Title: The Iron TraitorSeries: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Pages: 384, Paperback
Goodreads Rating: 4.31 stars
My Rating: 4/5 stars
My Content Rating: PG (Nothing more than kissing)
Summary from Goodreads: IN THE REAL WORLD, WHEN YOU VANISH INTO THIN AIR FOR A WEEK, PEOPLE TEND TO NOTICE
After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as “normal” as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he’s forbidden to see her again.
But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, “normal” simply isn’t to be. For Ethan’s nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan’s and Keirran’s fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan’s next choice may decide the fate of them all.
*NOTE: This review contains spoilers for The Lost Prince (book #1 in this series) and possibly even minor spoilers for the books in the original Iron Fey series.*
Julie Kagawa has done it again with The Iron Traitor! If you’re a fan of the Iron Fey series, then you won’t want to miss this book – especially the explosive ending! And, trust me, you’ll be begging for book #3!
The negatives:
- Middle book. Okay, I really enjoyed this book, don’t get me wrong, but I do think that it suffered very slightly from Middle Book Syndrome. You all know the signs – things happen in the first half of the book, but not much happens that’s truly important – it’s all kind of leading up to the second half of the book – and the big ending that propels you into book #3. While I definitely loved the book (and I felt like the character building in the first half of the book was definitely necessary), I wasn’t quite blown away by it because I felt myself waiting – waiting for the really good stuff to happen (which it did in the second half!).
What I loved:
- Reminders of book #1. Julie Kagawa is a master of reminding us of everything that has already happened in her series without making it all feel like a boring re-hash. I was immediately reminded of everything important that happened in the last book, which meant that I didn’t have to stumble around trying to remember why this or that part of the plot was important. You could almost read this as a standalone (but you should NOT – definitely go read the first book if you haven’t already!! In fact, read the original Iron Fey series first).
- Ethan. I fell even more in love with Ethan in this book! I loved that he was a bit more approachable in The Iron Traitor, but didn’t completely lose his edge (the scenes with Kenzie’s friends made me laugh). I loved seeing him trying to navigate having a real relationship with Kenzie – something he never thought he’d do. I especially loved how he struggled with his feelings about his family – the feelings of loss that he had because his sister had left them, his conflicted feelings about Keirran, his desire to keep his parents from being hurt further. All of these things made me sympathize with Ethan and kept me firmly on his side throughout the book!
- The other characters. Kagawa gave us more of the characters that we came to know and love in book 1! Kenzie and Ethan’s relationship is still going strong, and we get to see even more of Kenzie’s strong, plucky personality! I loved their relationship – they fought in this book, but the fight was resolved in a realistic way and it didn’t drag on (I hate it when characters I love are in long fights over small issues just to add romantic “tension” to a book). I also felt like we got to know and love Annwyn a lot more in this book – and we got to see some of the history behind her relationship with Keirran, which made it a lot easier to sympathize with him when he was making truly bad decisions in order to save her.
- The ending. If you’re a fan of Kagawa, you know that she likes to end with a bang and she doesn’t disappoint here! My only complaint with the ending is that it doesn’t come as a big surprise since the series has kind of been building up to it, but it still had emotional impact and will leave you desperate to find out what will happen next!
Fans of The Iron Fey series will love this book. If you haven’t checked out the series yet, you should definitely start reading now!! 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
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