Holly Black
Author of The Cruel Prince
About the Author
Holly Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey on November 10, 1971. She graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale was published in 2002 and was included in the American Library Association's Best Books for Young show more Adults. Her other works include The Spiderwick Chronicles written with Tony DiTerlizzi, Ironside, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The Iron Trial (Magisteruim Book 1) and The Copper Gauntlet (Magisteruim Book 2) written with Cassandra Clare, and The Darkest Part of the Forest. Valiant won the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. She also won the Young-Adult Prize in the Indies Choice Book Awards 2015 for The Darkest Part of the Forest. Black and Clare's Magisterium Series has received both critical and popular acclaim appearing on numerous bestseller lists including The New York Times bestseller list in the Young Adult category. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles, which were illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. Do not combine this page with Mr. DiTerlizzi's author page, or with any of the various pages that are in both their names. Thank you.
Image credit: Holly Black en 2020
Series
Works by Holly Black
Great Escape (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Special Edition of the Seeing Stone) (1998) 418 copies, 1 review
The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack (2007) 143 copies, 1 review
The Golden Boy 19 copies
Lucifer (2015-2017) #09 4 copies
Book of Night Sneak Peek 4 copies
Lucifer (2015-2017) #04 4 copies
The Coat of Stars 3 copies
Lucifer (2015-2017) #03 3 copies
Magisterium. La prima trilogia: L'anno di ferro-Il guanto di rame-La chiave di bronzo (2019) 3 copies
Lucifer (2015-2017) #02 2 copies
Die ELFENKRONE-Reihe Band 1-3: Elfenkrone / Elfenkönig / Elfenthron (3in1-Bundle) (German Edition) 2 copies
Not for Humans 2 copies
Reversal of Fortune 2 copies
Uhri 1 copy
Heartless 1 copy
Krampuslauf [short story] 1 copy
The Perfect Dinner Party 1 copy
Noble Rot 1 copy
Sobek [short story] 1 copy
Valiant AND Ironside 1 copy
Virgin 1 copy
The Night Market 1 copy
Redglove 1 copy
Associated Works
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (2011) — Contributor — 759 copies, 26 reviews
The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists (2011) — Contributor — 489 copies, 17 reviews
Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader (2013) — Contributor — 469 copies, 18 reviews
The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire (2009) — Contributor — 463 copies, 18 reviews
The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural (2009) — Contributor — 213 copies, 13 reviews
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collection (2008) — Contributor — 176 copies, 5 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 2 (2008) — Contributor — 176 copies, 4 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 (2011) — Contributor — 165 copies, 4 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 3 (2009) — Contributor — 151 copies, 2 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 4 (2010) — Contributor — 141 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2011 Edition (2011) — Contributor; Contributor — 131 copies, 7 reviews
Full-Blooded Fantasy: 8 Spellbinding Tales in Which Anything Is Possible (2005) — Contributor — 107 copies, 1 review
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 9 (2015) — Contributor — 73 copies, 3 reviews
New York Fantastic: Fantasy Stories from the City that Never Sleeps (2017) — Contributor — 45 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Black, Holly
- Other names
- Riggenbach, Holly
- Birthdate
- 1971-11-10
- Gender
- female
- Education
- College of New Jersey (B.A., English, 1994)
Rutgers University - Occupations
- author (contemporary fantasy novels for children and teens)
- Relationships
- Clare, Cassandra (writing partner)
Black, Theo (husband) - Short biography
- Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey[2] in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house."[3] Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University. She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away.
She married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, himself an accomplished illustrator and web designer, in 1999.[2]
As of 2008, Black resides in Amherst, Massachusetts.[4] - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA
- Places of residence
- Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- Wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles, which were illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. Do not combine this page with Mr. DiTerlizzi's author page, or with any of the various pages that are in both their names. Thank you.
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
4.5 / 5 ⭐️
now this is how you write fantasy ladies and gentlemen!! this is what a strong heroine looks like! and THIS is true enemies to lovers. i can’t even remember the last time i read an enemies to lovers that i liked this much. i feel like that trope, though my favorite, is not often well-done. but i am so thoroughly impressed by this series.
jude duarte. the woman that you are. jude the human, jude the KINGMAKER - this b*tch is nonstop! damn it if she’s not the quickest and show more sneakiest and most morally corrupt teen ALIVE. i love her more after this book than after the first. i’m worried about her, but like - she’s a smart cookie. she’ll figure it out (probably).
cardan had a lot to prove and he proved it baby. oooooh he makes me so mad. ooOooOooHHH he says things that make my heart skip a beat! what i love about this character is that he neverrr says or does what you want him to, but the choices he makes are so much more interesting than the ones i WISH he had made. there is zero fan service in this. they are truly enemies. jude and cardan hate each other for real. but it’s also so deliciously tense between them!
i loved how their relationship evolved in this one. maaaaaaan i would never want to be in a relationship like that, but i sure love reading about it. IT’S FICTION PEOPLE! IT’S FINE! LET ME ENJOY MY STUPID FAERIE BOOK WHERE THEY HATE EACH OTHER.
plot wise: this was twisty bro. i truly didn’t know what was coming next, in a way that literally gave me anxiety. but a good kind of anxiety, the kind that makes you cancel plans to read the rest of the book in one sitting. i loved it. probably better than the first! i’m astounded that nobody told me about these sooner. i’m also astounded that ACOTAR is the faerie literature we lean towards when there is something THIS high quality out there.
HOLLY BLACK! lady, you did one hell of a thing. i’m billing you for emotional damages if the third one doesn’t go my way. show less
now this is how you write fantasy ladies and gentlemen!! this is what a strong heroine looks like! and THIS is true enemies to lovers. i can’t even remember the last time i read an enemies to lovers that i liked this much. i feel like that trope, though my favorite, is not often well-done. but i am so thoroughly impressed by this series.
jude duarte. the woman that you are. jude the human, jude the KINGMAKER - this b*tch is nonstop! damn it if she’s not the quickest and show more sneakiest and most morally corrupt teen ALIVE. i love her more after this book than after the first. i’m worried about her, but like - she’s a smart cookie. she’ll figure it out (probably).
cardan had a lot to prove and he proved it baby. oooooh he makes me so mad. ooOooOooHHH he says things that make my heart skip a beat! what i love about this character is that he neverrr says or does what you want him to, but the choices he makes are so much more interesting than the ones i WISH he had made. there is zero fan service in this. they are truly enemies. jude and cardan hate each other for real. but it’s also so deliciously tense between them!
i loved how their relationship evolved in this one. maaaaaaan i would never want to be in a relationship like that, but i sure love reading about it. IT’S FICTION PEOPLE! IT’S FINE! LET ME ENJOY MY STUPID FAERIE BOOK WHERE THEY HATE EACH OTHER.
plot wise: this was twisty bro. i truly didn’t know what was coming next, in a way that literally gave me anxiety. but a good kind of anxiety, the kind that makes you cancel plans to read the rest of the book in one sitting. i loved it. probably better than the first! i’m astounded that nobody told me about these sooner. i’m also astounded that ACOTAR is the faerie literature we lean towards when there is something THIS high quality out there.
HOLLY BLACK! lady, you did one hell of a thing. i’m billing you for emotional damages if the third one doesn’t go my way. show less
And so begins the battle to keep the throne of Faerie. Our protagonist Jude Duarte, one of hte few humans living in Faerie, managed to wrest the crown from its intended recipient in the first book in this series, setting herself up at the same time as the power behind the throne with a carefully placed bargain with a relatively willing regent in the form of her former enemy: Cardan, Prince most definitely not in line for the throne. By the finale of this second instalment we see Jude release show more Cardan from their bargain and made Queen of Faerie in one fell swoop, but all is not well for Jude as she is summarily banished to the mortal realm for murdering Balekin (another rival prince). For a teen fantasy novel, Black sure does a good job of bringing the political intrigue to the forefront while still managig to keep the story from getting too dark or too complex, earning herself a solid place in the pantheon of top notch fantasy authors of the current age. Unlike most of the teen fantasy authors churning out what is essentially romantic drivel, Holly Black tackles much larger themes and explores the darker side of Faerie lore. Bargains and deals among the Fey may not be a new topic, but her interpretation of them in the guise of an overall exploration of faerie politics is masterfully done. Not only do they drive an increasingly complex political situation (pitting families, alliances, spies, and military factions against eachother), but we (a human audience) are also meant to see the ramifications of "no lies" politics and how these complications and rules can still be bent to serve personal interests. After all we realize that the fey courts may not be so different from our own, even if we are seemingly playing by different rules. show less
Oh, Holly, why do you do these things to me?
Book 1 (there are 2 books within the book) is an exercise in watching the painful train wreck of a mortal girl making a lot of bad decisions in fairyland. It's intricate, it's slow, it seems always to teeter on the precipice of every thing going terribly, terribly wrong. The main character, Jude, is a stubborn, flaming, furious ball of an angry fearful girl, who is determined to wrest control in a world without that option. At least she has her show more sisters, but they are also broken and also coping in ways that don't seem likely to succeed. And honestly, this bit is a bit slow. Many things happen. Many mean, bullying, humiliating, hateful things. And beautiful gowns are imagined. But the pacing is slow, and the inevitable seems inevitable.
Then BAM! book 2. And suddenly Jude comes into her own. Suddenly smart scheming and bargains and more interesting betrayals and suddenly it's impossible to put down because Jude is becoming something altogether more interesting than she was before, and so is everyone else. Except maybe twin sister Taryn. I hope she experiences a similar flowering, but I fear the direction that one will go.
and then the tragedy of having to wait for the next 2 books kicks in. *sigh* Thanks, Holly. show less
Book 1 (there are 2 books within the book) is an exercise in watching the painful train wreck of a mortal girl making a lot of bad decisions in fairyland. It's intricate, it's slow, it seems always to teeter on the precipice of every thing going terribly, terribly wrong. The main character, Jude, is a stubborn, flaming, furious ball of an angry fearful girl, who is determined to wrest control in a world without that option. At least she has her show more sisters, but they are also broken and also coping in ways that don't seem likely to succeed. And honestly, this bit is a bit slow. Many things happen. Many mean, bullying, humiliating, hateful things. And beautiful gowns are imagined. But the pacing is slow, and the inevitable seems inevitable.
Then BAM! book 2. And suddenly Jude comes into her own. Suddenly smart scheming and bargains and more interesting betrayals and suddenly it's impossible to put down because Jude is becoming something altogether more interesting than she was before, and so is everyone else. Except maybe twin sister Taryn. I hope she experiences a similar flowering, but I fear the direction that one will go.
and then the tragedy of having to wait for the next 2 books kicks in. *sigh* Thanks, Holly. show less
This is a sexy book, in the way vampire tales can be: bloodlust and other kinds of lust all intertwined. But it’s self-aware enough never to let that become cliche. Humans go to Coldtown all the time out of a desire to be glamorous and immortal like the celebrity vamps they see on streaming video, and the book shows all the horrible tragedies of that choice without ever exactly condemning it. Vampires are beautiful and eternal and kind of hot… but they’re also dangerous, murdering show more monsters. Looking honestly at that contradiction is a recurring theme. - See more at: http://www.parenthetical.net/2013/08/15/the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-by-holly-bl... show less
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READ IN 2021 (4)
H (5)
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 160
- Also by
- 62
- Members
- 104,743
- Popularity
- #87
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 2,763
- ISBNs
- 1,431
- Languages
- 28
- Favorited
- 183
