This is the second book in a trilogy, and as such not the best place to start. This review will contain some spoilers for book one, because it’s impossible to write about this book without talking about things that were revealed in the first one. So if you are new to these Holly Black books, go find White Cat – that’s where to begin the trilogy. Cassel Sharpe lives in a world where a select percentage of the population have certain gifts. People who, if […]
Are you afraid of the dark (fairies)?
I picked up the latest YA release by Holly Black after realizing that this is same author who wrote “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown”, which I thought was a really fun twist on a traditional vampire story, thankfully having nothing to do with sparkling. This time, Black gives us a modern-day fairy tale, full of relatable teen characters mixed with beautiful, cruel fairies and other terrifying creatures. The story starts at a small town party, just your average group of teens drinking and dancing and […]
More Like Suburban Fantasy than Urban Fantasy
A joint-review of Tithe and Ironside by Holly Black: I asked my friend for some recommendations of books, and found these two thrust into my hands. Apparently there is actually another book that comes in between them in the series (Valiant), but that it is about other characters whereas Ironside is more like a direct sequel to Tithe. But anyways, that’s a bit of a side note. I will start this off by saying that as a kid growing up, I love love LOVED anything […]
I Guess I Just Wanted the Forest to be Darker
Hazel and her brother Ben live a small town that edges up against the land of the fairies. As children they were the best of friends, often going off on dangerous adventures in the woods together taking down monsters in a badass brother/sister duo where the brother is the musician who stuns the wild creatures and Hazel, who is the knight who slays the beasts. But even as children, Ben realizes the danger the two of them are in and wants to quit before they […]