The Ninja Reviews. . .Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside by Holly Black

Holly Black is known mostly for co-writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, but I knew her first as an author of young adult books about a very dark version of our world inhabited by faeries.


The first of these books is Tithe (the cover has been re-done a number of times, which I've always found an interesting thing for a publisher to do). Kaye is 16 and has always felt like a freak. She is a blonde-haired Asian, which is strange enough, she grew up in seedy bars because of her rocker-wannabe mom, and she has vague memories of conversing with faeries when she was a little girl. When she ends up back at her Gram's house, she rescues a wounded man who is obviously not of this world. Her faerie friends from childhood reappear to warn her, but Kaye is quickly sucked into the world of faerie.

This is actually a re-telling of the Scottish legend of Tam Lin, but it is incredibly dark, very edgy, and not your typical faery story. In traditional folklore, faeries were not usually beautiful creatures who performed good deeds; They were something to be feared. Holly Black definitely uses this in her novels, and to great effect. I have read some reviews online in which readers have complained about the language and some of the contest in these books. However, it all serves to build the Kaye's character and explain what type of life she has had. If you keep in mind that she's led a really rough life around rough people, you just might come to understand her and her eventual involvement in the macabre world of the fae.

I highly suggest these books to fans of Melissa Marr. If you love her books, then you will certainly enjoy Holly Black's. Here are the two books that follow Tithe:

Valiant by Holly Black

Ironside by Holly Black

Cover for Maggie Stiefvater's Linger Released!

If you aren't already a Maggie Stiefvater fan, than you'd better hop to it because Maggie's books are phenomenal. They aren't your typical paranormal/romance books. The female characters are strong, the writing almost lyrical, and the setting somehow moody without being too angsty. Maggie's frist book was Lament: the faerie queen's deception, which I read in about a day. The sequel, Ballad: a gathering of faerie, soon followed. But Maggie's true success started with Shiver, which was release in August and talked about practically non-stop in the YA book community. I took Shiver with me when I was vacationing at the beach and had to force myself to put it down and, you know, do some vacationing! I highly recommend all of her books to Twilight fans suffering from withdrawal, as well as fans of anything to do with faeries/fairies/fae, celtic mythology, and just really well-crafted stories.

And here is the clever and gorgeous cover for Maggie's new book, Linger, which won't be available until Fall 2010 - Grrr!!