Series: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten

Hopping on my bike, I started pedaling toward the one place I’d always avoided until now. A place where, I hoped I would get some answers.
If the damn fey wanted me as an enemy, bring it on. I’d be their worst nightmare.

Well…it’s definitely not Ash and Meghan, but it’s a damn good attempt at making me forget them (Not that that’s even remotely possible). Kagawa chose to go back to the beginning, back to where it all started. It was Ethan, not Meghan, who began this journey by being stolen away and taken into the Nevernever…it was Ethan who Meghan risked her life to save and changed her and her family’s life forever. And it’s now Ethan who is all grown up, ready to take on those pesky fey-and it’s his turn to risk his heart as well.

I knew better than to let her in. Once you see Them, they’ll never leave you alone. They’ll never let you go. Maybe if I’d been strong, she wouldn’t be here with me as our seconds tick away, waiting to die.

I can’t say that this was as enthralling to me as the actual Iron Fey books, but I still cracked a million smiles and found I was giddy despite myself. The story, as a whole, was much more consistent than the book that started it all and never really wavered in it’s path to the end. Kagawa has a clear cut journey in mind and it’s going to be without a doubt a heartbreaking passage for Ethan as much as it was for Meghan(People might fight that book one was VERY consistent in the Iron Fey books-let me clarify-book one just wasn’t a favorite of MINE, so I found it to be less of a constant for me). It may not be all the same characters, for they have established their own lives, but they are fighting the same fight and finding newer, more elusive villains to face and conquer. Sure, we got some glimpses of our favorite characters-I mean, Ethan is the brother of the old main character and Kierran….well…he’s quite entwined with Meghan and Ash, I’d say :P.

Oh, yeah, I thought, remembering something then, from long ago. Grimalkin. He does that.

The story was mesmerizing, vivid, and imaginative-just like all the books before-but there was something different. It was from Ethan’s perspective. So maybe that’s why when a beautiful display of lights was strung through a massive tree and throughout a joyous festival, I was surprised to see the colorful and clear, yet simple, description of this image through Ethan’s eyes. It’s like Kagawa knows how to handle even the male POV without flubbing it up. That’s not to say males can’t have pretty thoughts, but the way she phrased them, his thoughts, was admirable and what I might imagine a boy would be thinking. She’s not like these other authors out there today simply producing male POVs to cash in or because it’s by popular demand…she just…does. She doesn’t need a reason to be a badass-she just is. I think, I think, that’s why she stands apart for me. It doesn’t matter what hurdle is thrown at her-she jumps it-and comes out looking like a diva on the other side.

I trailed off, as the tree behind Grimalkin flickered, then blazed with light. Kenzie gasped as neon lights erupted along the branches, like Christmas bulbs or those fiberglass trees in department stores. There were no wires or extension cords; the bulbs were growing right out of the branches. As the tree lit up, a swarm of multicolored fireflies spiraled up from the leaves and scattered to all parts of the forest, drifting around us like stray fireworks.
I blinked, dazzled by the display. Around us, the trees glimmered silver; trunks, leaves, branches and twigs shining as if they were made of polished metal. They reflected the drifting lights and turned the woods into a swirling galaxy of stars.

I loved the beginning so much. I actually loved being in Ethan’s dark and depressing little world. His existence isn’t that of his sister’s all those years ago-no, he has no qualms about wanting to fit in or find a girlfriend or win the affections of those around him. He isn’t what you’d have expected from that adorable little boy all those years ago. He has been stolen by the unknown foes of the modern world and has lived to tell the tale about it-but his life has been irrevocably changed. Not only can he see the evil (and some just pesky) fey that no one else sees, causing him all kiiiinds of trouble, but he has also lost his sister to one. She made a deal (unbreakable in the Fey world) with a certain dark prince to save [Ethan] him….and he came to collect-right in front of [Ethan]him and his mom-and then she fell in love with the winter prince. And he will never forgive or forget what happened-he will ALWAYS hate Prince Ash. Dun dun duuuuun.

I didn’t mind his presence that much; it was another figure I hated, another faery who sometimes waited in the shadows for his queen to return, who never came into the house. He was a legend, too, even more so than Glitch, as one of the three who had taken down the false king and stopped the war. He was also the only normal fey (besides Grimalkin, apparently) who could survive in the Iron Realm. The rumors of how he’d accomplished such an impossible task were long and varied, but the reason behind it was always the same. Because he’d fallen in love with the Iron Queen and would do anything to be with her.

I kinda liked that little twist^^^. I guess I just never imagined little Ethan holding a grudge-Hell, I figured all was okay in the world. But the minute we get in his head, we begin to see just how much he despises that world and the people residing in it. (Which prompted, as you might have guessed: “Awwww, poor Ash!!! He didn’t do nothin’..he just fell in love with a human giiiirrrllll!!) But I have to admit-it was absolutely heartbreaking to see his struggle with losing his sister. He misses her dearly, though he acts tough and tries to discount that fact, and mists up regularly at the thought of being so alone and without the person who had always been there for him and was a shoulder to lean on. It broke my heart.

“Ah.” Puck sighed, shaking his head as we headed into the forest. “This brings back memories.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Don’t they remind you of a pair, ice-boy, from way back when?”
Ash snorted. “Don’t remind me.”

I think it’s clear I loved Ethan’s POV, and I believe I know where the story might be heading. There is a dark path Ethan is embarking upon, and I don’t where it will end…just what’s possible. Many people didn’t like Kenzie. I don’t know how I feel about her-but as for book one, she was fierce, determined, loyal, and sweet. She hasn’t done enough to evoke any real emotion out of me, but something near the end did make me tear up a teeny-tiny-bit. So, I think she has tons of potential-and the emotion she drags out of Ethan? It was a force to be reckoned with and definitely something I can identify with. So, I will wait a bit to read the second because I’ve seen nothing on a third book….yet, but will not wait long…because book two looks to be darker than the first-and far more sinister than I imagined (Kagawa, you evil genius).

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Iron King #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Winter's Passage #1.5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Daughter #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna
The Iron Queen #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Summer's Crossing #3.5	The Iron Knight #4 Reviews: Chelsea
Iron's Prophecy #4.5 Reviews: Chelsea	The Lost Prince: Call of the Forgotten #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Iron Traitor:Call of the Forgotten #2
The Iron Warrior:Call of the Forgotten #3