Author: Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

A lifelong reader of all things YA and books with heartfelt moments that punch you with all the feels. Currently expanding my reading interests to encompass anything that makes me feel deep and resonate with the characters
3 star, YA

Review: The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Iron Fey: Evenfall #2

As Evenfall nears, the stakes grow ever higher for those in Faery…

Banished from the Winter Court for daring to fall in love, Prince Ash achieved the impossible and journeyed to the End of the World to earn a soul and keep his vow to always stand beside Queen Meghan of the Iron Fey. 

Now he faces even more incomprehensible odds. Their son, King Keirran of the Forgotten, is missing. Something more ancient than the courts of Faery and more evil than anything Ash has faced in a millennium is rising as Evenfall approaches. And if Ash and his allies cannot stop it, the chaos that has begun to divide the world will shatter it for eternity.

Book 2 in the Evenfall series and I’m starting to wonder if perhaps this series has started losing its charm on me. The Iron Sword marks the 9th book – NINTH – in this Iron Fey world Julie has created. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adored it. Fairies were all the rage in the early 2010s, and may be making a mini comeback with the surge of some popular series recently. Yet there’s just something off that made me enjoy this book less than I had anticipated.

First off, let me just say that I absolutely ADORE Ash. He had his own POV book once before, in the fourth book of the overall series, and I gobbled it up like a pie straight out of the oven (not that I do that often). While Meghan was a fine protagonist, I wanted to see the world as he did, this old fey who had lived many human lives and seen the inner workings of the Winter court. He was their cruel prince (ha ha) until he fell in love and sought to become partially human by gaining a soul.

Fast forward some other doomsday prophecy the entire gang defeated – did I mention I missed the middle series and have yet to read them because I didn’t like Meghan’s brother who had grown up to be a very surly teenager? – and now there’s yet another problem coming to bite the entire land of fey known as the Nevernever. Does anyone get a break? Clearly not as Robin Goodfellow aka Puck so cheerfully pointed out. He was the protagonist of book 1 in this Evenfall series which was fun and wild as I imagined he would be, but I was more surprised and eager to know Ash would be the main POV here.

Now, I find myself here with very uncertain thoughts even after some time towards this book.

The nostalgia factor was definitely high with this one and I can’t fault it for leaning into it. Familiar faces from ALL the books make its way into this storyline and it was great to see. Julie is an excellent storyteller and can weave all these appearances as part of the plot. I didn’t mind that at all. I fell back into this world like it hadn’t been a decade since I first found this magical realm just under the human eye.

Likewise, Julie is great with the plot in the sense that it always feels like an adventure. From trekking through the Between to search for Keirran to finding interesting sources in the human world to aid them on their quest, the gang never stays just in one place or with just one task. Things move along and that’s GOOD. However, sometimes it felt like their tasks were very minor and we didn’t really get to see what it was leading towards until near the very end. Maybe this once didn’t bother me if this was a normal pattern before, but it definitely wasn’t my favourite thing to get to the climax and only then feel the adrenaline surging for “the end of the world”.

Also, how many times can the world be ending? I swear, each of these 3 series faces one doomsday prophecy and it’s starting to get old. Does nothing else exciting besides the ENTIRE fate of all the worlds happen to them all?

The only saving grace for this book and its rating is definitely because of Ash. The first prince I ever loved (who wasn’t human). Can exhibit sweetness but only to those he really cares for, and full of disgruntled charm and deadly grace in fighting. I liked that it explored his struggle with his darker, Unseelie side he thought had been vanquished when he earned his soul. Book 1 explored it with Puck which was a highlight for that book, but I liked the internal monologue we got to see up close for Ash who on the outside wouldn’t voice a thing about what was going on inside.

The ending was also just starting to get exciting. At least now I know what the heck Evenfall is, and so does the entire gang in the story, so I’m hoping the next book (please say it’s the last one in the series) will at least move into the penultimate battle against this new Big Bad. I will make one comment and say that no matter how many offshoots and tangents this series goes, Julie’s writing leaves doors open like this where it can be explored if given the opportunity. I don’t think she intended 9 books for this world, but the fact that little Easter eggs were hidden to explore further from even the very first book shows the breadth of her imagination for this world she’s built. And that, at least, is something to look forward to.

Overall Recommendation:

I’m happy to say The Iron Sword held up well with its portrayal of Ash who now gets the hot seat POV again while bringing in all the old faces from all the previous books together for another doomsday adventure. If it weren’t for him and the dive into his internal struggle against his old nature, I’m not sure what I’d do. Written in Julie Kagawa’s style, the nostalgic OG group sets off on another adventure through the Nevernever and the human realm to seek out the meaning of Evenfall and how to prevent it. Some of the earlier quests felt a little unnecessary and slow but the climax proved interesting enough to continue as they race against yet another end of the world scenario (hopefully their last one). While it’s becoming clearer that I’m outgrowing this series a little, I’m glad to see I haven’t outgrown Ash. If I could bottle up Ash into all the books I read, I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all.

covers

Birthstone Covers: May 2022

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Leslie @ Books Are The New Black created a fun monthly post featuring book covers that fit the birthstone of the month.This can be the color of the cover or the color in the title.

Anyone can join, just be sure to give credit where it’s due.

I’m doing this a little earlier this month, but May’s birthstone is so aptly chosen for this time of year. It’s emerald, baby, and it’s gorgeoussss. The dark green hues just remind me to spring and the growth of everything around me (plus my allergies but we don’t have to talk about that).

As I’ve done with the other months, I’ve picked an assortment of book covers I hope represent this birthstone well. If you enjoy a book or two on this list, please give a shout out in the comments below!

Continue reading “Birthstone Covers: May 2022” →
3.5 star, adult

Review: A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Elements of Cadence #1

House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch’s Heart in Rebecca Ross’s brilliant first adult fantasy, set on the magical isle of Cadence where two childhood enemies must team up to discover why girls are going missing from their clan.

Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instill fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.

As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.

With unforgettable characters, a fast-paced plot, and compelling world building, A River Enchanted is a stirring story of duty, love, and the power of true partnership, and marks Rebecca Ross’s brilliant entry on the adult fantasy stage.

If I could use one word to describe A River Enchanted, it would be this: folklore. Cue the Taylor Swift music, please.

Although the synopsis makes it sound like there are only 2 protagonists, in reality, we follow 4 individuals pretty equally. This is Rebecca Ross’ foray into adult literature and I wasn’t sure at first what to expect from that. I love her YA fantasies so I hoped it would still be in the same vein but perhaps with different themes.

And boy, it was an interesting read indeed. I will quickly break down a couple of my thoughts that overall led to my rating.

Writing style

Fortunately for me, the writing was just the way I remember it being in Rebecca’s YA novels, so if you fell in love with her writing in her past titles, this one’s still got it and more.

The prose was so descriptive and lush that it really brought forth this magical isle full of different spirits and the people who inhabit it. You can also tell that the author did her research because the language she uses, especially certain vocabulary, is definitely not what we would regularly in modern times. It fit the feel of the world, something separate from what we know here and now, and reminiscent of the Scottish wilds.

In this way, I was really drawn into the story and the characters, which is what I will talk about next.

MCs and their unique characterizations

From the 2 MCs I thought we would follow, it became 4, and I loved it even more that way. Jack and Adaira were childhood rivals and that tension was still somewhat there upon Jack’s return to the isle after a decade away on the mainland. These two are in their early twenties but I can see the influence of the YA tropes in their story. They felt younger and worried more about their relationship and their future in the clan.

On the other hand, Torin and Sidra (in their later twenties or early thirties I believe) really made the story fit into the adult genre more. I actually loved their romance more than Jack and Adaira’s. They wed it seemed out of convenience when Torin’s first wife died, but it didn’t necessarily mean there was love between them. Their worries focused on Torin’s young daughter with his first wife, a particularly important worry as the isle has been losing their young girls recently, a point I’ll get back to later.

While I’m normally a HUGE lover of all the teen tropes and coming of age stories, I rather enjoyed the other themes drawn into the book because we have a range of protagonists. Each voice was unique as each individual struggled with different things. Jack never belonged on the isle, even more so after his absence for so long, and he fought his insecurities all the time. Adaira had the weight of the clan on her shoulders as the heiress, and fought to do what was right by them at even her own personal cost.

Torin struggled to keep his family a priority while also sacrificing so much of himself to keep the entire clan safe from their rival clan across the border. There was a lot of guilt hanging over him and it was an interesting exploration. Lastly, Sidra was probably my favourite character and brought the struggle of faith to the forefront as it seemed the spirits she believed in her whole life, especially for her healing abilities, were letting her down with the loss of each girl.

When I think of adult books, I still want to know the characters instead of just stereotypes. I definitely feel Rebecca carries this in her writing regardless of genre and I’m so grateful for that.

Plot and its downfalls

So why wasn’t this a 5 star read like the last book I read from Rebecca Ross?

Simple. It really ends up at the plot. This is a fantasy book and they’re generally plot-driven. Preferably, the best kinds are balanced with plot and character, and the character component in this book I have already extolled as great.

The plot wasn’t complex, although I did enjoy the mysteries surrounding the missing girls. I loved the world building, don’t get me wrong, and I never felt like a load of information dump was placed on me at any time. Everything felt organic.

It just came about really slow. Essentially, Jack and Adaira attempt maybe 3 things to get a lead on who was stealing the girls, but it’s split apart by a lot of talking. Of course, this lends to the character building but it just didn’t move things along very well.

Likewise, Torin does a lot of searching the entire lands but all it leads to is more questions and some off-shoot tidbits that MAY lead somewhere in the next book. Can a girl just ask for a little more speed?

That’s not to say that the entire plot was bad. It definitely wasn’t, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong about a simple main plot line. I did like the “twists” that came about near the end with secrets starting to unfold. I’m super excited for book 2 to come out to see where it all goes, but as a book within itself, I feel the plot may lose people at times as our 4 MCs meander their way to solving the mystery.

Overall Recommendation:

A River Enchanted marks an excellent adult fantasy debut for Rebecca Ross with its lush storytelling and world building that draws you into this magical isle filled with spirits living among the inhabitants. I was definitely not disappointed to see such amazing characterizations of not 2, but in fact 4, protagonists as they navigate the disappearance of several young girls from their clan. It’s part mystery and part folklore awe that drives you to continue reading, although the pacing was rather slow for a good portion of it. If you can stick through the slower bits, which on the other hand allows for excellent character building, this story delivers a fascinating tale of rival clans, magic that harnesses the spirits, and relationships running deeper than blood.