Review: The Iron Knight

Title: The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal

Rating: 3/5 stars

In the interview at the end of the book, Kagawa explains that while she likes mysterious redemptive endings, her editor likes Happily-Ever-Afters, which led to the creation of this book. I'm with Kagawa - I preferred the ending of The Iron Queen to the all-loose-ends-tied-up ending in this book; as I read, I kept feeling like I was reading a companion novella or something instead of the final book of a series.

 I think part of why I didn't like this book as much as the others was that it was in Ash's point of view. After a whole series written from Meghan's perspective, it's jarring to have the last book written from another point of view. This guy is angsty and tormented, and it took a little getting used to. It seemed like this book focused less on the Iron Fey and more on Ash and his personal problems; Meghan was hardly in it except for a dream sequence and a few pages at the very end.

I thought the idea was clever, but it felt too structured to me. There was Part A, where Ash and Puck band together to help Ash be with Meghan and protect her. Part A also features the gathering of other members of the motley crew that sets out to find a human soul for Ash. Part B involves the Journey to the End of the World. Part C is the Trials within the End of the World. Part D is the ultimate result of aforementioned trials, involving the usual Great Sacrifice. I put all those words in capitals because they seemed a bit too structured and contrived to me. This book just didn't flow as well or move in interesting directions like the previous ones did.

 Perhaps my favorite part of the book is also what I liked the least. Giant spoiler here, so beware:

Ariella. My biggest pet peeve is people coming back to life, and here she was, no explanation whatsoever. Yet I still liked that Ariella was present because she brought out the gentler side in both Puck and Ash and helped Ash unconditionally. Again with the mixed feelings - it was a bit too nice of her to be willing to sacrifice herself so Ash could be with Meghan despite her feelings for the guy. I mean, she comes back to life simply because she needs to sacrifice herself? Ridiculous

There was a lot of humor in this book, and I enjoyed seeing Puck and Ash go from sworn enemies to grudging friends to actual friends. I also liked the idea of the Big Bad Wolf thriving through stories. I wasn't so impressed by the trials Ash had to undergo. Perhaps the third one was the most meaningful, but in the end it didn't even matter because somehow Ash managed to escape that fate. (Can you tell I don't like very happy all-loose-ends-tied-up endings?)

 Overall, this isn't a bad read, but I think of it more as a supplemental novel than the conclusion to a series.