ARC Review--The Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa

 

You may have heard of me...

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool… King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

Julie Kagawa has once again returned to the world of The Iron Fey Chronicles with her newest edition, The Iron Raven and by the title alone you can pretty much guarantee that this is a Puck book! Puck our favorite little prankster is about to get his time in the spotlight and you know it’s going to be good because this is Puck we’re talking about!

This long encompassing series has been a part of my life for so many years now! I remember winning the first two books in a contest many years ago and it started a lifelong love of this series! Entering a world where faeries exist and only certain humans know about them has been a favorite trope of mine. Though at this point of the series we’re pretty much in faery all the time.

As a brief disclosure, I will say that you don’t necessarily have to read all the previous books to start at this point, but I always recommend them because they are so good! There will be character/event references that won’t make much sense, but one can easily get passed them. Even with my limited memory I didn’t remember everything from the past two series of this world but still enjoyed myself.

Moving on to the story now…Puck was going about life being Puck when Kierran, the King of the Forgotten, seeks him out needing his help. There’s something happening in the Nevernever, faeries are disappearing and Kierran worries it might be related to the shadowy monster he came across in the prequel novella. It’s not long after learning about this that they come across the monster itself and after a battle, Puck is left changed…and not in a good way.

We noticed a darker effect taking over Puck. He’s not his jovial self and it was a bit hard to read this darker side of him. The book is told from his perspective after all. His bitter thoughts about Ash winning Meghan over consume him…even after he meets Nyx, the Forgotten assassin who is to aid him in tracking down the monster. Sworn to protect Kierran as the new king, she is honor-bound to see this through, yet there’s definitely something growing between these two. It was positively delightful!

I was really excited to see Meghan and Ash join in on this adventure and not just send Puck off to certain doom on his own! Though they don’t show up until the halfway point or so, it was quite fun to have the trio together again—with some added counterparts of course! Grimalkin, that rascal cait sith is back as well as a new Ironhorse who seeks to help the Iron Queen. Nyx is there too of course. They made for a motley crew but I loved their dynamics.

While Puck is battling his darker self, some of his former self shines through at times, even if it has a sharper edge. I loved Puck throughout this series. Even in the beginning when Meghan had to make her “choice” I was conflicted with who I wanted her to choose. Ultimately, though I was a bit more Team Ash. I always felt for Puck though so I am stoked that he has his own series.

There’s a great deal of action in this one. What with the mystery of the shadow monster and the dramatic change in Puck. We even get flashbacks to Puck’s past pre-Meghan that made for an interesting insight to his character. He was originally quite devious if I do say so myself. Then of course you have the added tension growing between Puck and Nyx. Though it takes time for true feelings to develop, there’s definitely chemistry of some kind right away.

The Iron Raven is the Puck novel we’ve waited years for and it delivers on all the marks! It’s a book that will keep you entertained and breathless all in one go! This is a novel no Iron Fey reader should miss out on because it’s pure gold!

 

 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 

 

The Iron Raven releases February 9, 2021