Review: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

Book: The Iron Traitor, Julie Kagawa

Series: The Call of the Forgotten #2

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: October 29^th, 2013

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.

This was a good book. Let me put that out there. It was really enjoyable, the cast of characters was great to read, and the story was exciting. Julie Kagawa is a great author, and the faery world is something unbelievably imaginative… I just don’t feel as attached to the world as I do her Blood of Eden series.

In the first book, I loved Ethan’s narrative and how different it was to Meghan’s. He was the grouchy teenager who just wanted the fey to leave him alone. But after his unwanted adventure with Keirran and Kenzie, he’s become more accepting in his role in the fey world, even though he would rather not be involved in their world at all. He isn’t as grouchy and angry in this book as he was in the first one, but his narrative was still really great. And I loved his growing relationship with Kenzie. Despite only knowing each other for about a week, their relationship was real and so strong. Ethan just wants to protect Kenzie from the dangers of the fey, and Kenzie’s stubborn and fearless attitude keeps rebutting him. They were definitely my favourite part.

However, it was really Keirran who caught my attention in this book. We found out that he and Annywl shared a deep and powerful love in The Lost Prince, despite it being forbidden. But with Annwyl fading due to being exiled, Kierran is willing to risk just about anything to keep her around, and he broke my heart and angered me at the same time. The hardest thing is to let someone you love go, and Kierran just isn’t able to do that. He ends up making some very questionable decisions and meddles in dark magic, which really made me worry about his character and what would happen to him.

The concept of this book was Ethan and Kenzie helping Kierran’s quest to save Annwyl. But Kierran’s actions and choices here really made me lose faith in his character. I loved him in The Lost Prince; he was funny and entertaining and as much of a warrior as his father. And even though he still retained those traits here, I felt disappointed in the lengths he went in this book, even going as far as to threaten Ethan and Kenzie’s lives, despite how willing they were to stick with Kierran until the end. Kenzie, especially, wouldn’t let him do anything alone. Towards the end even Ethan begins to doubt his trust in his nephew – but will stick with him to stay by Kenzie’s side.

Despite the disappointment of Kierran’s character, I still enjoyed this book. Kagawa’s faery world is something amazing, and so imaginative. I just love it. And we get supporting/cameo roles of Ash, Puck and Grimalkin as well, which is always great to see. I’d love to see Puck and Grim more often, but I understand this isn’t their story; their adventure has ended. And seeing Ash as a father was pretty great, I won’t lie. Now to see Meghan be a mom!