The Iron Traitor

October 15, 2013
Just when Ethan Chase thinks he's done with Faery, he's pulled back in. Fresh from his adventures in The Lost Prince (2012), Ethan thinks his biggest concern is his new girlfriend Kenzie's father, who reasonably objects to his leukemia-stricken teenage daughter disappearing and running off to New York with Ethan. But then Ethan's half sister, Meghan, the Iron Queen, comes to him because her son (Ethan's nephew), Keirran, has gone missing. Soon after, Keirran's beloved, the exiled Summer fey Annwyl, seeks Ethan's help--she too can't find Keirran, and as the Fade is quickly claiming her, she wishes to see him once more before dying. The search for Keirran brings Annwyl and Ethan, who's trying unsuccessfully to protect Kenzie from the fey world (a forced, predictable moment), to the New Orleans goblin market and right into the thick of things. The plot picks up, sweeping the heroes through temporary, dark-magic solutions, various otherworlds and encounters with familiar characters. Ethan and Keirran face parallel romantic storylines, each in love with someone facing imminent death, though Keirran's takes center stage as they struggle to save Annwyl. Additionally, a prophecy that's been hinted at finally comes into play at the climax, bringing major implications for characters and worlds alike--a major cliffhanger. A little slow to start, but once it does, readers won't want it to end. (Fantasy. 12-15)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Try as he might, Ethan Chase cannot escape the Fey. They kidnapped him as a child and now, at 18, he has been pulled back into the Nevernever, a realm he hoped never to see again. His previously unknown half-fey nephew has disappeared, and Ethan may be the only one who can locate him. Unaware of the prophecy foretelling his death at Kierran's hands (which is why his sister tried to keep the two apart), Ethan agrees to help Kierran find a way to save his love, Annwyl, from fading out of existence. When forays into dark magic fail to do anything more than prolong Annwyl's fate, their quest leads them deep into the Summer and Winter realms on an adventure that could mean death for them both. Once again, Kagawa utilizes forbidden love to drive her heroes into dangerous and unfamiliar territory. With Ethan's prophesied death looming over the story, readers will find themselves continuously on the edges of their seats. "Iron Fey" fans will revel in the reappearance of familiar characters and new readers will be drawn deep into a new and dangerous world. The final pages will leave readers breathlessly awaiting the next volume. Recommended for libraries owning previous titles in the series.-Jessica Miller, West Springfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013
Grades 8-12 When 17-year-old Ethan returns from finding his sister, the Iron Queen, in the complex and compelling Invisible World Kagawa has created in the Iron Fey series, he finds that his new, fully mortal girlfriend, Kenzie, is hospitalized, thanks to the leukemia that has weakened her immune system. In spite of Kenzie's father's sharp warning against Ethan in her life and pushed by the appearance of Ethan's nephew's true love, who is also in a weakened state, Ethan and Kenzie return to the fey realm to find Kierran and help him restore his love's life force. Kagawa never loses the pace or character development of her imaginative tale, and readers will be both absorbed and satisfied with the twists, turns, and gender politics of this latest episode.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)