My Five Word TL:DR Review: It’s not you, it’s me

I recently read and loved the Shadow of the Fox series by Julie Kagawa so when I saw her latest book I couldn’t help requesting it. I love reading books about the fey and even though I’ve not read the previous Iron Fey books this is a new start with a central character that I simply couldn’t resist – Puck, or Robin Goodfellow as he is sometimes known.

The long and the short of it is that this one didn’t work out quite as well for me as I’d hoped, but, in fairness I think its maybe an ‘it’s me not you’ thing. I imagine that readers familiar with this world will enjoy the return to much loved characters but as they were all new to me I didn’t have that attachment to carry me along.

I must say I got off to a really good start. I was enjoying reading about Puck and especially the Goblin Market where he met an old acquaintance and a female assassin who definitely piqued his interest. At this point we become aware of something dark attacking the fae of the Between and so the story takes us in the direction of a place where forgotten fae live in search of a monster that seeps evil.

Now, the thing is with this review I’m trying to avoid mention of so many things so as not to spoil the story for readers who are already familiar with this world and it’s characters. Instead I’m going to give more a few pros and cons.

Well, as I mentioned above I love that this is a story that focuses on Puck. The backstory about how he came to the Summer Court to serve under Oberon and Titania was really good. I also liked the character Nyx, a rather deadly and stunning assassin. She is fascinating and I would definitely like to know more about her.

I really liked that we travelled about and saw quite a few places and I loved the way the story uses fairytale scenarios and other little quotes that felt like shout outs.

The writing is good and the pace quick, in fact I pretty much flew through this until I reached maybe the last third.

In terms of criticisms. Well, I mentioned that I really liked that the story centres around Puck. However, given the direction that things take I wouldn’t say that he comes across in the best light. I realise of course that it’s linked to the overall storyline but it just left me feeling a little disappointed. Also, although I really liked Nyx I really didn’t feel any chemistry between her and Puck and so that element to the story fell flat for me. There was also a slight element of repetitiveness towards the end, which is where everything slowed down for me, not to mention a cliffhanger conclusion.

Overall, this one didn’t work out for me which is a shame. In fairness this is aimed at a much younger audience and I feel like readers who are already familiar with this world might enjoy this return to beloved characters more than I was able.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating : 2.5 out of 5 stars