A Unsuccessful Trip to the Nevernever

"Don't stop. Don't ever leave. Stay with me...The Nevernever, the Between, or the real world, I don't want to face anything without you."
--Julie Kagaway, The Iron Traitor

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 342 pages

Publication Date: October 29th, 2013

Source: Bought
Goodreads
Previous Books in Series: The Lost Prince: Call of the Forgotten & The Iron Fey Series-- The Iron King & The Iron Daughter & The Iron Queen & The Iron Knight

Goodreads Description

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for; his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, normal simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.

I always love being back in the Nevernever. I love the glimpses we get of our original dream team of characters. Ash--drool. Puck--love. Meghan--ador. Grimalkin will never be turned away from my heart, either. But other than that...not a whole lot of love for this book.  

I love the Iron Fey series...LOVE! So it breaks my heart more than a little bit to admit I was skimming most of this book. I just find myself unable to invest in the characters. To be honest, I don't really care about what happens to them and that is where my issue lies. I don't really get the plot. I mean, I understand it but I just don't really see the massive importance of telling this story. After reading this and pretty much forcing myself to finish, I came to the sad conclusion that I could have done without this Call of the Forgotten series. SAD DAY! 

I found Ethan to be really annoying. I get his protectiveness but it is EXACTLY the opposite of what Kenzie wants. And Kenzie--if she called Ethan 'tough guy' one more time, I was throwing my Kindle. I was just like, bleh, are we done with this yet? Ethan is so self-obsessed with his 'woe is me' attitude, it got old really fast. I don't know, you guys, is it me?! I was just so bored reading this.

Kierran is all over the place. Ethan continues to see flashes of cruelty in him and making poor choices and while he says, this is the last time I'm helping him, he continues to be a masochist and keeps coming back for more pain. It's redundant. You choose your choice, man. Don't get pissy when Kierran makes an idiot move and you pay the price. I also got annoyed with Kierran's idiot moves. While he is similar to Ash in his quest, I didn't feel the need for him to succeed in saving his love. If anything, I would have liked to see way more history with him and Annwyl so that I could have been invested in the entire plot. Without the history of their relationship it was difficult to feel for their plight. 

The ending was shocking. But also totally predictable? If that makes sense. 

Probably not. If you've read and loved the Iron Fey and The Lost Prince, yeah sure keep on trucking. If you love the Iron Fey and are debating whether or not to continues to series...you might want to stay in the real world. This trip to the Nevernever wasn't worth it.