Lesley D. Livingston

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2017/04/24/review-the-valiant-by-lesley-livingsto...

4.5/5 Stars

The Valiant is a book that I thought sounded intriguing but I let it slip off my radar due to other review commitments. But then after I saw a couple of glowing reviews for it, I realized I had to find time to read it.

Turns out I absolutely LOVED this book, yes, it is worthy of the all-caps.

Fallon is the daughter of a Celtic King, and has been training her entire life show more to be a fighter worthy of joining the war band. We quickly learn that part of what motivated Fallon is that she idolized her sister, who was lost in war, and is determined to become the fierce warrior her sister was. In her tribe, men and women fight side by side. She is head strong and independent, so wants to prove herself as a warrior before thinking of such things as getting married. So pretty much, she is exactly the type of female protagonist that I absolutely love reading about.

The day before her seventeenth birthday starts as amazing. She is with Mal, her best friend since childhood, but she is starting to see how their close friendship could evolve into something more. And there is the anticipation of being inducted into the Cantii war band. But when everything falls apart, she is victim to several heartbreaking events in quick succession. What started as a hopeful and uplifting day of eagerness and love and anticipation, ends up landing blow after to blow to her dreams and her life. The final blow is being captured by slavers who are taking her from the land and life she has always known.

She must come to terms with her new life, new reality and new station in life. It is quite a change to go from daughter of a King, to being enslaved, treated not much better than cattle.

When it comes down to it, I absolutely loved Fallon’s character. Her attitude and how she handles adversity, and well, to be honest, her ability to kick ass, all kept me fully engaged the entire time. I loved the story as well as the character. It was exciting and fun. Definitely recommend this one (and thanks to those who read and reviewed it before me, because without the hype, I would have really missed out) show less

Kelley is your average seventeen year old. Well, with the exception that she graduated high school early, dropped out of her theater program, and moved to NYC to try to make it as an actress...at the age of seventeen. Oh, did I mention that she's not quite human? No? Well, I suppose I should have.

In Wondrous Strange, Kelley has just been promoted from backstage-lackey/understudy to the lead role of Queen Titania when the lead breaks her ankle. In a moment, Kelley's world changes...little show more does she know it's about to get stranger. Practicing her lines in Central Park one evening, she is approached by a handsome stranger, who gives her a beautiful flower and then vanishes before she can even say thank you. Meet Sonny Flannery, a changeling who is part of the Unseelie Court's Janus Guard, a group of thirteen slated to protect the mortal realm from faeries attempting to escape into their world. Sonny knows that something is different about Kelley...something he can't quite figure out. When Kelley attempts to rescue a drowning horse in Central Park and then is stunned to find it in her bathtub at home...well...I bet you can imagine that things only get crazier from there.

I really enjoyed Livingston's writing. She introduced a compelling story and beautifully wove in elements of Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream. It was really beautiful. This was such a compelling book--the kind the pulls you in and then knocks you out of your reverie only when you've finished. Reading the last page was like being pulled out of another world. Kelley is a strong female lead. I enjoyed her a bit more than many of the other slightly clueless females who have dominated YA fantasy lately. While she may have accepted the truth of her heritage a bit more easily than one would expect, I felt like she was willing to take the reigns of her own destiny and work with it. The romantic story between Kelley and Sonny is beautiful (quick to develop but beautifully real regardless), but I can't wait to read the other books in the story to watch it develop (hopefully!). show less

When I received this to review, I thought, ah yes, yet another teenage girl finds out she is a faerie princess and must come to terms with this other life in addition to defeating someone who Knows The Truth and is Out To Get Her. With all the teenage girls discovering their hidden faerie roots, it's a surprise that there are any normal girls left. (They're all off becoming vampires, probably.) Even more of a surprise, I ended up really liking this book. Kelley is attempting to make her show more stage career and gets a lucky break playing Titania in a small production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meanwhile, in Central Park, human changelings guard the only gate between our world (Manhattan, of course) and Faerie to make sure no dangerous creatures get through. These two come together when Kelley and Sonny, one of the changelings, have a quasi-romantic introduction by the lake; after he leaves, Kelley sees what she thinks is a horse drowning in the lake and rescues it. Then it somehow appears at her balcony and decides to live in her bathtub (turns out it's a kelpie), and all hell breaks loose. Turns out Kelley is the daughter of Auberon, kidnapped as a baby, and when he shows up it turns out that Auberon isn't very nice. There's also a side-plot involving the Wild Hunt. Kelley is feisty and deals with all this craziness with aplomb, and her romance with Sonny comes about nicely. There are a lot of plot twists that strain credibility, but overall, this one is a winner in the faerie princess subgenre. show less

I couldn't even believe this book! I mean...I read it in less than 6 hours, it was that good! Fast-paced action, serious swooning over Fenn, and MYTHOLOGY!!!! I have always enjoyed reading about different mythologies, Greek being my favorite, but I don't really know much about the Norse. That put me at a disadvantage, knowing who was who and why they're that way, but I really want to learn more. It was fun for me when I was able to recognize someone I did know about, like who Rafe is and show more some of the monsters. And boy, I hope Rory really gets his. What a total reject. (Reject is about the nicest thing I could think of to put in the review. My feelings for him are much stronger.) Everyone needs to read this book!!! show less