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….
To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.
Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl—smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.
With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end—a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan's side.
To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.
- Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary,Urban fantasy, Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural
- Creatures: faeries
- Age: mature young adult
- Source: owned ebook
- Read from May 17 to 18, 2013
FINAL RATING: ★★★/★★★★★
This will be a really difficult review to write...this is my fifth time of rewriting it actually.
I enjoyed the book, and i loved the story. It's a roller coaster of emotions (as a matter of fact, i cried, laughed like crazy and was pissed off and raging a lot).
But! But! And more but! there is a reason it's not higher than 3 stars. The reason lies in our famous ice prince of the Winter court, Ash.
There is just one thing for certain. You will either hate or still love Ash - or be stuck in between like me. And that decision can be, or...
Also, the thing is that this book was kind of weird to me. Weird as in dinosaur in middle of a town, playing with children. Oh wait, i don't need to imagine it, here it is:
And still i cannot say that i didn't love this book. Because i did. It was addicting and i couldn't stop reading it even if i wanted. I wanted to know what happened next, and next and next. I also liked the story, even if it was cliched in some parts but i loooooooooooooved it. 
I never thought i would actually miss being in Meghan's head, because i really did miss her. Being in Ash's head was tiring sometimes.
It's true! O_O
STORY
After the end of third book, where Meghan claimed her throne and became the Iron Queen, she exiled Ash using his true name to keep him away from staying with her and dying in pain.
So, our stubborn fey prince swears an oath to find a way to be with her again.
Which leads him to being in a company of his frenemy Puck, Grimalkin, Big Bad Wolf and...... Ariella . Le gasp!
Which makes him question... does he truly love Meghan and will he be able to do everything to be with her?
BE WARNED: SPOILERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRS. SERIOUS ONE IN FACT, AS IN END OF THE BOOK SPOILERS
Those trials were freaking awesome O_O!!!! I loved how they made Ash suffer, mwahahahaha. He did deserve it, but i kind of felt sad in the end... Especially with all of his regrets. At least he regretted the monstrosities he did. But the final one, with vision of the future... it kind of broke my heart :(
Then, the visions. They were kind of.... interesting. Especially Ash being the winter king and killing everyone O.o... But Puck died so i was not happy about it.
and i cried during the part where Ash and Puck fought for the last time :(
CHARACTERS
♦ Ash:
I was in love. With a human. I smiled bitterly at the thought. The old Ash, if faced with such a suggestion, would've either laughed scornfully or removed the offender's head from his neck.
As far as i know, i am able to tolerate irritating heroes and heroines. And i once loved Ash. Now, i want him to burn in hell (actually i want him to suffer, because what he had gone through was really not nearly enough for what he had done in the past). Well, not really, i don't. But i do. And then again, i don't. I am quite conflicted about my feelings for him.
I just know that i want my old Ash back. This version of him destroyed everything i loved about him. If i could just go back in time or erase everything which irritated me (which would be from chapter 6 to chapter 14)....sigh....it would be awesome :D
Serious spoilers:
So, the appearance of Ariella was kind of irritating to me. Because, all Ash did was think if he loved Meghan or Ariella more. It pissed me off so much. And i couldn't bear it and it made me rage over and over again. I get it that he loved her once, and that he was truly in love with her, but its time to let the past go, and embrace the present. He loves Meghan too, but after this book, i was not convinced. It felt like he was doing it only for himself, because if he hadn't sworn an oath, he would probably be with Ariella. But he had to do it, and therefore he had to be with Meghan because he couldn't do anything else. And that made me hate him in a way. And when he did get his soul, he stayed with Meghan ONLY because of a vision of his son. Again, he did not do it for Meghan. and yet again he said this:
“Ari...I will always love you. I always have.Nothing will change that." I squeezed her hand, then gently released it. "You'll always be a part of me. But...I'm not in love with you...anymore.And despite my promise,despite seeing you again, I do this because I want to be with Meghan, nothing else" Ariella's eyes glazed over, and I eased back, speaking as gently as I could "I can't be yours, Ariella. I'm sorry.”
And everything he endured in the trials was well deserved. But i think he should have suffered more.
And yet, i still kind of love him. But not as much as i did before, and in the end, i was sad for him. After all, he was one of my favorite characters before. Many people forgave him, but i just cant decide.
♦ Puck:
I totally root for him now. I love him, and have always loved him, ever since the first book. Despite everything, he was always there. No matter how much it hurt him or damaged him, he was always there to support. I actually love him the most, and i think it would have been better if Meghan actually stayed with him instead of Ash. He truly loves her. I even think he was more and better characterized than any other character in the series. I even cried for him! After all he didn't lose one, but three people he loved the most. Two friends and the love of his life .
"Just because we have a different way of handling it, doesn’t mean I don’t have scars of my own.”
“Name one,” I scoffed. “Give me one instance where you haven’t—”
“Meghan Chase!” Puck roared, startling me into silence. I blinked, and he sneered at me. “Yeah, your highness. I know what loss is. I’ve loved that girl since before she knew me. But I waited. I waited because I didn’t want to lie about who I was. I wanted her to know the truth before anything else. So I waited, and I did my job. For years, I protected her, biding my time, until the day she went into the Nevernever after her brother. And then you came along. And I saw how she looked at you. And for the first time, I wanted to kill you as much as you wanted to kill me."
♦ Everyone else:
◉ Grimalkin was as awesome as usual, i think he was even more cooler in this one of them all. And he is always, oh so mysterious.
◉ The character who returned from the Winter's passage is the Big Bad Wolf, and he was a nice addition and his arguments with Grimalkin were so hilarious!
“The Wolf snarled, tensing his muscles, as if he wished he could climb the tree after the feline. "One day I will catch you on the ground, cat," he said through bared teeth. "And you won't even know I'm there until I tear your head off." "You have been saying that since before humans had fire, dog," Grimalkin replied, completely undisturbed. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't hold my breath."
◉The mystery guest of this book: Ariella!...I kind of feel sad about her. She did survive and everything but was forced to see everything that happened to Ash and Puck and Meghan.... But i didn't want her here and i just wanted her to go away as soon as possible. It is clear how much Ash loved her - and it made me dislike her.
◉ Meghan did not appear much in this one, but i think i love her even more now.
OVERALL
Don't get me wrong - i looooooooooooooove this series. And it's worth reading. But, i kind of prefer how third book ended comparing to this end. But still, interesting addition and i need more of these books. Thank god there are more ;D
And p.s. Because of this i did not do anything productive for past two days.
Except writing this enormous review.
And p.s. the end of the book dialogues were so much fun ♥
Puck: Well, she likes me best, of course. I’m the handsome, charming one.
Ash: Yes, that’s why she gave you your own book. Oh, wait.
Puck: No one asked you, ice-boy.
Julie: I like them all in different ways. But I will say that Ash was the hardest character to write sometimes. It’s so hard to get him to talk! I’ll be pushing him to open up and say something and he just crosses his arms and acts stubborn.
Ash: …
Julie: See?
Tell us a little about other things that interest you, besides writing.
Julie: Well, I enjoy reading, painting and drawing, but I also love anime, manga and comics. I’m an avid gamer—I have a PS3, an Xbox 360 and a Wii. My favorite food in the whole world is sushi, and I’m taking classes in Wing Tzun kung fu.
Puck: *singing* “Everybody was kung fu fighting …”
Julie: Agh. Ash, stop him before that song is stuck in everyone’s head.
Ash: Too late.
What is your favorite part of the Nevernever? Where would you live if you were a faery?
Julie: I was going to say the wyldwood, but on second thought, I think I’d live in the Iron Realm with Meghan and Ash.
Ash: See? She prefers my company to yours.
Julie: Not really. It’s just hard to find a wireless signal in the wyldwood.
Puck: *snicker*
MY REVIEW ON GOODREADS
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