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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
"I was tired of living in the past. If I managed to survive here, I would actually have a chance at a future."
I was not expecting the pov to change to Ash, but it was good to have a different voice! I did prefer Ash and Puck on their own and watching them kind of go from the awkward "I still hate you because I have to and you are annoying" to "you're still annoying but I don't hate you so much now, you're a tolerable friend" 😂 I did hate Ariella though, she was just there and jealousy did not look good on her. It was interesting to finally see more of their backstory and how the 3 characters dynamic worked. A lot of the book was travelling to the end of the world and then about 100 or so pages of Ash doing the trials to become mortal and the pacing just went OFF. Slow, fast, then we get a whole life play out only to come back as it was one of the trials and then have to drag through another travel scene to get to the end. The mirror fight was my favourite part, having to fight the selves they all contain/suppress. They fight against their "evil" selves- Cold Ice Queen Ari, Cruel Ice King Ash, Savage Unhinged Puck and Giant Beastly Wolf, A True Monster and of course, Grimalkin unchanged.
I was not expecting the pov to change to Ash, but it was good to have a different voice! I did prefer Ash and Puck on their own and watching them kind of go from the awkward "I still hate you because I have to and you are annoying" to "you're still annoying but I don't hate you so much now, you're a tolerable friend" 😂 I did hate Ariella though, she was just there and jealousy did not look good on her. It was interesting to finally see more of their backstory and how the 3 characters dynamic worked. A lot of the book was travelling to the end of the world and then about 100 or so pages of Ash doing the trials to become mortal and the pacing just went OFF. Slow, fast, then we get a whole life play out only to come back as it was one of the trials and then have to drag through another travel scene to get to the end. The mirror fight was my favourite part, having to fight the selves they all contain/suppress. They fight against their "evil" selves- Cold Ice Queen Ari, Cruel Ice King Ash, Savage Unhinged Puck and Giant Beastly Wolf, A True Monster and of course, Grimalkin unchanged.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF around 47%
It’s not like I don’t want to read it, cause I do, I just can’t finish it because I’m no longer interested in this series. Maybe later when I have nothing else to read.
It’s not like I don’t want to read it, cause I do, I just can’t finish it because I’m no longer interested in this series. Maybe later when I have nothing else to read.
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The final book of the Iron Fey main series, and one Kagawa's editor(?) recommended she add. So glad she did, and that it is written from Ash's perspective instead! This book really does the series justice, and I like that the plot devices (primarily the love triangle) were reversed with the new narrator (so to speak). What I found lacking was the plausability of the new characters entering the storyline. They attempt to tie them in was weak, and it bothered me for most of the book.
Zeker genoten van deze serie, maar ik denk niet dat ik het nog eens zal herlezen. Het was fijn om even te vertoeven in NimmerNimmer maar ook niet meer. De ijzerprins is zeker niet mijn favoriet van de serie. Het ging allemaal enorm snel, zeker het einde. Het bevatte ook vaak tijdssprongen waardoor ik niet volledig mee in het verhaal zat. Dit boek was geschreven vanuit het standpunt van Ash, waar ik heel benieuwd naar was, maar dit is toch anders uitgedraaid dan ik had verwacht. Ik mistte heel wat inbreng van Meghan als Ijzerkoningin en had daar graag een groot stuk van willen zien.
Al bij al denk ik dat ik de spin-off serie zeker nog ga lezen (Call of the forgotten).
Al bij al denk ik dat ik de spin-off serie zeker nog ga lezen (Call of the forgotten).
I really liked that the book was told from Ash's point of view.
Not as good as the others, had a whole other vibe and didn't seem to fit, but it was still okay
I think that the only reason I read this book was because I was under the impression that it was the 4th book in the Iron Fey series. But really... it's not. It's sort of a companion book, and I'm not sure how I missed that. I mean... I guess I probably would have read it anyway, out of curiosity (kind of like I'm considering reading the Call of the Forgotten series) even though this series and I don't exactly get along. And it's not that they aren't good books, because they are and I can recognize that, but I don't enjoy reading them. I'm not exactly sure why. I find myself dragging my eyes along every page, and wishing that it would just end already, but at the same time I feel bad because I think I should be enjoying it.
I think it stems from the characters, mostly, because the descriptions and settings are just fine. Although pacing might also be a bit of a problem for me. Let me explain why.
The cast is extremely small, and the problem is that I don't like any of them enough to be okay with that. Besides, there were (at least) three MacGuffins. (*ahem* MacGuffin "The device in a Television Show or Movie which keeps the plot rolling, generally a character or situation." I'm extending this meaning to books, because there were definitely some MacGuffins here.) Meghan was fine (in Iron King and Iron Queen, but not in Iron Daughter, sorry) but she wasn't really in this book. So that left me with Ash (who I don't particularly like), Puck (who gets on my nerves), Grim (who has gotten extremely repetitive, and all he ever does is conveniently get them out of situations when they're stuck. See: MacGuffin), The Big Bad Wolf (also only for the purpose of moving the story along. MacGuffin. He didn't really feel like a character at all), Ariella (who I wanted Ash to end up with, by the way, I liked them together a lot more than I like Ash/Meghan. And she also was there for the sole purpose of moving the plot along. Once again: MacGuffin), and a few extra's thrown in. This was also the first time in the series that I understood that there were other human-like fey living in and around the courts. Somehow it just completely went over my head that the royal families were not the only ones who looked like humans, and the whole time I'd just thought it was waaaaaay overly convenient that Ariella had existed. I chalked it up to poor world building.
On top of that there was the issue with pacing. I kind of expected the trials to take up a huge portion of the book, but it was mostly traveling. It takes a certain kind of skill to get a book right when it's filled with traveling, but this book didn't get it right. I didn't feel like they were accomplishing anything for most of their travels--it was almost like the author was doing some creative writing practice and then decided to throw it together into a book--except when we learned that Ash was not over Ariella. But, you know what? I found that to be completely counter-intuitive. Was I supposed to ship Ash/Meghan harder after that? Because what happened is that they're ship completely dissolved, and was replaced by my desire for Ash/Ariella to happen. I don't think that was the point.
My biggest problem was the last 100 pages of this book. I reached what I thought should be the end and then there were 100 pages left, needless to say I was not amused. And most of it was fluff. Fluffy, fluffy, marshmallowy, cloudy fluff. It was like Kagawa had read a Ash/Maghan fanfic that she really liked, and decided to incorporate it into the story. If I wanted to read about their regular, boring homelife... scratch that, I don't want to read about their regular, boring homelife. I was happy when that ended, but, alas, there were still like 40 freaking (I'm trying not to swear so much in my reviews. Is it working?) pages left! I thought it was never going to end!
What's good about it, you say?
Well, I've always liked Kagawa's creativity in making up settings. The town of the forgotten was really cool, and I've always enjoyed the Nevernever. I know a lot of it is probably borrowed from older fey mythology, but I think a lot is original, too. Her descriptions are enjoyable to read, and they paint a clear picture in my mind about what's going on around the characters.
I was considering giving this book 2 stars, but I felt bad because the only reason I would rate it down was because I didn't enjoy it. Ahh, I dont know what to do. I'm so conflicted. So let me just say that if I could I would give it 2.5 stars, but I can't, so 3 it is.
I think it stems from the characters, mostly, because the descriptions and settings are just fine. Although pacing might also be a bit of a problem for me. Let me explain why.
The cast is extremely small, and the problem is that I don't like any of them enough to be okay with that. Besides, there were (at least) three MacGuffins. (*ahem* MacGuffin "The device in a Television Show or Movie which keeps the plot rolling, generally a character or situation." I'm extending this meaning to books, because there were definitely some MacGuffins here.) Meghan was fine (in Iron King and Iron Queen, but not in Iron Daughter, sorry) but she wasn't really in this book. So that left me with Ash (who I don't particularly like), Puck (who gets on my nerves), Grim (who has gotten extremely repetitive, and all he ever does is conveniently get them out of situations when they're stuck. See: MacGuffin), The Big Bad Wolf (also only for the purpose of moving the story along. MacGuffin. He didn't really feel like a character at all), Ariella (who I wanted Ash to end up with, by the way, I liked them together a lot more than I like Ash/Meghan. And she also was there for the sole purpose of moving the plot along. Once again: MacGuffin), and a few extra's thrown in. This was also the first time in the series that I understood that there were other human-like fey living in and around the courts. Somehow it just completely went over my head that the royal families were not the only ones who looked like humans, and the whole time I'd just thought it was waaaaaay overly convenient that Ariella had existed. I chalked it up to poor world building.
On top of that there was the issue with pacing. I kind of expected the trials to take up a huge portion of the book, but it was mostly traveling. It takes a certain kind of skill to get a book right when it's filled with traveling, but this book didn't get it right. I didn't feel like they were accomplishing anything for most of their travels--it was almost like the author was doing some creative writing practice and then decided to throw it together into a book--except when we learned that Ash was not over Ariella. But, you know what? I found that to be completely counter-intuitive. Was I supposed to ship Ash/Meghan harder after that? Because what happened is that they're ship completely dissolved, and was replaced by my desire for Ash/Ariella to happen. I don't think that was the point.
My biggest problem was the last 100 pages of this book. I reached what I thought should be the end and then there were 100 pages left, needless to say I was not amused. And most of it was fluff. Fluffy, fluffy, marshmallowy, cloudy fluff. It was like Kagawa had read a Ash/Maghan fanfic that she really liked, and decided to incorporate it into the story. If I wanted to read about their regular, boring homelife... scratch that, I don't want to read about their regular, boring homelife. I was happy when that ended, but, alas, there were still like 40 freaking (I'm trying not to swear so much in my reviews. Is it working?) pages left! I thought it was never going to end!
What's good about it, you say?
Well, I've always liked Kagawa's creativity in making up settings. The town of the forgotten was really cool, and I've always enjoyed the Nevernever. I know a lot of it is probably borrowed from older fey mythology, but I think a lot is original, too. Her descriptions are enjoyable to read, and they paint a clear picture in my mind about what's going on around the characters.
I was considering giving this book 2 stars, but I felt bad because the only reason I would rate it down was because I didn't enjoy it. Ahh, I dont know what to do. I'm so conflicted. So let me just say that if I could I would give it 2.5 stars, but I can't, so 3 it is.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes