Review: An awesomely fun summer read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2011
Oh, Puck. Puck, Puck, Puck. I seriously think you're now my favorite character (Sorry, Meghan, you've come in second, and Ash, you in third) in the "Iron Fey" series. I absolutely LOVED this novella - but there one was one pitfall. It was FAR too short for my liking. 57 pages? Not long enough even for a novella! I wanted more, and I still want more. It's going to be a very long wait until October when "Iron Knight" comes out.I had a feeling that Leanansidhe wasn't done with Ash after the third book ("The Iron Queen"). I won't spoil this fun little side quest that Ash and Puck take at her request (note to self: do not ever, ever, ever make a deal in Faery unless it's to save a life!), but I love the fact that we finally get to see Puck's POV in first person, that we get to see the workings of his wonderfully mischievous little brain. My heart kind of ached with him when he talked about his relationship to Meghan, mostly because I've been in his position so many times myself (and unfortunately for me, it's never really ended well).And then comes the Moral Dilemma (tm): will Puck act for himself, or will he help his friend in this quest? What IS the ultimate goal of Leanansidhe's request in terms of "what's in it for Puck?". Finally, Kagawa makes us ask ourselves the same thing if we were put in his place. Would we act out of love for our friends? Or would the temptation of fulfilling one's most ultimate, dire wish control our actions instead? I love how Kagawa inserts this dilemma without shoving it down our throats, unlike a lot of the YA genre where the Moral of the Story is the ultimate goal of the author at the end of day. Here, it's about having fun with a side of seriousness attached. At least, that's the sense I got.Anyway, we need more of Puck's POV. Badly. And another novella with Ash's POV would be great (just to even things out - I get kind of OCD that way about my series and characters and such). This was just such a delightful read, and should be on anyone's summer reading list - after the first three novels (and first novella) first, though. Otherwise you might get a bit too lost. Definitely awesome, making my best of 2011 list. Be proud, Puck! You didn't have to trick me to win my heart.(crossposted to librarything, shelfari, goodreads, and witchoftheatregoing.)