8 / 10
This review may contain spoilers if you haven't read the first two books in the series. A review of The Iron King can be found here, and The Iron Daughter here.
From the blurb: My name is Meghan Chase. I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back.
Let me say this first of all: the packrats are back! Yay! It's a slightly disappointing appearance, but at least they're here. More importantly, the whole gang's back. Grimalkin proves over and over again why he's my favourite character, with his barrage of sarcastic quips and mysterious air, turning up just in time to (disdainfully) save the others. Puck's trying hard to deal with his heartbreak so he's a little mopey and a little angry, but mostly just as funny as always. Ash is stoic and protective and... a little dull. His relationship with Meghan continues to baffle and disappoint me - oh, he's so handsome, I love him. Now they've decided to spend their whole lives together and get married. WHAT? Where has all this come from? I want so desperately to enjoy them being together, but something stops me. And he's pretty overprotective in this book.
Having said that, I still can't like Meghan. She's stopped crying so much, thankfully, and is getting stronger. She learns to fight and insists on using her lessons, which I'm glad about. But she still grates on me. She's very overdramatic, and really dense when it comes to people.
Thankfully, there are more new characters to make me forget about Meghan. There's Razor, a cute little gremlin, (sounds kind of contradictory...) Diode the anxious hacker elf, and Glitch, Machina's former first lieutenant. Rowan's back in all his gory cruelty. Unfortunately when Tertius comes back, he's pretty useless. He does absolutely nothing before disappearing again.
The storyline in this book is fantastic, though. It's a real them-against-the-world adventure quest. The outcome is bleak but they have no choice but to soldier on... so they do, with aplomb. However, it seems like a very safe book. It's another story where you're reading it, knowing that nobody you care about will die. I like to be worrying about the characters, panicking that they'll die. It's also very predictable in places; you'll see the ending coming a mile off.
I liked this book, though I'm hoping the next will be better. It'll be curious to read from Ash's point of view - hopefully it will help to unravel his secrets a little more.
Teaser quote: 'Good idea,' Puck echoed from the back of the cave. 'Why don't you take first watch, prince? You could actually be doing something that doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork.'
Try this book if you liked 'The Host' by Stephenie Meyer or 'My Soul to Take' by Rachel Vincent.
The Iron Knight was released in January 2012.
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