Fans of the Iron Fey series, rejoice. Puck, our favorite trickster, finally has his own book and it’s everything we hoped for and more. If you haven’t read the series *clutches heart in pain* you have been missing out. While the author does a great job in catching up the reader on things you need to know, I would still highly recommend reading The Iron Fey series beforehand since this book will be heavy on spoilers. Plus, you get to meet Ash (swoon).

“Sit down, get some popcorn, and I’ll tell you the sordid tale of how Robin Goodfellow grew a conscience.”
“A long time ago,” I began in a grand voice, “in a galaxy far, far away… Wait, hold up. Wrong story. Lemme try that again.”

Ah, Puck. How I have missed your wit and sarcasm. I never thought I’d ever get a story for him and this book gave me so much nostalgia that I had to reread the Iron Fey series. The Iron Raven takes place years after the events of previous books where we get to live inside the head of Puck aka Robin Goodfellow, a scary and delightfully funny place to be. The Nevernever has been quiet, but underneath simmers a darkness that lurks in the shadows, the likes of which the gang has never had to deal with before. When Kieran, King of the Forgotten, tells Puck of some mysterious incidents concerning the Between, Puck decides to tag along with him and check it out. And when Kieran introduces him to Nyx, I can’t tell you how hard I laughed. The fact that Puck finally meets Nyx, a Forgotten who has never heard of the famous and infamous trickster, his mind is blown.

“And you are?”
“Robin Goodfellow. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.” She pondered that a moment, then shook her head.
“No,” she said clearly. “I don’t think I have.”
“What?” I almost choked on the word. Nyx continued to watch me, completely serious and straight-faced. I waved a hand at an imaginary me off to the side. “Robin Goodfellow. Puck? The famous trickster from stories, poems, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream? The one who gave Nick Bottom a donkey head and made Queen Titania fall in love with him? Everyone knows who I am.”
“Robin Goodfellow.” She made a point of thinking it over for another moment, then firmly shook her head again. “No, I’m afraid it’s not a name I’ve heard before.”

Danger dogs their feet and when something they’ve never dealt with before nearly kills them, it’s soon clear that they are in way over their head and are going to need the help of the royal court and most importantly, the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase and the Winter Prince, Ash.

“I felt a twinge of nostalgia, of familiarity; how many times had I done this— me and my two closest friends, following an annoying cait sith toward an unknown destination? Circumstances would be different, and our allies would change, but somehow, it was always us four— me, Meghan, Ash, and Grimalkin, on a quest to save the Nevernever once again.”

But the danger isn’t only in the Nevernever. Puck has a little…..problem and things just got more interesting. With glimpses of past Puck, his competitive moments with Ash, his beginnings with Oberon, we will get to know more about Puck than we ever have before.

“A very long time ago, back when the world was younger and much less civilized, the name Robin Goodfellow had inspired as much fear as any demon or devil today, but it wasn’t anything I’d want to go back to.”

It brought me an infinite amount of joy reading some of my favorite characters in an all new adventure. It felt like I was getting to see some old friends again. Let me not forget the addition of Nyx, who’s a total badass and has thrown Puck for a loop. Hello, love interest! These two are total opposites, where Puck is mischief incarnate and Nyx couldn’t be any more serious if she tried but it worked so well, and added even more hilarity to their interactions. And that ending!!! Holy mother of hangovers, give me the next book right now! What cruelty to make me wait for another book. I can not wait for book two!

“Sleeping is one of my favorite things to do, after all. And all the activities that come before sleeping as well.”…
“I, too, enjoy the activities that come before sleeping,” she said. “Quite a lot, in fact. Come find me, and I’ll show you what they are.”
And before my eyes, she shimmered, like a beam of moonlight across a glass window, and disappeared. “O-kaaaaaaaay.”

The Iron Raven immediately drew me into its faery world and kept me entertained and delighted until I had no choice but to leave.

What I Loved

I liked Puck as Shakespeare imagined, but I fell in love with the character as Kagawa imagined. Puck is not my favorite character in this story, but he is a close second, and he narrates the story. Being in his head let me know him so thoroughly, and I honestly don't think I know any real people quite as well. Puck is fierce and fearless yet still holds that mischievousness that is his trademark. Puck is a trickster, and no matter how much he grows and changes, that aspect will always be a part of him.

My favorite character, however, is the Iron Queen. Meghan Chase is the half-human daughter of the all-powerful King Oberon. She was never meant to enter the fairy world and instead live out her perfectly ordinary human life in the mortal world. But she did come to the faery world, realized her powers, and is now the iron faeries' leader. She is strong in magic and her convictions, and she's an inspiring female character that leads with a balance of heart, head, and magical strength.

The world-building is immersive and detailed down to the smallest element. All my senses engaged as I explored Nevernever, from the Iron Court's ingenious inventions to the pricks of the bramble to the beautiful music played in the heat of battle. I just loved getting lost in this world, and I can't wait to visit once again.

The themes of the transformative power of love and the importance of forgiveness – neither part of the fay's natural state of being – were moving and made me happy to be human even with all of the human flaws that walk hand in hand with the more powerful aspects. Puck's story is surprisingly touching at times, and his relationship with another character shocked me with its quick intensity that I'm pretty sure made me blush. I'm curious to see how and if these themes will wind their way through the whole trilogy and how they will grow and develop.

The pace is fast as I jumped from one adventure to another, and the tone is one of urgency as it fits the story. This makes the pages flip by so fast, only to be slowed down by my reluctance to leave a world that I quickly grew to love. This is the first book in a planned trilogy, but it concludes satisfyingly, still leaving the perfect amount of breadcrumbs leading to the next book.

To Read or Not to Read

If you love fantasy and enjoy the world of the fay, you won't want to miss this immersive new book set in a uniquely creative world that you will be reluctant to leave.

The Iron Raven is a book that has a little something for everyone, but mostly a whole lot of fun. The protagonist, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, the self-proclaimed greatest trickster, discovers there is a dark and evil presence that is threatening the land of the Forgotten and its king.

After trying to battle this creature, Puck now has a vested interest in destroying it, so he and a unique group of faeries travel to the Iron Realm to warn Meghan, the Iron Queen, of this strange creature that can deflect glamour and curse faeries with a touch.

Once in the Iron Realm, the story really takes off. Queen Meghan and her Ice Prince, Ash, are Puck’s long-time friends, but Ash and Puck have become rivals over time so there is constant tension. Now they must hunt this evil together if they don’t kill each other first.

Kagawa takes time to fill in much of Puck’s backstory, taking us back centuries, even mentioning how some guy named Shakespeare wrote about him. You’ll find your kings and queens, mythical creatures and fey that can throw glamour around like it's confetti. But what makes this story unique is the humor, snark, and sass. Puck has a sarcastic thing to say for just about everything, but oh wait, the great Puckster may be showing he has a heart for love again.

I loved how Kagawa built the Iron Realm to be very steampunk. And there’s a feline-like creature who accompanies them on their journey who reminded me of one Cheshire Cat.

This is a fun and fantastical story you won’t want to miss.
This book is out on February 9th.

Thank you to @harpercollins and @netgalley for an advanced digital copy.

I was so excited to hear that this is a story from the POV of Puck and that we are finally getting more faery novels! I really wasn't sure what to expect from this story, but I wasn't disappointed with the delightful and entertaining story that we got. I wouldn't say that this book really adds a lot in the way of development to the overall story and Iron Fey series, but I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with Puck and especially from his POV. Kagawa still has a wonderful prose style that is comfortable to follow and really allows the reader to become immersed in the story. I am certainly curious to see where this story will go next!

Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of The Iron Raven in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist
I had the strangest déjà vu when I first saw the name and the cover of Kagawa’s newest book. I swear I saw this book years ago and put it on my to-read list. Goes to show how one can be truly mistaken.

Regardless, I have heard of the author’s other series, The Iron Fey, and the first book has been on my to-read list for a very long time. Sadly, I haven’t had the chance to read it yet.

This new series, based on The Iron Fey stories, can be read without prior knowledge of the former series, although it would add to your reading pleasure and certainly has me now intrigued to give them a try.

The Details
As I said before, I had no prior knowledge of the background that The Iron Raven comes with. But that didn’t really hinder or spoil any enjoyment of the story.

Even in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Puck used to be my favourite character. Having an entire book narrated from his perspective was a lot of fun.

Puck is witty, sarcastic and a bit of a shit-disturber, yet he has remarkable depth and dimension.
He isn’t just some one-liner delivering jester that breaks up the monotony of the slightly traveling troupe style story.

A few people may gasp in shock at my next statement, I just can’t help myself: I did not like the Iron Queen or Ash. Perhaps that’s because I don’t know the details of their story.

I just found them slightly boring and annoying. The Iron Queen would state a fact or observe something, but her delivery felt flat and uninspiring.

Ash’s almost perceptible smiles or grimaces of emotional pain were just not my cup of tea.

The character of Nyx is my absolute favourite and I always perked up a little when she was present in any scene.

The story was relatively fast-paced, even though at some point I was thinking that they haven’t even left the Shire yet and it’s the halfway point in the book.

The writing was very good and kept me engaged in the story. I appreciated the sarcastic and witty style that held up nicely throughout the story.

The Verdict
Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was a fun adventure/fantasy story that put a smile on my face. Something that doesn’t happen too often these days, unfortunately.

This story certainly piqued my interest in The Iron Fey series.

I would definitely recommend The Iron Raven.

If you are familiar with the series this book is from Puck's point of view, if your not familiar, yes, it is the same Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. With this is a spin off of the Iron Fey series you don't have to have read those first. This is another hit book from Author Julie Kagawa so don't miss out.

This will appear on my blog Feb (th

Oh how the times have changed! I remember reading the Iron King for the first time when it came out. At the time, it was fantastic! An epic romance, building on the YA trend of fantasy love triangles that was so prominent back in the early 2010s. Unfortunately, the series did not age as well as one would hope, recently rereading the entire series in preparation for this new spinoff. There is only so many times you can be thrust into the YA trope of summarizing your entire life story in the first several pages before you're just exhausted. That's what rereads are for! Additionally, if I heard "My name is..." one more time, there was a large chance I never would have made it to this book. I'm thankful I did. Julie Kagawa has matured as a writer greatly in the past 10 years, writing a novel that is lyrical, beautiful, and an absolute joy to read. Puck's journey is raw and it's amazing to see both sides of a guy who we saw so happy, but knew he was so hurt by Meghan's actions and constant dismissals. You're drawn it almost immediately and it's such a joy to get a refreshing new entry into the Iron Fey world.

There isn't much more I can say except thank you to Julie for giving us a modern entry into her Iron Fey world and making it so enjoyable.

I haven't read the other books in this series but I really enjoyed reading from this character's POV. I was sucked in from the first chapter and needed to know what was going to happen!

Title: The Iron Raven
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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.

It's been a long time since I’ve read anything set in this world. Like, a really long time. But I remember Puck. He was always a character I loved. So, it was fun to read his story. The voice of this novel is perfect for his story, too.

Of course, all of faerie—and the human world—is at stake (it wouldn’t be a Kagawa book if it weren’t), but seeing the “old” Puck, a.k.a Robin Goodfellow, was the most unsettling part of this novel. Seeing Meghan and Ash again was great, too, but I think I need to go back and re-read all the other books again, so I feel a bit more up-to-speed. This was an excellent read. A touch of nostalgia, but Puck is front and center—and larger than life.

Julie Kagawa is a bestselling author. The iron Raven is her newest novel, the first book in The Iron Fey: Evenfall.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 2/8.)

The nostalgia was strong with this one. As I'm sure many readers will be able to relate to, I read the og Iron Fey books yearrrssss ago and I loved them. I was pretty excited for Puck finally getting his time in the spotlight but I had yet to read the trilogy between the two with Ethan and Keirran so I quickly tried to fit those in before starting this one. I'm glad I did as it filled in many gaps. Kagawa does a fine job breifly recapping so you won't be lost if you haven't read them but the experience is always going to be much fuller if you do. I did find with Ethan's books as well as this one, I may have outgrown these novels. While they are still good to me and have that same general feel to them that I remember from the original books, I'm not the same reader I suppose. I think it's such a fine line to walk when trying to recreate nostalgic magic with your original readers and alao stay within the same age group perimeters of the original story, it's now attempting to pander to two very different audiences and it can be really tough to do. I think I came in hoping for Cobra Kai. I wanted the same cheesy young nostalgia from the original but with some juicy adult humor/story thrown in too and while it definitely delivered on the nostalgia end, the other end was missing and I felt that lost piece. I wanted a bit of the story or characters to have grown with me too. And while many years have passed in the story I just didn't feel like anything much had matured along with the passing of time and ultimately that was a let down to me. Ultimately it made it slower going for me to get through because I wasn't as excited to keep picking it up. I'm a total mood reader though and I've been juggling this one with non-fiction political science books so that heavy contrast and my mood could definitely play a part in my feelings towards it currently as well. Things didn't really pick up for me until the last 30% or so. Once Puck met up with Meghan and Ash I found I enjoyed it more. I love Puck though so it was kinda disappointing that it took the trio to make me actually invest in the story.

Some of the things I did enjoy:
• More backstory from Puck.
• Meghan and Ash scenes.
• Being back in the NeverNever
• The final battle when Puck brought his special brand of fun and levity which was sorely lacking throughout most of the book (but at least it was for a good reason).

Things I found lacking:
• Story/character maturity.
• Chemistry between Puck and Nyx.
• Puck's ability to be a compelling MC on his own *at least in regards to this novel*.

All in all I suppose I am curious to know what happens next but I'm not quite sure yet if it is enough to actually pick up the next book or not. I might end up waiting to see how others feel after reading the next one before I make that decision. I would recommend this one to young readers, it is still a good story, but for people like me that mostly aged out of middle grade/teen type books I wouldn't go in expecting any more than just that or you will likely be disappointed.

The Iron Raven is another spin-off of the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa and this series focuses (finally) on Puck, Robin Goodfellow. Puck was one of my favorite characters in the original series so I was thrilled to read this installment. We even get more of Queen Meghan and her prince consort, Ash, (fan girl squeal), their son the Forgotten King and that oh so lovable "cat" Grimalking. Since I read the original series in what feels like eons ago it was a bit hard for my old brain to remember what all happened so I would recommend if you have the time to go read all the other books but be forewarned there are quite a few! Puck is what we would expect from Puck on the outside but now we get what's on the inside and boy do we get the dark thoughts but I guess if I was a servant to King Oberon for centuries I would probably be pretty dark too on the inside. I'm excited to see where this series takes us and more of Nyx our kick but assassin.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, misspelling, and grammar errors in this review are all on own.

The Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa is perfect for fans of faerie adventure quests and Midsummer Nights Dream. As the first book in the new Evenfall series (and #8 of The Iron Fey series), this book sets up a new on coming doom in the faerie realm. Narrated by a trickster Puck as he hunts down the big bad, The Iron Raven brings in other beloved characters from the Iron Fey series. #TheIronRaven #NetGalley

Honestly in the original trilogy, Pick was the only character I actually liked. I was actually really excited to read this. It was OK but I feel like Puck had lost a lot of his puckishness (I'm so glad this word exists).

Kagawa is one of the most talented writers in the YA field. The Iron Raven begins a new trilogy called Evenfall. This set of books follows her beloved Fae character but most specifically Puck. Outstanding world building, characters with rich personalities and relationships. Action, Adventure and Romance! A delightful read indeed.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Iron Raven

Author: Julie Kagawa

Book Series: The Iron Fey: Evenfall Book 1, The Iron Fey book 8

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: ya, fantasy, fae

Publication Date: February 9, 2021

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Pages: 336

Recommended Age: 16+ (Violence, Gore, Slight romance)

Synopsis: 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.

Review: For the most part the book was pretty good. I felt like the characters were well developed and I really like the world building. I also like the plot, but that was only after I was almost done with the book.

The book to take a bit for me to get into and then it took most of the novel to get to the point of the book. I know that a lot of first books in a series have that problem where they spend the majority of the book world building and getting the reader interested in the series, but I felt like at around 70% of the book to get to the point of it was a little too much.

Verdict: It was a good start.

If someone were to ask me "what book has made me feel the most nostalgic," my answer would be this one. I first delved into the world of the Iron Fey 10 years ago with The Iron King. I remember flying through those books and absolutely loving them. When I heard about this new book set in the same world, I was beyond excited.

The Iron Raven is the first book in a new trilogy set in the same world as the Iron Fey quartet and the Call of the Forgotten trilogy. It is set years after the events of the previous two series and follows our favorite faery, Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow. Something is amiss in the world of the fey and it is up to Puck and his companions to fight it and put a stop to the evil.

This book is perfect for fans and new readers alike. It is fast paced with the classic "Puck" humor seen in the previous books. And if you're new to the series, don't worry! There are only a few spoilers from the previous books but the world is super easy to get into.

My only complaint is more of a "me thing" rather than a problem with the book itself. The writing is definitely geared towards 14-16 year-olds. It is simple and includes standard tropes. The characters also pretty much have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Even though they face a dangerous enemy, you knew everything was going to turn out okay. Basically there was no real danger. As a 26 year-old, I wanted a bit more but I wasn't expecting it seeing as I had read the previous books.

I would still recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy and faeries! Or are just huge fans of Julie Kagawa!

I was interested in this book because it was outside of what I normally read. Fantasy is a new to me genre, one that I find to be hit or miss. I started reading this genre in 2020 and was eager to continue the momentum in 2021.

"The Iron Raven" was a bit of a middle of the pact kind of read. I saw so many great reviews but noticed a lot of those had some sort of previous knowledge of the characters in this one. I felt a bit confused from page one, but fully thought it was because I'm a fantasy newbie. My confused was never cleared, which led to this be less than enjoyable for me.

The writing as a whole was good, but I'm just too green with this series -- I feel as if this is a series and I'm missing something. I would love to read more from Kagawa as long as I had a solid understanding of the backstory.

I could not get in to this book... I tried. The first person narrative was challenging for me to connect with. "I" seems very personal and I just never could see through the eyes of the characters or feel as the characters did.

I loved the idea and I am sure my students may like it, but it just wasn't for me.

Thanks Inkyard Press and Netgalley for the ARC. I am sorry I couldn't finish it.

The Iron Raven is the first book in the new spin-off series, The Iron Fey: Evenfall. I am part of the blog tour hosted by the publisher (InkYard Press) so I received this eARC through NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for promotion and an honest review. Now, onto the review.
The Iron Raven is like jumping right back into the world of the Iron Fey that I know and love (I reread all the previous books in anticipation for this one). Kagawa continues with her ability to provide vivid imagery and a stunning world. I love that with each new Iron Fey story, we get to see familiar creatures, but there are also new creatures that are fascinating. I just genuinely love all of the myths that Kagawa has managed to add to this book (and series). I’m very intrigued to see where this story is going and what the secrets behind the Big Bad are.
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is the main character for this book (and I assume the Evenfall series). I was really excited for Puck to finally have his own series. He’s always been one of my favorites. His storyline is interesting. We get to see the Puck we know and love, but we also get to see the Puck of legends, the Robin Goodfellow whose pranks bordered on cruel. Puck has an inner struggle in this story that was very compelling. I’m definitely interested to see how the rest of this series will play out.
We get to see new characters, like my favorite Nyx, and some old ones as well. We see Kierran, Meghan, and Ash, as well as some other minor characters. I really liked Nyx. I’m dying to know more about her past. I think it was really interesting to have someone that doesn’t know any of the stories about Puck. I liked the bits with Kierran and I did enjoy seeing the whole gang together again, but I sort of wish that it has less of the characters we already knew (aside from Puck of course). I wouldn’t say that I disliked the whole squad being back, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if this had been a new adventure that didn’t need Meghan to come to save the day.
Overall, I still really enjoy this. I’m mostly a fan of authors coming back to their old series and continuing them. Kagawa’s writing is still excellent. With vivid world-building, fascinating creatures and mythology, and characters I already loved, I think many people will love this book.

a great continuation in the series but with a new spin we get to hear Pucks side of the story, Full of danger and adventure, this book had me reading until late into the night