot of insults. But, it's just a bunch of hooey. I love her connect to Razor and am happy that Kagawa kept them together right to the final page

The Iron Warrior is the final installment for both The Iron Fey series and the Call of the Forgotten trilogy. The end of the road for Keirran, Ethan, Kenzie, Grimalkin, Wolf, Razor, Meghan, Ash, and Puck. 

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#Thursday Review - The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa (Young Adult, Fantasy)

Series: Call of the Forgotten # 2
Format: Kindle, 342 pages
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for; his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again. 

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, normal simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.

The Iron Traitor is the second installment in The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten trilogy. The Iron Traitor begins about a week after Ethan Chase went back to Nevernever for the first time since he was taken there when he was 4 years old. Ethan and MacKenzie St. James discovered more than a few secrets last time out. They discovered that Ethan's sister Meghan is now the Queen of the Iron Fey and that Ash is her Prince Consort. It was revealed that Meghan and Ash have a son, Keirran, who is the same age as Ethan is.

Early on in this installment after suffering from yet more badgering by his classmates who hold him responsible for running off with Kenzie to NYC, Ethan learns from Meghan that Keirran has gone missing. He gets a visit from the Thin Man, and Annwyl who is slowly fading into memory. Thus begins yet another journey into the place he hates the most. He must find Keirran before he does something stupid. Joining him on his journey are, once again, Kenzie who refuses to let a stupid ailment keep her down and has more courage in her little finger than most people do in their entire bodies.

Ethan has more than proven himself to me even though he still blames Meghan for disappearing and not telling him he had a nephew or that she wasn't coming back. He knows that Keirran is up to something that will lead to bad vibes for everyone. He also knows that Kenzie is still battling leukemia and he really does try to do the right thing by her even though she is probably more feistier and determined that lots of readers give her credit for. He knows that Keirran is family, and thus he has the inevitable strength to put away his anger, and try to help him.

I struggled with my liking of Keirran only because he continues to listen to all the wrong people, when he should have been listening to those like Ethan and his parents in not trusting people who have an agenda. Keirran isn't unnecessary dense. I say he's perhaps foolhardy in expecting that he will only find good things on his search for Annwyl's salvation. I didn't like all the secrecy behind the prophecy. I dare say that if Ethan had learned about his part in the prophecy sooner, it might have changed the way he went about things.

Got to give Kagawa credit. She never once wavers in putting her characters into situations where they have to give everything they have of themselves in order to survive. Ethan, Kenzie, Keirran, Razor, will be joined by Puck, The Thin Man, and even Grimalkin on a journey that is supposed to give Annwyl hope to return to her home. Sometimes, or should I say more often than not, she leaves readers with a heart breaking cliffhanger ending that makes readers scream in agony and anger. Yes, I can truly say I am one of those readers. I just knew that Kagawa was going to leave us with heart ache. Just look at her track record!  

Can I just say that I love Razor?

"Bad kitty!" Razor buzzed again from Keirran's shoulder. His huge ears flapped as he bounced up and down. "Evil, bad kitty! Shave off fur! Throw kitty off mountain! Burn, burn!”

Next up is the final installment in the Iron Fey series The Iron Warrior. Please stay tuned for my review! 

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