Valiant

I'd been recommended Holly Black for good urban fantasy and a realistic depiction of kids on the streets, and Valiant definitely delivered.

It was hard to get into at first, but before I knew it, I was sucked into the world of kids living beneath the subways in NY who divide their time between dumpster diving, running errands for trolls and faeries and shooting up a faerie medicine that lets them create illusions and convince others to do their will. One of those books that had been compulsively digging it out of my purse whenever I could catch a few minutes to find out what happened next. ( )

I'd been recommended Holly Black for good urban fantasy and a realistic depiction of kids on the streets, and Valiant definitely delivered.

It was hard to get into at first, but before I knew it, I was sucked into the world of kids living beneath the subways in NY who divide their time between dumpster diving, running errands for trolls and faeries and shooting up a faerie medicine that lets them create illusions and convince others to do their will. One of those books that had been compulsively digging it out of my purse whenever I could catch a few minutes to find out what happened next. ( )

VAL= AWESOME, I LOVE HER.

Fangirling aside, this is my favorite entry in the Modern Faerie Tales series. You get to really see the darker side of fey and fey magic without relying on the fey to push it. I loved the portrayal of the effects of Nevermore and the withdrawal that Val and the others go through. Her romance with Ravus was pretty much my favorite thing in the whole book, as she doesn’t need to have him be pretty and glamoured to continue their relationship, and you really get the sense of the lengths that they would go for each other. Also, you get to see the fall-out from the plot in Tithe and how it affects the exiled fey. If there’s something I like to see in a series dealing with world-changing plots, it’s seeing how the rest of the universe’s characters deal and respond to this, and especially if we’re not focused on the same characters. In conclusion, VALERIE FOR PRESIDENT.
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I read Tithe earlier this month and really liked it. This book seemed much darker. I found it hard to read at times and didn’t like how dark it was. Valerie Russell runs away to New York City and meets some other teens that are living in the subway. Lolli talks about trolls and faeries like they are real. Apparently Luis, made a deal with a creature. And, Dave his brother allows Val to go on a delivery with him where she sees a woman with hooves. I’m not sure what to say I didn’t like about the book without giving away the entire plot. It was much more adult than I expected right from the beginning. It didn’t seem very fairy tale like even though it’s tagged that way and in the title.
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The ultimate faerie book. You plunge into the unknown. Faerie worlds, creatures, underground tunnels filled with the homeless and the hopeless. And the main character is a headstrong hero. I don't like the kind of stories where the girls are dainty and need saving. She saves herself. I just love Holly Black, she writes fantastic stories. I especially love when she writes quotes at the beginning of the chapters. My favorite, and probably the most fitting is this quote:
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."-Philip k. Dick ( )