This is Your Brain on Books: The Iron Knight

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
Published: 10-26-11 by Harlequin Teen

"My name--my True Name--is Ashallayn' darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl..."To cold 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 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. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

THIS REVIEW IS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH SPOILERS!
Here is my review of The Iron Queen (It was my 1st review ever!)

I really loved the first 3 books in this series, but this one was just ok. If you've read the summary then you know that this book focuses on Ash and Puck. I was looking forward to that since they are like oil and water and throwing them together for an entire book sounded awesome. But as much as I like them, they can't make up for the absence of Meghan, who is one of my favorite butt-kicking heroines.

emotional roller coaster - It's been clear since the start of the series that Julie Kagawa knows how to mess with our emotions. It hurts a lot at times, but I still love the fact that I'm overly emotionally invested in what happens to these characters.
Puck and Ash - It's always entertaining when these two are together, whether they're facing off or working together. It's a lot less lighthearted than what I remember from the other books, but just them being together constantly and the possibility of conflict there is exciting. It's the main thing that made me read this book.
journey - The entire journey to get Ash to Meghan is, of course, filled with insane obstacles. The creatures and the horrors that inhabit the NeverNever are so clever and challenging. I really enjoy seeing what crazy kind of thing will pop up next.

THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILERS ARE! Seriously, if you plan to read this book then skip this entire section and go look at the quotes!

flashback - There's a long flashback to when Ash wasn't just a moody bad boy, but a truly heartless ice prince playing games with the hearts of mortals. It was horrible to read through and that chapter felt so much longer than the others. Maybe it was needed to drive home the point of how awful Ash used to be, but I hated reading about it.
flash forward - This was something that bothered me possibly even more than Ariella. There is an agonizingly long 2 chapters where Ash and Meghan have a perfect life together. They even have a son. But reading it was like waiting for pinata to burst. I couldn't concentrate on what was going on with Ash's struggle of being mortal while Meghan never aged. My brain was too distracted with poking my emotions with a giant this-can't-be-real stick. I accept that it was necessary in order to show Ash what his mortality would be like, but it hurt my brain and my heart.
reunited - Meghan and Ash are only actually together for the teasingly short epilogue that lasts all of about 5 pages. Plus, Ash still has some fey magic in him - which he suggests might be enough to keep him from getting old. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm glad they have a happy ending. I nearly cried at the end of the Iron Queen. But if Ash still has fey magic in him, then what sacrifice is he making? He won't have to accept his weakened mortal body. He may not have to get old and die while his queen remains forever young. He's basically the same except that he gets to be with Meghan in the Iron Realm, and that feels like a cop-out to me.
Ariella - There's already a very significant love triangle going on between Puck, Meghan, and Ash. Resurrecting the love of the past is gonna complicate things quite a bit. So as Ash fights to get back to Meghan, now he has to struggle with Ariella suddenly being all "just kidding guys I was never dead!" Plus the fact that Puck was also in love with her. Geez - what is with these guys? Aren't there enough women in the NeverNever for each of them to have a girlfriend? Poor Puck can never catch a break with the ladies. Even the ones you thought were dead and now aren't dead still prefer ice-boy. I would have preferred if Ariella wasn't a "necessary" part of Ash's quest. All of his internal struggling with Meghan vs. Ariella seemed pointless to me. Obviously, he was going to choose Meghan.

"I'm going to kill you," I said softly, and Puck's eyebrows rose. "Not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon. Our past is catching up to us, Goodfellow, and this feud has gone on long enough." - Ash pg. 103
More strange objects floated by us: love letters and wristwatches, stuffed animals and limp balloons. Once, Puck reached down and snatched up a faded copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, grinned like an idiot and tossed it back into the river. - pg. 103