Parents' Guide to The Iron Vow: The Iron Fey: Evenfall, Book 3

What this finale lacks in new material on its main characters it mostly makes up for in darkly curious creatures and suspenseful fight scenes. Often, the creatures in The Iron Vow are thrilling enough to keep up the momentum, but like the many giant centipedes that haunt Hollownest, this story is missing a backbone. Meghan, the Iron Queen is the narrator this time. For the entire story she stays a leader, helps everyone get from one nightmare battle to the next, and suffers doubt along with everyone else about whether she can save this realm at all. But she remains her stalwart self throughout. It's only in the flashbacks to her life as a child, to her meeting her best friend Puck and her husband Ash, that we see how she's grown and changed -- and all of these moments are rehashed from the Iron Fey series that came before. The same goes for her son Kierran who deals with his regret about how he betrayed his family. Two characters, Puck and Varyn, have some tense standoffs in this tale, but again, it's mostly over what happened in the past.

For fans of the original Iron Fey series who remember the details well, all these recollections may not be a problem. And for the rest, it's easy enough to brush your confusion aside when the nightmare battles get rolling. Because these beasts are as fascinating as they are dark and creepy. Watch out for the massive tentacles that will suck you underground, for example. And whatever you do, cover your ears and don't touch the river of tears. There are many strange stops along the way and mounting obstacles to overcome. And like any good finale, there's a battle that will take the characters to the edge of death and destruction, forcing them to make impossible choices. For these story elements at least, The Iron Vow delivers.