About the book
Unable to survive in the kingdom of his beloved due to his supernatural nature, a warrior prince sets out to turn himself human. But first he must cross deadly lands and overcome nightmarish obstacles before reaching the fabled testing grounds, where he will endure a series of challenges. He is joined on his quest by a team of fantastical creatures, each with an agenda of their own—one, a faery prankster whom the prince has vowed to kill for past misdeeds; another, a wise-speaking cat who claims to be a truthful guide; the third, a legendary and villainous beast pulled right from the fairy tales; and finally, the last, a seer who appears to be the resurrection of the prince’s former love, long thought dead but now restored to life and as beautiful and tempting as ever. With these dubious allies by his side, the prince sets off to achieve his ultimate prize, but to do so will require overcoming the greatest challenge of all in his quest for a human soul—himself.

When exiled faery prince Ash swears an oath to his love, Meghan Chase—the half-human ruler of the Iron Fey realm—to return and be with her forever, he knows what that promise entails. Her Iron Kingdom is anathema to a fey creature such as himself, and in order to survive in it he must renounce his powerful supernatural nature and acquire a mortal soul. Only then will he be able to return and be with his love. But even as a prince of the fabled Winter Court, Ash knows only rumors of how an immortal can become human. Ash needs help, even if that help comes from the last set of creatures in the entire Nevernever realm that he would ever want to join him.

 The first to join Ash on his quest is his best friend and fiercest, most annoying rival, Robin Goodfellow—better known as Puck the mischievous prankster. Despite their friendship, a bitter chasm exists between them—Puck is also in love with Meghan Chase, and Ash has vowed to one day kill his friend as payback for a past action. To aid them on their quest, they turn to one of the wisest creatures in the mythical realm of Nevernever—Grimalkin, a talking cat who agrees to help in exchange for a future favor. They set out to find a seer to show them the route that they must take, but on the way they encounter a legendary monster—the Big Bad Wolf. The Wolf is perhaps the most dangerous creature ever to walk the wilds of Nevernever, but now it seeks to join them on their journey so it can increase its own legend and power. The last member of the quest, however, is the most shocking of all to Ash. The very seer they have been seeking turns out to be Ash’s first love, Ariella, a fey princess long thought dead. Not only is she not dead, but Ariella is now an oracle who promises to aid Ash on his quest to be with his new love. But can Ash trust Ariella or will she sabotage their mission in order to win him back for herself?

Ariella advises the party that they must follow the treacherous River of Dreams to the final barrier at the End of the World. There, in an ancient place known as the Testing Grounds, a guardian who holds the key to becoming human awaits. But in order to claim it from him, Ash will first have to endure a deadly series of tests.

As Ash gets closer and closer to fulfilling his quest, he finds it more and more difficult to go on. He is being pulled in many directions—by his two loves, by visions of a deadly future, and by indecision that could destroy him, his allies and all of Nevernever. Ash is under oath to Meghan to complete his quest, but can he do it? After all, in some fairy tales, the hero gets eaten by the monster and doesn’t get to live happily ever after.

My Thoughts
I was nervous to read a book in the series from anyone other than Meghan's perspective but it ended up being wonderful! I got to know so much more about Ash and getting a peek inside his head answered some lingering questions that I had. I loved the addition of Ariella, unexpected and really exciting! Read this book, I promise you will love the action packed finale to the series.


Excerpt
“And I know who you are, son of Mab. What would you have of me? Be quick about it.” “We’re looking for someone,” I said. “He was rumored to be traveling through here, through the Bone Marsh. We thought you might know where he is.” “Oh?” The witch cocked her head, giving me a scrutinizing look. “And what makes you think I know where this person is?” “Not a person,” I corrected. “A cat. A cait sith. In some tales he’s known as Grimalkin. And in some tales he’s been rumored to keep company with a powerful witch out in the swamps, whose house stands on chicken legs in a fence made of bones.”

Q & A
For you, what was the hardest part in writing this series or writing in general?
Lately, it’s been making myself turn off the Internet and not check Tweetdeck every time I get stuck, lol! I get distracted very easily and “checking email” can turn into an hour of doing nothing but playing around online, very bad for the writing day. Sometimes I’ll unplug the modem or disconnect myself from the internet or I’d never get anything done.

Did you always know you’d be writing a spin off series and can we expect to hear more of Meghan, Ash and Puck’s story in the future?
Actually, I was approached by my publisher when The Iron Fey series was wrapping up and asked if I had any more Iron Fey stories floating around my head. Which got me thinking of Ethan, Meghan’s little brother. He was the one who started the whole adventure, in a way. What would it be like growing up, able to see the fey? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized Ethan had a story to tell, too. As for Ash, Meghan, and Puck, I’m sure there will be a few cameos in the new series. ;-)

Where did you come up with the idea for the Iron Fey series?
Faeries, the old, ancient fey, not the glittery winged sprites, have always fascinated me. But I wanted to write a book that was different than other faery books. So I began thinking: what are the fey afraid of? The answer, in most ancient mythos, is iron. Faeries can't stand the touch of iron and steel. So, what if there was a new type of fey that had evolved with progress over the years? What if they weren't only immune to iron, their existence was slowly poisoning and corrupting the lands of the traditional fey? And I realized we already have "monsters" in machines: gremlins, bugs, viruses, ect. And from that thought, the Iron fey were born.

Are any of the characters based on someone you know?
Not really, though there is a bit of myself in each of the characters. Except Grim. I’m nothing like Grimalkin, as he would tell you himself, I’m sure.

Check out Julie Kagawa's website for all things Fey.

My reviews of the previous books in the series in order
The Iron King
Winter's Passage
The Iron Daughter
Summer's Crossing
The Iron Queen 

Be sure to check out the next stop on the blog tour tomorrow Books By Their Cover