Iron Crowned

Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead

Dark Swan #3

New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead takes readers back to the Otherworld, an embattled realm mystically entwined with our world--and ruled by one woman's dangerous choice. . .

Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land's queen, she's fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear. . . 

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown's ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril. . .

Eugenie is learning firsthand the consequences of war. Her compassionate side does not allow the losses of her people to sit well with her, so's she is desperate to find a way to end the war without more bloodshed. When she hears about the legendary Iron Crown she is skeptical, yet very eager for its possibilities. Due to the high concentration of Iron, she cannot rely on her lover, King Dorian for help. So, she must turn to her ex for help, making it a very strained journey. She will have to make tough choices along the way and learn terrible truths she never wanted to know, and place her trust in the hands of others who may or may not have her best interests at heart.

For all her strength and powers, Eugenie always seems to get the short end of the stick. Everyone under the sun always seems to be gunning for her for one reason or another. Her actions to survive what life has thrown at her has cost her relationship with her parents as Rowland cannot accept her half-gentry nature. Her honor was seriously offended in the last book, yet she's now in a terrible war as a result of Dorian's actions to avenge it. The worst part of all this is that everything she has dealt with can be traced back to a prophecy that may or may not be valid. In fact I have a feeling that many of the people action's to stop the prophecy will actually be one of the events that set it into motion, kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If everyone had just left her alone, her ties to the Otherworld wouldn't be anywhere near what they are today. So they really have no one to blame but themselves in the end.

Every time I think Eugenie has made her final choice between the two men in this series, something drastic happens that changes things up again. It is strange that I find myself going back and forth between my choice as well, something I rarely do. Typically I make my choice of preference in a love triangle very early on, and then stick to it. However, these two men are nothing short a of a mess for Eugenie. I'm almost finding myself hoping she will write both of them off as they deserve nothing less. However, that being said the ending event and the male's reactions to it seems to have sealed their fates, with one almost redeeming his past actions, and the other completely dooming himself. I just hope things will somehow work out in the end and give Eugenie the happiness she deserves, as so much has thrown at her.

Once this book got started it grabbed a hold of me and just wouldn't let go. There were so many unpredictable twists and turns that I was left in suspense the entire time. The ending was one heck of a shock. Even though I had a feeling what happened would be inevitable at some point, I just didn't expect some of the characters to react the way they did. I have a feeling the repercussions of those actions will be felt very hard in the next book, making me very eager to see what happens next. This book blows the first two away, making it by far the best in the series.

Rating:

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Iron Crowned (Dark Swan, Book 3)

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