The Iron Knight 
(Iron Fey #4) 
by Julia Kagawa

Published October 25th 2011
361 Pages

Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing. Unless he can earn a soul. To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought. Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive. With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side. To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale. And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Why I Pick This Up: Really excited to see how it would all end. A little weary of a different POV though. 

Why You Should Read It: A great series! A new perspective on Ash both good and bad.

A slow beginning through part 1 for me. But as the story moved on and Ash, Puck, Grimalkin, and the Big Bad Wolf find the seer and truly begin their journey, the book drew me in. Ash made a promise to Meghan that he would not stop until he found a way to be with her. Puck comes along for the journey and they make a wonderful team. I find their fighting so entertaining. "Hey, ice-boy, you okay? You've got your brooding face on again." Puck is definitely such a saving grace during this book. He keeps it light and entertaining when Ash is dark and brooding. Although Puck is still sad and regretful when it comes to losing Meghan to Ash. He still breaks my heart. I love Puck so much.

The seer is going to lead them to the End of the World! There Ash will be able to face the trials and finally earn a mortal soul which will allow him to enter and live in the Iron Realm. But Ash has a deep past with the seer and has more new choices than he wanted available to him. An exciting ride along the river of dreams and through a lost and forgotten area of fae, Ash finally reaches the testing grounds. Through three rigorous and gruesome tests, Ash must face what being mortal will truly mean to him. A future where he will grow old and weak, a soul where he will live with true regret of horrible past actions, a body where he will not be as fast and deadly. When Ash visits all his past mistakes I was truly horrified. I even cried for all the lives he destroyed. It was definitely worse than I thought. But through it all one thing Ash has always been is persistent and in love. He will do whatever it takes to be with Meghan so I have to give him a little credit for that. An amazing ending and I will leave it at that because I sadly accidentally read a ton of spoilers for this book before I read it and I don't want to do the same to others.

"Meghan Chase!" Puck roared, startling me into silence. I blinked, and he sneered at me. "Yeah, your highness. I know what lost is. I've loved that girl since before she knew me. But I waited. I waited because I didn't want to lie about who I was. I wanted her to know the truth before anything else. So I waited, and I did my job. For years, I protected her, biding my time, until the day she went into the Nevernever after her brother. And then you came along. And I saw how she looked at you. And for the first time, I wanted to kill you as much as you wanted to kill me.

Rating: 4/5 Knight swords!