Review: The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

Book: The Iron Warrior, Julie Kagawa

Series: The Call of the Forgotten #3

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: October 27^th, 2015

The Iron Prince—my nephew—betrayed us all.

He killed me.

Then, I woke up.

Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned to learn that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was temporarily torn away. Although humankind's glimpse of the world of Faery lasted just a brief moment, the human world has been cast into chaos, and the emotion and glamour produced by fear and wonder has renewed the tremendous power of the Forgotten Queen. Now, she is at the forefront of an uprising against the courts of Summer and Winter—a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.

Leading the Lady's Forgotten Army is Keirran himself: Ethan's nephew, and the traitor son of the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase.To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, search for answers long forgotten. In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethan's enemies must become his allies, and the world of the fey will be changed forevermore. 

Well, we’ve made it folks. The final Iron Fey book. Our very last trip to this magical world. No more faeries, or cat siths, or legends. Julie Kagawa went all out with this book and made it my favourite out of Ethan’s story.

After that horrible cliffhanger in The Iron Traitor, we discover that Ethan is not actually dead (we all knew that, though didn’t we?). However, the Veil between humans and faeries was lifted temporarily during his “death” and The First Queen used that brief period when humans could see faeries to gain a lot more power, and she’s now powerful enough to rage war on the other courts in the Nevernever, with Kierran leading her army.

I said in my review for The Iron Traitor how mad I got at Kierran’s decisions in that book, and his character didn’t change for most of this book. He’s acting like a complete douche that I'm really angry at. He lost his soul because of an amulet he’s wearing and it’s causing him to act all cold and heartless, totally unlike the Kierran we first met.

Ethan must once again venture on an adventure into the Nevernever in order to save his nephew, as well as all of Faery. While there’s still a part of him that resents being such a large part of the Faery world, he has accepted his destiny and is determined to do whatever it takes to save them and his family.

"Before Kenzie and Kierran crashed into my life, before the Forgotten and the Lady, before the Nevernever chose me as its human champion, I hadn't wanted anything to do with the fey. I'd barely wanted anything to do with my immortal family. Everything was different now. I was willing to give up a lot more, even my own life, to save everything I'd once despised."

And can I just add how much his character has grown over the last three books? Our angry, snarky, rude teenager is gone and in his place we have a mature young adult who has learned to let people in and accept help when he needs it. His sarcasm was still great to read but it’s no longer angry and sullen. He realises how important family is to him and accepting who they are, especially Meghan’s new family and finally making peace with her decision.

And my sweet, wonderful Kenzie. She was just as wonderful here as she was in the previous books - confident and selfless and stubborn. She has learned quite a few tricks about dealing with the faeries, and just as Ethan is strong with his swords, Kenzie is strong with her words. The two of them work incredibly well together and while Ethan would prefer Kenzie stay back and wants to protect her, he’s also realised that he wouldn’t have survived without her. They were by far my favourite part of the book and…. Gah they were just so adorable!

So what happens in this book? With Kierran leading The First Queen’s army, Kenzie, Ash, Meghan and Ethan are determined to save him before the other courts kill him for his betrayal. The amulet that Kierran wears around his neck to save his love, Annwyl, from being faded is now eating his soul and the longer he wears it, the darker he gets. The only way to save him is to destroy the amulet, which is not easily destroyed. And how will Ethan destroy the amulet knowing that Annwyl will not survive?

This book was amazing beginning to end. It never slowed down and I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen. And don’t get me started on the feels. My God, my poor heart couldn’t handle all those feels.

Many characters from the first three books make appearances here, and enemies all join up to defeat the common enemy.

A wonderful ending to a wonderfully imaginative series. I'm sad to say goodbye to this world.