The Iron Prince betrayed us all.

He killed me. Then, I woke up.

Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was torn away.

The human world has been cast into chaos and the Forgotten Queen is leading an uprising; a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.

Leading the Lady's Forgotten Army is Keirran, Ethan’s nephew and the traitor son of the Iron Queen. To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he searches for answers.

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…

Review 5*

This is the third book in The Forgotten Trilogy but the seventh book in the Iron Fey series. I loved it!

Ethan Chase is a fantastic character. I really liked him when I first met him as a frightened four year old when he was kidnapped by The Iron King and taken into Faery in the first book of the series. Now he's seventeen and he's grown up into a wonderful young man. Brought back to life after dying at the hands of his nephew, Ethan finds himself on another dangerous mission. This time, there may be no turning back. But can he stop his nephew from bringing down the veil between the worlds forever?

I have become addicted to this series. I started reading this book as soon as I had finished reading The Iron Traitor and didn't put it down until I had finished it.

The story continues from the shocking end of The Iron Traitor. I enjoyed meeting all of the previous characters again: Grimalkin, Puck, Meghan, Ash, Leanansidhe, Razor and Kenzie amongst others, as well as the Thin Man, who has a larger role in this tale and is not as bad/creepy as I'd originally thought.

This story is again full of action, adventure, danger and romance. There are a few twists that I didn't see coming and a couple of shocks too. I love the witty dialogue between the characters and the vivid storytelling brought this book to life. I could picture the scenes in my minds eye with ease. In fact, I didn't feel like I was reading at all but watching a movie. As the story unfolded I found myself on a roller coaster ride of emotion and had tears streaming down my face on more than one occasion, as well as sitting on the edge of my seat at others. Ethan' s character has grown a lot. He has become more tolerant of the Fey and less fearful of them. However, Keirran has also grown somewhat in the course of the tale. He has made some huge mistakes, but I still feel that he has a lot to learn. Hopefully his family will help him as he deals with his new responsibilities as The Forgotten King.

It's rare these days to come across a series that grips a reader as much as this one gripped me (or so I have found). I shall miss these characters as they have become my friends. I reached the end of the book with bittersweet feelings; sad that the story (and series) was over, but happy that it ended on an upbeat note. I intend to visit this world as often as I can.

Julie Kagawa has written a fantastic Young Adult series. I love her writing style, which is fast paced and exciting. The flow was also wonderful, as each scene moved effortlessly into the next. She has found a firm fan in me and I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

Although there is one scene of a sensual nature, it is not explicit. There are, however, scenes that are violent or a little gory. Therefore, I do not recommend this to readers under 15. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book if you love YA fantasy or paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton

Epic!
Though about halfway through, for just a fraction of time, what I was reading was absurd.
I'm so glad that feeling was short-lived because most of this book I had trouble putting down. 
I was in the Ash fan club, all this time, but now that Ethan is 18 and kicking ass, I may be in that club too! 
You know those reads that you don't want to end? This is definitely among that list. I think this is supposed to be the last in the series, but the end was left wide open for more. I don't know why the author wouldn't continue with Keirran now. He still has so much left to tell us fans. Well, if it does get written, I'll be sure to be grabbing a copy.
If you haven't read this series, there's something wrong with you. Okay, maybe nothing is wrong with you but you need to get with the program and read it. Seriously. 

This will be a pretty basic post my TBR (to be read) for Janurary! Hopefully with my plan to read one novel a week I can get this done! 

1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

• I'm really excited to read this book! I'm already on page 200 something! It's so amazing and I love Baz and Simon already! If you don't know what it is it's the main character from Rowell's other novel Fangirl fanfiction. But it's so much more then that. You can read it as a stand alone as well. It's a kickass fantasy read with gay love! What more could you want? 

2. The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

• I cannot believe that this book is out and that I haven't read it yet. After reading it's precessor, the Iron Traitor, way back in summer of 2013 I needed the next book. At that time there was no news on the book. No title, no blurb, no release date. And then, magically early in 2014. Everything appeared on goodreads. I have been waiting long and hard for this book and maybe it's taken me so long to finish because I don't want to say goodbye to the lovely characters of the Iron Fey. 

3. Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes

• This series holds a special place in my heart. I believe that I was one of the first fans of this series, buying the book way back when the very first one was just released. Then no one knew of the series and there was no fanbase. Now, everyone is reading these books and they deserve the love. Morgan Rhodes writes an amazing fantasy series! With the fourth book already out I decided it was time to pick this beautiful copy off my shelf and read it. 

4. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor 

• I read the first book of this series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, a few months back and I didn't immediately go to this one because I had new releases coming out (namely Magnus Chase and Carry On). I cannot wait to get to this novel. The last book left me wanting to read this so badly. Laini Taylor is an amazing writer of high fantasy and if you haven't picked up this series yet I suggest that you do. 

5. The Earl and the Fairy Vol. 03 by Ayuko and Mizue Tani

• I started reading this manga series in the summer of 2014 when Barnes and Noble was having a buy 2 get one free manga sale. The first book was one I picked up. I loved the first one so much so I knew I had to buy the second one. And then, as I loved that one as well I bought the third. It's only a four book series so I'm pacing myself a bit. I don't want to miss it too much.

So that's pretty much my TBR. It doesn't seem like that much but a couple of the books are really long. Wish me luck on completing this TBR!  

Ethan wakes up – which is something of a surprise since his uncle, Keirran, stabbed him to destroy the Veil

He isn’t dead and the Veil hasn’t been destroyed – but Keirran has joined the Forgotten and their terrible Queen in their war against the other courts. Even Meghan, his mother and the Iron Queen will be forced to move against him.

Unless Ethan can save Keirran from himself – and the whole of the NeverNever with him

My main love of the Iron Fae series is the world. The different fae courts, their politics, their magic how they all combat each other – I’ve always liked this world and it’s an excellent backdrop or adventures.

Ethan is this book’s protagonist… in the past I haven’t been a big fan of Ethan. In a way he’s an excellent every-man except for his combat skills. He’s not… stellar in any real way, I find him kind of bland, to be honest, especially next to the major personalities around him. But this book he did have some excellent character growth and maturity that made me like him a little more

The star of the book had to be Kenzie – she works so excellently well with Ethan and, in a genre full of action heroes who can kick arse, she showed us a powerful character who wasn’t defined by her ability to break things. She’s clever, she’s prepared. She has a big pack of useful items. She can negotiate with the fae because she thinks. She’s the brains and she’s one of the most powerful characters because of that. Ethan may be able to stab things, but ultimately Kenzie is the one who knows you need costume jewellery to bribe yourself over a bridge, or to carry a big canister of salt. It’s Kenzie who is most able to cut through the fairy politics and make raging, uncooperative fae stop and think for 5 seconds. Ethan can stab things, but it’s Kenzie with the brain to direct that stabbing.

More than any other character she works with the world. The other characters either have swords or woo-woo enough that they don’t really interact with the intricacies of the world. It’s Kenzie who has to work with how the world works, who knows the bargains and the rules and the loop holes and so it’s she who most shows of the world.

I liked this plot, but I do find the Iron Fae series to be a trifle formulaic. That’s not essentially a bad thing, if a formula is entertaining and a spin is put on it. If you can add more interesting elements, more original features then a good formula still has plenty of fun left in it to keep it going.

It is fun to see

But it does mean you can kind of see the shape of the story as it begins. I can see the quest, can see the twists we’ll get. We kind of know it’s not going to get really dark, we’re probably not going to see any real losses. I suspected what was going to happen to Keirran since near the beginning of the book and by half way I was nearly certain. The fate of the Forgotten was always pretty predictable since we’d already seen, at its core, the same path with the Iron Fae.

Read More

Yet another Tuesday, and yet another Top Ten. :)  I'm seriously enjoying these prompts, and if you're interested in participating, you can find it hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week has me listing my top ten most anticipated reads for the fall season.  Some of these I have as galleys, and others I have on auto buy.  I don't know if I can put them in a list in order because I'm excited for all of them, but hey - what can you do but do your best to try?  So here goes:

10. "We'll Never Be Apart" by Emiko Jean:   This book caught my attention because of two things: twins and psychological thriller.  I'm pretty much sold on those two aspects alone, but the premise for this is really fascinating.  I'm looking forward to reading it (and I have it as a galley, so I'm happy dancing at the chance to read it before release).

9. "Hotel Ruby" by Suzanne Young:  Creepy hotel that promises its occupants will never want to leave?  I'm sold.  I like horror/thriller/suspense/mystery books very much, so it sounds like a book right up my alley.  There have been some mixed opinions from ARC readers though, so it's just a matter of seeing what happens.

8: "Until We Meet Again" by Renee Collins: This is another I have as an ARC and I'm excited to get the chance to read it before it releases this Fall.  I'm into time travel stories/stories that cross different periods.

7. "Soundless" by Richelle Mead: I think I'm definitely ready to read another series starter by Richelle Mead, and for the fact that this is based on Chinese Folklore (plus, look at that epic cover!)  I'm really excited about it and can't wait to read it.

6. "Cam Girl" by Leah Raeder: I really liked "Black Iris" and enjoyed aspects of "Unteachable", so it's no surprise I'd pick up this latest novel from Leah Raeder.  And the premise has me really invested because it's not only featuring protagonists that have little featuring in New Adult, but actually among several romances that I've picked up personally.  I got an ARC for this and should be reading it quite soon.

5. "Hold Me Close" by Megan Hart: I mentioned my eagerness for this in my previous post featuring NetGalley reads I was approved for.  I really enjoy Megan Hart's writing and I've loved how she's touched on difficult topics in her various books, also for character depth and investment.  This is one of her erotic titles (as opposed to other genres she's written in: paranormal, romance, literary fic, etc), so it should be interesting to see how she treats the topic covered here.

4. "I Crawl Through It" by A.S. King: I always look forward to A.S. King's narratives because they treat such unique and difficult subjects in an invested way.  This sounds like it'll be an emotional read from the premise alone.

3. "Illuminae" by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: I've read from both of these authors before, and I've known about this book for quite some time.  I'm especially intrigued to see how this story's told through the different mediums it features and the fact it takes place on a futuristic planet where a deadly plague has broken out.  I'm hoping to read this in another couple of weeks before its release in late October.

2. "This is Where it Ends" by Marieke Njkamp: I'm expecting an emotional read out of this book because it deals with a very difficult subject matter: a school shooting.  The bullet through the chalk featured on the cover was a jarringly nice touch, and the premise hooked me from point one.  I have this as a galley and plan to read it as soon as I can.

1.  "The Iron Warrior" by Julie Kagawa: I've been waiting on my eager hands for this last book in this trilogy of the Iron Fey series: Call of the Forgotten.  I really liked Ethan as a main character, and the last book in this series ended on such an emotional cliffhanger, my reaction was akin to "Noooooooooooooooooo!"  I'm wondering how it's all going to march to its conclusion, but I'll admit when it's over, it's going to be a bittersweet experience.

Until next week's entry,

~Rose