Book Tour: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa Review and Excerpt

Today I'm on the tour for The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa and have my review below as well as an excerpt.  Come back tomorrow for a Q&A with Julie as well!

 The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa

paperback, 386 pgs.

published: Oct. 25, 2011 by Harlequin Teen

Reading Level: Young Adult

Source: Media Muscle & Harlequin

My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn.I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her.
My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

My thoughts on the series in general, no spoilers:

There's not much to say here other then if you haven't started this series yet, you must!  Full of action, romance and adventure it'll have you on your toes the entire time.  Completely unique and unlike anything else out there, the Iron Fey series is unbelievable.  Read it!

My review of this book, will have spoilers from the previous books:

I love Ash, love him.  And a story all from his POV?  AMAZING.   We see the worst and the best of Ash in this one.  Not that he's bad in it, but we do get some back-story.  Just a little though.  And it's definitely important to the progression we see Ash go through, as we watch him grow and become someone better.  Although we've already watched that through the series it's easy to forget his bad side as we become enamored (or at least that's how it was in my case) but this book gives us a reminder.

The beginning was a little bit slow but I loved the banter between Ash and Puck.  And Grimalkin, can't forget him!  As the story progresses two more characters come into the picture that are there for Ash, to help him on his quest.  They ended up being very important and my heart went out to more then just Ash as they all had to go through a lot (well, maybe not Grimalkin so much ;)  About halfway through the book got to where it was pretty impossible to put down.  Constant action and intense situations kept me from putting it down until the very last page.

Julie threw in some twists.  She managed to kind of trick me and I was feeling a bit furious about the direction of the book when it suddenly jumped back on track (see, she totally tricked me!) and I was right back in love with everything.  And with Ash.  And Puck (you know just a little ;)  As a matter of fact I loved Puck so much that I now demand a Puck story.  DEMAND.  He needs his own.  He deserves his own after everything he went through. (You hear me Julie?)

Other then it feeling just a touch slow in the beginning I think this book was perfect.  It was one long, very scary adventure and in the end I was very very happy with how things ended up.  I'm definitely one who needs a HEA so I could hug Julie for adding this book to what was originally a trilogy.  

Find the author:

Website

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.




And I have an excerpt for you guys!

Even if it takes a hundred years, I will be
with her in the end. Another piece of the puzzle lurks somewhere
in this dreary swampland. The only difficulty lies in
finding it.
Thankfully, despite Puck’s constant griping and complaining,
the jabberwocks decided not to see what the racket was
about and come stalking through the marsh to find us.

Now head to Fiction State of Mind for the next part of the excerpt!

Review: Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor, Including guest review by Lori!

Several months ago I read Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor.  I had read some reviews that were over the top amazing.  I had high expectations for some beautiful writing after reading those reviews.  One of those reviews belonged to Lori and she said she would love it if I posted it for you.  So here's Lori from PureImagination and her wonderful review!

 I'm not going to write a summary for this book since it was three different stories. I am going to tell you that if you don't run out and get this book right away you are missing out on something wonderful. 
I don't usually like short stories. I have a hard time connecting with the characters. With Lips Touch I was sucked right in with the first story and I stayed that way until the very last page.

Every story in Lips Touch is beautifully unique and unlike anything I have ever read before. Laini Taylor has a way with words. She makes them sound lyical and fantastic. I was left wanting more! The world she created in the last story Hatchling is amazing. There is so much potential there to create endless novels in that world.
The characters were all very well written and I felt connected to their stories and hardships. Which in my opinion is something hard to capture in a short story. As an added bonus we get to see these characters and stories brought to life with the beautiful illustrations of Jim Di Bartolo. Everything about this book is beautiful!

Lips Touch is a finalist for the National Book Award and after reading it I am not surprised. This is going to be a book that people will talk about for a long time to come. 

You see now why I wanted to read it so bad?!  I'm not a huge fan of short stories and this is three short stories, but they are so beautifully written that you are thrown headfirst into this throng of beautiful words and descriptions and you feel engulfed in this land Laini has created in her amazing imagination.  The third story is the longest being nearly half the book and is certainly my favorite.  It's a story that Laini really could have run with and created a full series from (hey, maybe we can convince her ; )  If your a fan of dark faerie tales this may be the book for you.  But I have to say that it's Laini's words, her flow, the beauty she creates with how it all comes out is what makes this book beautiful.  Simply gorgeous work and I'm dying to read her books Blackbringer and Silksinger.  And she's one author who's books I will have to buy and get signed.  Luckily she lives in my area and I *hope* (fingers crossed!) to meet her soon!  I also have to give kudos to Jim De Bartolo who is her husband and the illustrator for her books.  I have to say that gorgeous artwork certainly draws the eye and I'm sure has convinced many to pick the books up.

Laini is also an amazing artist so take some time to check out her work.  You can find Laini on her website, her blog, and even her etsy where she has her beautiful artwork for sale.   You can buy Lips Touch Three Times from: Powells, Amazon, Indiebound, or your local bookstore.

Do I even have to tell you what I rate Lips Touch?  Well, I will anyway, 5 moons baby!