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monetp 's review for:
The Modern Faerie Tales: Tithe; Valiant; Ironside
by Holly Black
"So, what did you think of the Unseelie Court?"
--
I was more than excited to venture back into [a:Holly Black|25422|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261867163p2/25422.jpg]'s faerie world! In a lot of ways, I even liked this better than [b:The Cruel Prince|26032825|The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493047153l/26032825._SY75_.jpg|45959123]. *All fans of her work will now scream at me!* While I like Jude and Cardan's relationship, sometimes their fighting can get old. In "The Modern Faerie Tales," readers learn more about the worldbuilding and storytelling aspects of the fae courts. I got to know more about how fae and human relationships worked. "The Cruel Prince" is told exclusively through Jude's eyes and it was nice to get more characters' perspectives.
This book is not to be read lightly. It is a whooping 1000 pages. It is a tribute to how much I admire Black's writing that I binged this book in 3 days. Each story is so engrossing that I COULD. NOT. QUIT. THE. BOOK. It was so easy for me to root for Kaye and Roiben to end up together. I usually never root for romance but Black got the better of me. While I loved the independent and strong heroines in these stories, I loved the male characters just as much. Roiben was one of my favorites. He seemed like he'll be a much better ruler than Cardan. While Roiben has some angst and selfishness to him, Roiben goes through major character development. By "Ironside," especially with how he treats Lutie, I could see him becoming a fair and just leader of the fae.
It's easiest for me to break down my review by the stories. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO READ THEM IN ORDER OR ELSE YOU WILL BE veeeeeery CONFUSED. In "Tithe" we get to know Kaye, a pixie girl who was raised in the human realm. Her imaginary friends are fae creatures and she saves the life of an unseelie knight formerly of the Seelie court. What follows is a gorgeous and exciting adventure with unforgettable characters. My favorite things about this story were the epic and unexpected conclusion, Kaye's friendship with Corny, the beautiful imagery and the fae parties.
In "Valiant," it's the story of Val, a human girl. This was my least favorite out of the three stories. It's jarring to move from Kaye's immersive story to Val's story. Also we know far less about Val than we do Kaye so it's difficult to bond with her. By the way, Val reminds me of a less sassy Jude. However, I learned to like Val overtime. This story is slow to develop but the last hundred pages are awesome! Val and Luis's friendship is lovely, as well as their interactions with Ravus. It took me a while to warm up to the idea of a troll and human relationship but Val and Ravus won me over.
In "Ironside," all our favorite characters come together! This was my favorite of the three stories. We saw more of Luis and he was finally able to let go of his brother, Corny found a healthy love, Kaye figured out where she stood with Roiben, there was a final battle and the villains finally got their comeuppance. While everything wasn't wrapped up perfectly, I did love how the story ended. It was wonderful to start up Kaye's story again. The idea of her going on a quest for Roiben was such a fun concept, and I adored the lavish winter solstice ball. That was the best scene! Even though our favorite characters are scattered all over the place, they meet at all the right times. Luis and Corny's talks made them such better people and Kaye got to know Roiben better by fighting for him. I admire the way Black gives her couples a chance to get to know each other before they fall in love.
Final thoughts:
- It's a good idea to read this before you read The Folk and Air series. In "The Cruel Prince" and [b:The Wicked King|26032887|The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520620414l/26032887._SY75_.jpg|45959180] there are references to the characters in this book. I read The Folk and Air series first and I completely missed all the important character details! It helps to know who Kaye and Roiben are especially.
- A few things bothered me. I thought it strange that Kaye and Val didn't get more scenes together. Also Corny went down a dark path in "Ironside" that was annoying and boring to read about. It felt unnecessary. I understand that he wanted revenge but he became psychotic!
- I LOVED the Lutie-Loo short story. It was everything that a faerie short story should be! I loved having the Cardan reference for fans to notice. Roiben was my favorite character in the story; he was perfect as the new ruler of the fae. Seeing Kaye's coffee shop dream become a reality was perfect too. The only aspect of this story that annoyed me was Val becoming pregnant and removed from the story. She was barely there!
- I can't wait until [b:The Queen of Nothing|26032912|The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553624975l/26032912._SX50_.jpg|45959205] comes out! I'm going to preorder it Friday.
The reason this didn't get 5 stars is because I wanted even more of the stories!
--
I was more than excited to venture back into [a:Holly Black|25422|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261867163p2/25422.jpg]'s faerie world! In a lot of ways, I even liked this better than [b:The Cruel Prince|26032825|The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493047153l/26032825._SY75_.jpg|45959123]. *All fans of her work will now scream at me!* While I like Jude and Cardan's relationship, sometimes their fighting can get old. In "The Modern Faerie Tales," readers learn more about the worldbuilding and storytelling aspects of the fae courts. I got to know more about how fae and human relationships worked. "The Cruel Prince" is told exclusively through Jude's eyes and it was nice to get more characters' perspectives.
This book is not to be read lightly. It is a whooping 1000 pages. It is a tribute to how much I admire Black's writing that I binged this book in 3 days. Each story is so engrossing that I COULD. NOT. QUIT. THE. BOOK. It was so easy for me to root for Kaye and Roiben to end up together. I usually never root for romance but Black got the better of me. While I loved the independent and strong heroines in these stories, I loved the male characters just as much. Roiben was one of my favorites. He seemed like he'll be a much better ruler than Cardan. While Roiben has some angst and selfishness to him, Roiben goes through major character development. By "Ironside," especially with how he treats Lutie, I could see him becoming a fair and just leader of the fae.
It's easiest for me to break down my review by the stories. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO READ THEM IN ORDER OR ELSE YOU WILL BE veeeeeery CONFUSED. In "Tithe" we get to know Kaye, a pixie girl who was raised in the human realm. Her imaginary friends are fae creatures and she saves the life of an unseelie knight formerly of the Seelie court. What follows is a gorgeous and exciting adventure with unforgettable characters. My favorite things about this story were the epic and unexpected conclusion, Kaye's friendship with Corny, the beautiful imagery and the fae parties.
In "Valiant," it's the story of Val, a human girl. This was my least favorite out of the three stories. It's jarring to move from Kaye's immersive story to Val's story. Also we know far less about Val than we do Kaye so it's difficult to bond with her. By the way, Val reminds me of a less sassy Jude. However, I learned to like Val overtime. This story is slow to develop but the last hundred pages are awesome! Val and Luis's friendship is lovely, as well as their interactions with Ravus. It took me a while to warm up to the idea of a troll and human relationship but Val and Ravus won me over.
In "Ironside," all our favorite characters come together! This was my favorite of the three stories. We saw more of Luis and he was finally able to let go of his brother, Corny found a healthy love, Kaye figured out where she stood with Roiben, there was a final battle and the villains finally got their comeuppance. While everything wasn't wrapped up perfectly, I did love how the story ended. It was wonderful to start up Kaye's story again. The idea of her going on a quest for Roiben was such a fun concept, and I adored the lavish winter solstice ball. That was the best scene! Even though our favorite characters are scattered all over the place, they meet at all the right times. Luis and Corny's talks made them such better people and Kaye got to know Roiben better by fighting for him. I admire the way Black gives her couples a chance to get to know each other before they fall in love.
Final thoughts:
- It's a good idea to read this before you read The Folk and Air series. In "The Cruel Prince" and [b:The Wicked King|26032887|The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520620414l/26032887._SY75_.jpg|45959180] there are references to the characters in this book. I read The Folk and Air series first and I completely missed all the important character details! It helps to know who Kaye and Roiben are especially.
- A few things bothered me. I thought it strange that Kaye and Val didn't get more scenes together. Also Corny went down a dark path in "Ironside" that was annoying and boring to read about. It felt unnecessary. I understand that he wanted revenge but he became psychotic!
- I LOVED the Lutie-Loo short story. It was everything that a faerie short story should be! I loved having the Cardan reference for fans to notice. Roiben was my favorite character in the story; he was perfect as the new ruler of the fae. Seeing Kaye's coffee shop dream become a reality was perfect too. The only aspect of this story that annoyed me was Val becoming pregnant and removed from the story. She was barely there!
- I can't wait until [b:The Queen of Nothing|26032912|The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553624975l/26032912._SX50_.jpg|45959205] comes out! I'm going to preorder it Friday.
The reason this didn't get 5 stars is because I wanted even more of the stories!