ARC Review: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa
Published: October 29, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 342 (Paperback)
Series: Call of the Forgotten #2
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars 

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.

It feels like forever since I last read something that was part of the Iron Fey world and to be honest, I was a bit worried about that. Tastes change all the time and I was afraid that maybe I wouldn't enjoy the series as much anymore, but thankfully all my fears were for nothing. It seems like the Iron Fey and Call of the Forgotten will always have a special place in my heart. Any fans of the first series will love the spin off because it means more time in the Nevernever and a few appearances from old characters!

I especially loved how Ethan developed over the course of this book. The difference between him now and the Ethan at the start of the series is very obvious. He's no longer an asshole that pushes everyone away, instead he accepts that the fey are a part of his life and for the most part he opens up to Kenzie. It's clear that it's hard for  him to let Kenzie into that world that he lost his sister to because he's afraid of losing Kenzi too, but he makes an effort to let her in after he realizes that Kenzie is hard to get rid of and that he doesn't want to lose her.

Ethan and Kenzie's relationship in this book wasn't the main focus, but it was still pretty prominent. I think their relationship is adorable because Ethan tries so hard to be a good boyfriend and I think that's the cutest thing. I especially liked that Kenzie helped remind him that not everything about the fey is bad and that his judgement is normally pretty good. She's one of the only optimistic characters in this book and she has no reason to be, but I won't go into that because I don't want to spoiler anything for people that haven't read the first book.

I think my favorite character in this series is probably Keirran. He's just so complex and it's hard to tell which side he's on. I'm not a huge fan of him and Annwyl because there wasn't a build up to their relationship. The series started with them already in love, which makes it harder for me to root for them. It was also really nice to have a few of the old characters back, especially Puck. I didn't even know how much I missed him until he came back. I practically squealed whenever Ash appeared.

Overall The Iron Prince was a very intriguing book. I can't believe the ending because it was so unexpected and it's a cliffhanger. The wait for the next book is going to be a long one.

*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review