Read as a free galley from NetGalley. 
 3.5 stars/5 for Julie Kagawa's THE IRON KNIGHT 
 Book Summary: 
 Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl... and all for nothing. 
 Unless he can earn a soul. 
 To cold, emotionless 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 arch-rival, 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 solemn 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. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale. 
 And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice. 
 Thoughts: 
 After reading the first three books in THE IRON FEY series (THE IRON KING, THE IRON DAUGHTER, and THE IRON QUEEN) I was beyond excited to read a story from Ash's POV. As much as I enjoyed the first three, I must admit that Megan's voice annoyed me at times. I was ready to see what lay behind the stony, brooding demeanor of the Winter Prince I had fallen for throughout the first three books. 
 I will say that I did thoroughly enjoy Ash's much more mature voice. It was nice to see things through his eyes and to know what was going on inside him. Also, the quest he was on was really interesting and noble. I loved seeing how far he would go to keep his promise, the things he was willing to sacrifice for his vow. 
 At first, it felt unsettling to me that he was doing all this just because he had promised it, but at the same time, it showed just how powerful a faery's vow was. He had no choice but to follow through--even when he wasn't so sure of what he wanted anymore. It shed a lot of light on how he must have felt during his feud with Puck. I suspected for awhile while reading the first three books that Ash's heart was really not into killing Puck any longer, but there was nothing he could do about it, he had to. He had no choice anymore. I didn't understand the ramifications of that before this installment. 
 As always, I adored Ash, Puck and Grimalkin. Watching the interaction between the three was entertaining. Ash and his serious, brooding nature, Puck and his goofball, complete opposite behavior, and Grim being right and wise, as always. I just love all three characters. There were two more characters added for this journey (which I won't say who as to not spoil before the book comes out.) To be honest, I didn't like either one. I didn't enjoy how conflicted the presence of one of them made Ash feel. But, as the end drew near, I knew there was a purpose for this character being there--and not just for the pivotal roll it played, but in helping Ash CHOOSE what it was HE wanted vs. just doing what he had to do because of his promise. 
 I wanted to give this a higher star rating simply for the fact that it was ASH! And I enjoyed his POV so, so much. But the fact of the matter was, the plot dragged. A lot. The writing was lovely, the description easy to picture, as always. But this was a much more introspective plot than the others in the series, which isn't necessarily bad. I don't think that would have bothered me if the other three hadn't been so action packed. I think I went into it expecting more of that, so what I got shocked me a bit. I felt there were many places that could have been cut, that we didn't need to see--especially during Ash's journey. There were too many places where they were just "floating down the river" with nothing happening. It's different if during those times we are seeing relationship or character building going on, which I think was the point, but there were many times I didn't feel any of that happening. There was just more world building or description that felt unnecessary. 
 And, okay, I'll admit it--I missed the romance. From the description, and from the way The Iron Queen ended, I suspected we wouldn't get a lot. But . . . I was hoping for some. I loved THE IRON QUEEN. It was so perfectly balanced between action and romance that I'd maybe expected more of that, hoped for more. But Meghan was barely in this installment. I just wish we'd gotten a bit more. 
 That said, I actually really enjoyed this book. Ash lovers will be thrilled with being able to follow him and get inside his head. It was a great read, and I'm so happy Ms. Kagawa decided to give this one to Team Ash.