Summer’s Crossing by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Much like ‘Winter’s Passage’, ‘Summer’s Crossing’ left me wanting. Another short novella in ‘The Iron Fey’ series, it takes place following ‘The Iron Queen’ and before ‘The Iron Knight’. This was one of those stories that you want to love but don’t, no matter how hard you try.
‘Summer’s Crossing’ surrounds Puck and Ash’s adventures as they work together to repay a debt that Ash owes to Leanansidhe. Along the way, Puck is offered what might be considered the opportunity of a lifetime. He has the chance to eliminate Ash as a rival for Meghan’s affections, if only he betrays his one-time best friend. It is definitely a tempting proposition that Oberon offers.
As the two work together to complete the required task, I can’t say that I ever really questioned what Puck’s decision would be…until I did. There was a big twist that I didn’t see coming that kind of threw me for a loop. Suddenly, I found myself wondering about Puck’s true motives. How far would he go to obtain the object of his affections?
In addition to the quest that they set out on, Puck and Ash find unexpected adventures along the way. From bearing their souls to one another, to nearly killing one another in a final attempt to keep a decades-old oath, this novella shed a great deal of light on their strained relationship.
Since Meghan has grown into my favorite character in this series, it was disappointing to find her entirely absent in this novella. I understand why she wasn’t there… I just didn’t like it.
In my opinion, the narration was also less appealing in this novella. This was probably due to the fact that this one was told from male POVs vs. Meghan’s POV. I’m not sure if it was a different narrator, or if it was the same narrator and I just didn’t care for the voices as much this time around. Whatever the reason, the narration didn’t pull me into the story and hold my attention like it did for the other books.
All in all, ‘Summer’s Crossing’ ended up being an “okay” one for me. It wasn’t horrible, but I definitely had plenty of gripes this time around. That being said, I still read the next book in the series immediately. It wasn’t enough to turn me away from ‘The Iron Fey’ saga and I am still dying to know where the story leads.
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