Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 30 fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She grew up in New Jersey, but now currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Holly Black's work, you can find them all here.
Having purchased the Modern Faerie Tales series in the new bind-up, I've decided to put all my reviews of each individual book in the same post! Be wary of spoilers the further you go into the post, and I hope you enjoy my reviews as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Tithe
Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.
Kaye isn't just fighting for her life -- she's fighting to understand who she is and what that means for the rest of her life. Does she move to New York, or stay in New Jersey? Does she belong with humankind, or with the Fae? I dislike labeling characters as "strong female heroines" which suggests that the default might be weak female sidekicks, but Kaye truly does show readers how to be strong. That includes being brave when you want to hide, crying when you don't know what else to do, and buckling up for the hard ride ahead. Strength takes many forms, and I particularly like the way Kaye is strong. I also like how she has to wrest back control -- at the beginning, she's only moving forward because she's asking hard questions and searching for answers. By the end, she's not looking for permission anymore. Kaye's curiosity is how she got on her path, and her strength is what ends up saving her. It was strength and curiosity that developed over the course of the events, and are the two most relatable characteristics I found as I read through her story.
Holly Black has a certain concise way of writing that's hypnotic. She tells the story like it is, which is magical to me. Not only is the world of Faerie brought to life through her detailed sentences, but the "blue-collar New Jersey backdrop" is heartbreakingly real as well. In fact, in some ways, the New Jersey setting is just as mystical as the Unseelie Court. The way she describes things (settings, characters, you name it) is so concise that the reading of the novel itself is easy and quick -- and yet, you feel as if you have fallen deep down into Kaye's world. I feel utterly entranced whenever I read Holly Black's books. It's inspiring to me that this was a talent Black already had, before writing The Folk of the Air series. I've enjoyed seeing where it all started, with Tithe.
Another one of my favorite elements of this book were the purposeful point-of-view shifts. Most of the story is told from Kaye's perspective, in relatively close third person. However, some moments (and only moments) of time were narrated by Corny or Roiben. These moments are truly best understood by someone other than Kaye -- that includes a moment where an outsider's perspective of Kaye's new appearance is more helpful than Kaye's; a moment where Kaye is present but out of hearing range whereas another character is in earshot; or a moment that describes another character's experiences as they relate to the plot of the novel. All and all, each perspective shift was purposeful and advanced the plot in a meaningful way. The book wasn't riddled with them, either -- they were spread out and well-placed, as to not distance us from Kaye's voice, but to also keep us engaged with the plot and narrative.
Lastly, I enjoyed the plot of the novel itself. The summary does a great job describing exactly what happens. For a debut novel, the plot of this book was easy to understand, with just enough intrigue to keep me wondering what will happen next (in the next chapter, and all the way into the next book of the series). Black had a balanced blend of dialogue, description, POV shifts, and scenes that moved the plot along. I'm honestly impressed with her storytelling, and am so glad I picked up the novel! I feel like if you want to write, Holly Black is definitely an author to read. She's definitely taught me a thing or two!
Valiant is the next book in the series, The Modern Faerie Tales! This next novel follows the story of Valerie, and how she, like Kaye, got drawn into the enchanting and gruesome world of Faerie. Read my review of Valiant below!
Valiant
When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.
I was surprised at how much I liked Valerie, if I'm being quite honest. I related immediately to how she described herself as always knowing how to talk to people, even though no one really wanted to listen to her. The fact that she ran away from home though, felt like a decision that escalated quickly. Although, despite that, I understood why she did it. She wanted to wrest back control. She doesn't want to listen to other people talk, she wants to tell and create her own story. Valerie saw her chance to that and she took it. But then she was drawn to a group of people spewing about faeries, and how could she believe that? Valerie made decisions that changed the entire course of her life, and questioned whether or not she could go home. Then, Valerie fell right back on that original idea -- how could she wrest back control, and be in charge of her own story? All the decisions she made -- the good and the bad -- fell under making those two ideals reality. I loved how Valerie stayed true to that, which is why she became a character that I did enjoy reading and learning from.
The Modern Faerie Tales is not the traditional trilogy. In Tithe, we followed Kaye and Roiben. In Valiant, we followed Valerie and Ravus. The connection -- or at least the place where the stories converge -- wasn't evident until later on in the story, so it was a bit jarring at first that the story opened with a whole new set of characters. However, I thought this was reflective of a book of fairytales -- the stories might all be connected, even if the characters weren't always the same. Black also changed the dynamics of the plot and setting. Valiant doesn't take place in the Unseelie Courts as much as Tithe does. Valerie spends a lot of time in New York City, and Black dedicates a lot of her detailed world-building power to create the city in our minds, while also building the faerie-underbelly, and connecting to the parts of Faerieland we know about from Tithe.
One of my favorite themes from Valiant was related to beauty standards. Black totally tore down the beauty standards we are familiar with. This commentary will always be relevant until beauty is more than superficial surface stuff. Valerie is not traditionally pretty (whatever that means to society). She cuts her hair and becomes a drug addict. Ravus, the romantic interest, is a troll, a traditionally unattractive faerie (again, whatever unattractive might mean to society). Yet, they're both tremendously strong characters that complete important tasks with the life they're given. It proves that we can have a great romantic subplot to the novel without the whole "she's beautiful/he's handsome" rhetoric. This was an important dialogue that Black addresses using language like "monsters" -- and while this theme drew me to the story, it wasn't the central focus of the mystery plot. I enjoyed that, because it meant Black could build commentary against societal beauty standards while also remaining focused on other themes of the book, and the plot of the whole novel.
Valerie and her new friends become addicted to a faerie drug they call Nevermore. Nicknamed Never, Black explores the themes and actions associated with drug use in the city within Valiant. Valerie truly falls under the spell of Never further on in the book. The scenes when she uses the drugs are choppier and the language is more languid when she's using. I imagine that this is closely reflective of the actual experience of being on drugs. But even when Valerie is on drugs, she's invested in other things -- learning how to defend herself, keeping afloat in the city, and debating on how she might return home. Black makes a powerful commentary here that people who do drugs are more than just their addiction, which is something during the time period of this book's publication that might have shocked. Valerie also overcomes her addiction at some points in the novel -- she convinces herself that if she can just hold off for one moment, she can probably hold off on taking Never for the next moment, and on and on. That's not to say it isn't hard. The withdrawal effects are severe. Valerie fights it though, because she's also fighting for something bigger than herself. By the end of the novel, she is in no way completely healed, but she's on her way there.
Ironside is the last book in the series! We jump back to Kaye's story and how the world of Faerie complicates all kinds of relationships. Read my review of Ironside below!
Ironside
In the realm of Faerie, the time has come for Roiben's coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing -- her love for Roiben. But when Kaye, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now Kaye can't see or speak to Roiben unless she can find the one thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie. Miserable and convinced she belongs nowhere, Kaye decides to tell her mother the truth -- that she is a changeling left in place of the human daughter stolen long ago. Her mother's shock and horror sends Kaye back to the world of Faerie to find her human counterpart and return her to Ironside. But once back in the faerie courts, Kaye finds herself a pawn in the games of Silarial, queen of the Seelie Court. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she will use Kaye, and any means necessary, to get it. In this game of wits and weapons, can a pixie outplay a queen? Holly Black spins a seductive tale at once achingly real and chillingly enchanted, set in a dangerous world where pleasure mingles with pain and nothing is exactly as it appears.
Kaye is a bit different since the last time we saw her: having finally found some semblance of comfort in her faerie skin, she's ready to accept her life with Roiben. But she also doesn't exactly want to give up her life in the mortal world, because it would mean giving up her mother, and her past life. When she's set on her impossible quest, it seems to Kaye like all is lost. She's already learned (in Tithe) to stop asking permission, and to go after what she wants. So, she does. Kaye in Ironside is determined to make things right: with her friends, with her family, and with the faeries, no matter the cost. Kaye's strength in the finale is different than her strength from the introduction. In Tithe she had to be strong enough to make decisions that were bigger than herself. In Ironside she had to be strong enough to make decisions that were best for herself. Different kinds of strength, that ultimately lead to different kinds of growth. I'm so glad that we got to follow Kaye to the end of this journey, and Black did a great job overall with her character arc and by showing readings the different kinds of strength a character could have.
Unlike Tithe, which had minimal yet purposeful point-of-view shifts, the story in Ironside relies on multiple point of view shifts. Roiben, Kaye, and Corny all tell the story, which means that more characters get more relevance throughout. Through Roiben, we understand the importance of the gentry and customs of the Fae. Through Kaye, we understand her struggles to fight for control, while fighting for herself. Through Corny, we understand grief, and the desire to be bigger than our station in life allows us to be. All these themes tie together in the story, to create the kind of finale Ironside truly is -- a great one. I enjoyed how the story extended past the bounds of Kaye's desires and abilities, and explored the desires and abilities of Roiben and Corny (and Luis, through the extension of Corny). The decision for multiple point of view shifts from multiple characters allows for greater growth of all the characters, not just Kaye, and for readers to fully understand why we diverted from Kaye's story in the first place to Valerie's story, in Valiant.
Through reflection, it's easy to see many parallels between Val and Kaye once finishing Ironside. Both women want to be in control of the story, when most things are out of their control. They both also don't know when to start telling their own story -- for Kaye, this means when to tell her mom about her faerie heritage and when to complete her impossible quest; for Val, this means when she should go home and when to stop using Never. My one critique would be that I wish we'd seen a bit more of Valerie in Ironside, especially since we spent an entire novel in the series diverted to her struggles and triumphs. Nonetheless, I'm glad that Black was able to introduce both Kaye and Valerie into the faerie world in vastly different ways through the same series, while both undergo similar struggles when trying to find out who they are and where they belong.
If you want more of the Unseelie or Seelie Courts, make sure to check out Holly Black's The Folk of the Air Series. We finally get to learn more about the Greenbriar line, and of course get drawn back into the lush, beautiful, and gruesome land of Faerie Holly Black made us fall in love with through this series. Find my reviews of the books of The Folk of the Air series here.
*These reviews can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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