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The One Where I LOVED The Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa #BookReview #YA #Fantasy #FAE #IronFeySeries ☆☆☆☆☆

Published on February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

You may have heard of me…
Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool… King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.
With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

Julie Kagawa has done it AGAIN.

I am so giddy, because The Iron Raven was just perfection. We get to go back to the world of the Iron Fey, meet up with all of our favorite characters, explore some old hurts, meet new interesting characters, and FURTHER explore this magical world.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for ~~not sucking~~ exceeding expectations.

🗡️ PUCK was SO much fun to read about! I love that he becomes more than just the jester, or Meghan’s best friend/romance rival to Ash. There is still resentment that Puck has to deal with, but that only makes him human and I appreciated that we get to see him work through his emotions and get to the bottom of them. Puck’s descent into wickedness allows Julie Kagawa to explore not only the good side of Puck, but the way he used to be the feared Robin Goodfellow.

The Iron Raven also works to flesh out the world of the Fey, and showcases Puck’s past. There are stories set in the past that speak to Puck’s evolution from Robin Goodfellow to Puck, and I enjoyed every single one of them. Specially, the one about when Puck met Ash. I am a total Ash fan, but even I can admit this is the story in which Puck shines leaving Ash in the background (as it should be) while still bringing back the old scooby gang. We get to tour the Iron Realm as it stands today (lots of bug contraptions), and even re-visit some old haunts. I love the descriptions of the different Fey and how distinct they are–I like to picture the forgotten as the Heartless from KH, and the Iron Fey (while being superior in every way) still manage to be kind/weird/quirky in true Meghan fashion.

Yeah that’s right, we get to hang out with Meghan again! We also see Ash, Kierran (briefly–he is much less ROMEO in this one and much more badass), and Grimalkin. I also loved the new characters! Nyx, a forgotten who used to protect The Lady, awoken from her slumber, an assassin with a tragic past, and Coaleater, a descendant from Iron Horse who serves to be the tank of the group.

All in all Julie Kagawa managed to create an RPG team out of the group: Puck (the bard), Meghan (the dark mage), Ash (the swordsman), Nix (the assassin), Coaleater (the tank), and Grim… the know it all? He doesn’t fight so he really doesn’t count.

The new baddie is interesting and brings new life unto the world. The characters are a joy to return to, the world is further expanded and fun to explore, Puck is both his worst self and his best self and I enjoyed getting to read about both sides of him. I think we got a winner and I can’t wait for the sequel!

PS; I find it funny this story can still be classified as YA–no explicit scenes-but all the characters are like eternal Fae that got stuck as teenagers somehow. Golden.

PPS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!

Publication date: FEB 09, 2021

336 PAGES

BY Inkyard Press

The Camelot Betrayal (Camelot Rising #2) by Kiersten White #BookReview #YA #ArthurianRetelling #Magic #Chaos ☆☆☆☆

Published on November 18, 2020 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom’s influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.
Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde, Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen’s knight, and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere–the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn’t belong. She never will.
When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving–Camelot, or herself?

“The constant dissonance of being both queen and witch, Guinevere and not-Guinevere, was disorienting. It would be so much simpler to be just one thing.”

We are BACK in Camelot! Dare I say, it is looking better than ever. It could be because of the addition of Sir Lancelot, could be the borderline dirty dreams Guinevere keeps having of Mordred (yes girl, get it), or it could be that there is danger on the horizon due to the big bad having been resurrected at the end of Camelot Rising #1. Any of those are valid.

I loved that Guinevere got to have her own quest this time around. All of her choices are difficult, and unlike Merlin she doesn’t have the foresight to know if what she is doing will eventually damage or help humanity. It is her constant struggle, apart from not really knowing who she is or where she belongs. She wants to belong in Camelot, to fight the good fight, even though her heart is calling her to the forest, the chaos, Mordred…

I’m just going to outright say it–I am team Mordred and not Team Arthur. I just can’t buy into the Guinevere/Arthur pairing. He is so vanilla, and she is fire. He treats her like a friend, like a business partner, and not a lover or someone he has any romantic feelings towards. Even their “romantic” interactions felt awkward.

Aside from the little romance we get with Guinevere, there is a lot more of Tristan and Isolde and Brangien. We get their full story with new developments! I really enjoyed that entire side of the story–I also liked how Kiersten White structured the stories inside the book–kind of like real life fairytales inside the book with their own twists that shed light into different aspects of Arthurian legends (specially when it comes to the woman’s POV versus the male). It gave them a more magical feel than just the characters discussing among themselves what happened. We get a lot of revelations, some more surprising than others, but still I can’t wait for the next book because I NEED ANSWERS.

The ending left us in this sort of cliffhanger, yearning for answers. The first book in the series started off slow, but The Camelot Betrayal lit a fire to the story. I cannot wait for the sequel (and the probably gorgeous cover that will come along with it).

PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!