Book Review: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Traitor
by Julie Kagawa

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Paranormal / Romance / Faeries

Ages: 13 and up

This is the sixth novel set in the Iron Fey world, the second book in the Call of the Forgotten series. Here are my reviews of The Iron Knight and The Lost Prince.

I received an advance e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Description:


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.

My Thoughts:

Oh. Wow. This book is...Wow. I'm attempting to turn my incoherent sputterings of horror and glee into actual words. I laughed at Razor's antics, I sighed over the doomed romances of Ethan and Kenzie and Keirran and Annwyl, I scolded the characters (out loud, to my chagrin) and by the end I cried. And sputtered. And raged over the long months that that will have to pass before I can read the next book. This book was awesome. Possibly Julie Kagawa's most spectacularly evil novel yet.

Ethan and Kenzie attempt to return to normal life, which doesn't work so well when Kenzie's dad tries to get Ethan arrested for kidnapping. Turns out he doesn't like it when his terminally ill daughter disappears with a boy. I liked that he seems to finally be waking up and noticing Kenzie, even if it makes things that much more difficult for our hero. I also loved how Ethan has to learn how to protect Kenzie without treating her like glass. It's a thin line for someone as instinctively protective as him.

Keirran and Annwyl remind me of young lovers from a Shakespeare play; impulsive, wild-eyed and tragic. They just hurtle from obstacle to obstacle leaving disaster in their wake. Well, I can't really blame Annwyl as she is usually attempting to persuade Keirran to slow down and think before making bad decisions. However, he's the proverbial 'unstoppable force' and nothing slows him for long.

The Nevernever, already one of my favorite fictional worlds, is still practically a character in itself. The band of questers (for this book really is at its core a questing adventure) also take an interesting little side-trip into the Between and the magic-drenched city of New Orleans.

Questions I never thought to ask were answered in this book, like; why don't the Summer and Winter Courts mingle? I always thought it was a matter of politics and dissimilarity of magic, but what of there's a deeper reason? Ms. Kagawa continues to be one of my favorite authors for world-building.

However, she is also spectacularly evil. The ending of this book was so absolutely perfect and heartbreaking and completely, utterly, incontrovertibly mean. How can you do this to your loyal readers??? How can you torture us like this and make us wait who knows how long for the next book???

My only complaint for The Iron Traitor is that it ended. 

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme). Ratings may contain spoilers.

Profanity:
I rate it a a 7.10 for three uses of the f-word and some mid-level swearing.

Sexuality:
I give it a 2.10 for some brief, vague hinting and some kissing.

Violence: 
I rate it a 6.10 for fighting and murder.

                       Lieder Madchen