Valiant by Holly Black
Title: Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie
Author: Holly Black
Where You’ll Find It: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: Very Good
This book isn’t really a sequel to Tithe, although it takes place in the same universe. You do see things that are consequences of the events in Tithe, and some of its events are alluded to in a broad way, but the characters are new, and you could read up to the last two chapters of Valiant without having Tithe spoiled for you.
The back of the book does a good job on this one, too:
When seventeen-year-old Valarie 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 involve, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.
Val is absolutely endearing and I love this book. It really wasn’t what I was expecting, but I was pleased with it all the same. I do have two small quibbles, though. First, Val comes off as more of a child than Kaye in Tithe, and the book had that feel to it the whole way through, despite some of the very serious issues that it brings up. A lot of terrible things happen in this book, but they didn’t make me feel terrible when I was reading because I mostly felt like I was looking through the eyes of an 11-year-old, not a 17-year-old. Second, the romance, while good, didn’t have time to develop to the place that it was at. It needed to build up more before becoming so important. That said, I loved the romance anyway.
Despite my two small complaints, the book was great overall, and I definitely recommend it.
*
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
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*
*
The murder mystery was a really interesting part of the book to me, and I felt like it paid off really well, even though I knew about one-fourth of the way in that it would be Dave. I was disappointed that Ruth wasn’t a character through the whole book because I liked her so much in that beginning scene! She was hilarious. One of my very favorite moments in the whole book was when Val compares Lolli spread of drug paraphernalia to the spread, organization, and ritual of her mother’s make-up things.
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END SPOILERS
I needed a break from studying, so I wrote up the review for the 3rd book, Ironside, but I’m not going to post that one yet. Unlike Valiant, it is a direct sequel to Tithe, so it would be pointless to put up its review for a little while. I intend to post it in a couple of weeks because by then there’s at least a chance that you’ll have read Tithe, and that the review will be of some kind of use.
Author: Holly Black
Where You’ll Find It: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: Very Good
This book isn’t really a sequel to Tithe, although it takes place in the same universe. You do see things that are consequences of the events in Tithe, and some of its events are alluded to in a broad way, but the characters are new, and you could read up to the last two chapters of Valiant without having Tithe spoiled for you.
The back of the book does a good job on this one, too:
When seventeen-year-old Valarie 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 involve, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.
Val is absolutely endearing and I love this book. It really wasn’t what I was expecting, but I was pleased with it all the same. I do have two small quibbles, though. First, Val comes off as more of a child than Kaye in Tithe, and the book had that feel to it the whole way through, despite some of the very serious issues that it brings up. A lot of terrible things happen in this book, but they didn’t make me feel terrible when I was reading because I mostly felt like I was looking through the eyes of an 11-year-old, not a 17-year-old. Second, the romance, while good, didn’t have time to develop to the place that it was at. It needed to build up more before becoming so important. That said, I loved the romance anyway.
Despite my two small complaints, the book was great overall, and I definitely recommend it.
*
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
*
*
*
The murder mystery was a really interesting part of the book to me, and I felt like it paid off really well, even though I knew about one-fourth of the way in that it would be Dave. I was disappointed that Ruth wasn’t a character through the whole book because I liked her so much in that beginning scene! She was hilarious. One of my very favorite moments in the whole book was when Val compares Lolli spread of drug paraphernalia to the spread, organization, and ritual of her mother’s make-up things.
*
*
*
*
*
*
END SPOILERS
I needed a break from studying, so I wrote up the review for the 3rd book, Ironside, but I’m not going to post that one yet. Unlike Valiant, it is a direct sequel to Tithe, so it would be pointless to put up its review for a little while. I intend to post it in a couple of weeks because by then there’s at least a chance that you’ll have read Tithe, and that the review will be of some kind of use.