I received an ARC for free in return for writing an honest review. Knights of Iron and Ink by Shannen Durey is a young adult fantasy novel about a young girl, Vera, who is a half-fae half-mortal looking for acceptance in the mortal realms. Her journey to find acceptance involves fighting beasts, confronting childhood trauma, and dealing with betrayal. I enjoyed the author's storytelling and world-building. The plot was fun and the camaraderie that developed between the three characters was funny and interesting. I think the series has a lot of potential and that Durey follow-up book will be even better.

The book did have several plot holes. At one point, the author says halflings cannot tell lies but never mentions it again. So the reader never learns if halflings can lie, or was that a lie? There are several other contradictory moments, but they are connected to the climax, and will I will leave them out of this review. The book did have some grammatical and formatting errors, mainly towards the beginning of the book. The map was also relatively simplistic, and while it was helpful to figure out where the characters were traveling, it’s not very pretty.

Several details in the book made me want to roll my eyes, with just how ridiculous they were, particularly with Ronan‘s appearance. The author mentions him being extremely tall and then has him riding a horse, where Vera says he doesn’t fit and his feet almost touch the ground. I found this ridiculous. The author could’ve made him extremely tall without making him taller than a horse and making him essentially unable to ride a horse, but then having him ride a horse for most of the book. The author also uses the word dark as a replacement for curse words, and I found it annoying.

The main character was relatively likable, and the themes were very relatable, with many young adults attempting to find acceptance in this world. Vera is funny, and she is flawed. There is good chemistry between Vera and Ronan; however, this is not a romance book. I did see the author marketing the book as enemies-to-lovers multiple times; however, there was no romance in this book. The book has one BIPOC character. He is Ronan's best friend and is in about 50% of the book.

I don’t think I would purchase a physical copy of this book if I wasn't gifted one; however, I would think about buying an e-book version, and I would download it if it is available on Kindle Unlimited. I give the book 3 1/2 stars. It has a lot of potential, and I will be reading the next book in the series. I think the author did a good job for her debut novel, and I look forward to reading the next one.