Book Review: The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

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.

And finally, the epic adventures into the Nevernever have come to an end.

I was excited, and sad at same time.

Weeks before the release of The Iron Warrior, I was already feeling so sad and sentimental because one of my favorite series is ending. If you guys haven’t figured out yet (from my blog URL, to all my previous posts with obvious Iron Fey fangirlings), I’m a big big big Iron Fey fangirl. Surprise! It’s probably the only series, or fandom which I have never stopped fangirling even a day. Always. I’m also a big Lord of The Rings fangirl but it’s never like the way I go crazy with Iron Fey.

During the promotion of The Iron Warrior, Julie Kagawa gave away a lot of excepts and teasers from the book. And when I say teasers, let me just give you an epic example.

When I saw this one on Facebook, it nearly gave me a heart-attack. Not really. But I was just praying and praying to let them NOT be my favorite characters.

Ethan was never my favorite character. I like Meghan and Ash’s POV and story more than Ethan’s (I liked the original trio a lot!!). When I finished The Iron Knight I didn’t read Call of The Forgotten immediately because I was in a heavy book hangover from the original series and I was kinda scared that the spin-off will turn out to be a disappointment. I finally took the courage to read Call of The Forgotten last year. And when I did, I was just so glad I did.

This was also more emotional that I thought it would be. The family matters in the whole Iron Fey series was a serious part of the story. (Anyway, it all started with Meghan and Ethan.) Everyone close to Meghan’s life was at stake in The Iron Warrior. It’s either she’ll have them all back, or she’ll lose them all together. It was pretty sad and emotional. After Julie Kagawa mentioned that there were 3 deaths, I was so paranoid and in a panic mode until the end. lol. My mind was in a sort of shutdown and I couldn’t think of any good guesses and predictions. That may be the reason why it’s more exciting.

It didn’t feel rushed. I totally like endings that are not rushed or dashed off. For me, Julie Kagawa just gave the right balance of adventures and wrapping-things up. The twists were kinda predictable, but still, Kagawa’s incredible writing style made it all more exciting and amazing on so many ways.

I totally missed Nevernever and it was really nice to trek the wyld for one last time. I will totally miss this whole epic adventure once again. But then again, as what Julie Kagawa said,

“And so, after all these years, we finally close the door on The Iron Fey series. But one thing about doors is this: they can always be opened again. Perhaps someday in the future, a door will swing back, and the Nevernever will be glimpsed through the frame once again, urging you to take that first step…into a new adventure.”

The epilogue was also a big plus! A big added satisfaction to the already good ending. The whole story was nicely and tightly wrapped. And it was everything I needed.

Thank you so much for this wonderful adventure and for writing such a great masterpiece, Julie Kagawa. I want to say more, but this post has gotten so long already.

So one last thing…

Until we meet again, Iron armies, back into the Nevernever.