The Modern Faerie Tales: Tithe; Valiant; Ironside

Modern Faerie Tales #1-3

by Holly Black

In Tithe, sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms—a struggle that could very well mean her death.

In Valiant, the companion to Tithe, seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, 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. When one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature, Val finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

In Ironside, the sequel to Tithe, 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 drunkenly declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie. Unable to see Roiben until she has fulfilled his quest, Kaye finds herself in the center of the battle of wits and weapons being waged over his throne.

This omnibus combines all three books into one.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fae, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy

1040 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2010

About the author

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty 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 currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this chunker! I have never read these stories before, or at least don’t remember if I did 🤔

Anyway, it’s Holly Black and I love her!!



Happy Reading!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[✨ Helena ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not going to lie. These were pretty mediocre books. I probably wouldn’t have finished them if I hadn’t developed a crush on the sexy faery knight, Roiben. It also didn’t help that the sexy elf king, Thranduil from The Hobbit, was who I was imagining in my head! All in all, these were rather enjoyable, even though they weren’t that well-written. You can really see how much Holly Black has improved as a writer, from her début novel here to her more current ones.

PSA: While this is marketed to a younger YA audience, there is a surprising amount of adult content in this trilogy, including homophobia, sexual assault, and an abundance of f-bombs. If that’s triggering for you, I’d recommend giving Holly’s other books a go.

But no matter what book Holly Black writes, you can truly see her expertise when it comes to faery lore. She’s such an imaginative author who manages to mould her faeries into something both elegant and eerie. This trilogy is incredibly fun and super easy to binge-read. I’d say it falls under the category of a trashy, YA guilty pleasure.

3 stars

In Tithe, we are introduced to Kaye.



Her mother is in a band, and they end up leaving Philadelphia to live with her grandmother in New Jersey. Once there, she looks for her imaginary friends, Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle, but can’t find them and chalks it up to her childhood fantasies. Later however, she attends a party and encounters an injured faery knight, Roiben, causing her to realise that she didn’t imagine her friends.



When she pulls a magical arrow out of his chest, Roiben rewards her with three truthfully answered questions. Kaye doesn’t use her questions right away and saves them for another time. Afterwards, her faery friends contact her, informing her that Roiben killed Gristle during a fox hunt. Wanting revenge for her friend’s death, she tricks Roiben into revealing his true name, giving her complete power over Roiben’s actions. It is also revealed by her friends that she is not a mere human girl, but is, in fact, a changeling. The Unseelie Court wants to use her as a tithe to hell, so she ought to maintain her human appearance. But no matter how hard she tries, she still ends up dragged into the world of faery politics, after having ventured into the forest.

2 stars

In Valiant, we meet Valerie.



Val cuts off her hair and runs away to New York City upon discovering that her mother and her boyfriend, Tom, were having an affair. Blech. She finds refuge with a group of teenage squatters: Lolli, Dave, and Luis. They give her the nickname Prince Valiant and later disclose to her that they are in regular contact with the troll, Ravus. He creates Glamour, which exiled faeries use to make their bodies resistant to iron. Glamour is also used by mortals as the addictive drug, Nevermore. Like her friends, Val, gets addicted to it because mortals can do magic for a short time, under the influence of it. Their lives take a turn for the worse, however, when the exiles turn up poisoned and Ravus is blamed for a crime that he did not commit. Val and the others need to find the faery responsible in order to clear Ravus’ name.

3 stars

In Ironside, Kaye returns as the protagonist, and the plot continues a week after the events of Tithe…which I shall try not to spoil, haha. In order to do so, I’ll be very brief. Kaye no longer knows where she belongs in the Unseelie Court as a changeling, but is sure of one thing and one thing only: her love for Roiben. At his coronation, Kaye gets drunk on faery wine and declares herself to him. He then sends her on a seemingly impossible quest…She cannot see or speak to him until she finds a faery who can lie, something she knows does not exist. Or does it?

This cover is SO BLOODY PRETTY! I NEED IT!!!

[Beenish · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★ | I won't be as I once was. No matter what I long for.

Love this book on the whole. The bonus short story was such a treat after leaving me craving for more content on these characters after Ironside. Holly Black's faerie books are always amazing tho. I must say her writing is the best in The Folk Of The Air


review to come.


My reviews/ratings of other books
Tithe (book 1) 3.5★
Valiant (book 2) 4★
Ironside (book 3) 3.5★

______

Holly Black has certainly made me love her writing, world building and characters and I HAVE to read this book asap.

[✨faith✨trust✨pixiedust✨ Dead Account; Not Coming Back · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes 😬

Sooo this changed a ton of stuff but not necessarily for the better. Most of it was kept the same, and the majority of the edits were made to either make the writing more politically correct (usually in a really awkward, Riverdale-esque way) or to connect this series with the Folk of the Air trilogy by spewing “the High Court” every chance it could.

Thanks, I hate it.

I wouldn’t mind it if it was stated that there would be significant changes made. A notice in the beginning, at least, would have been nice. The plots were ultimately the same (still horrible) but Corny was rewritten to be flip-floppy (making his character arc throughout the series make even less sense) and everyone else was made into a “nicer” person, sometimes changing plot points to make it happen. And then there were the random little edits, like cutting part of a sentence even though the original was fine, or adding something that didn’t necessarily need to be added, especially considering the books have been out for over a decade. And if Black wanted to blot out her past indiscretions, then why was Valiant left largely untouched while Tithe and Ironside got so many random changes? Valiant was the biggest oof of them all! It was all basically just censorship for no reason.

If I had to choose between this edited version and the original, I’d honestly go with the original, which is saying a lot, because the original was pretty bad. This version just felt like painting over a moldy wall and expecting it to work out in the end.

Also omg the Lutie-loo story at the end was atrocious! I skimmed most of it because I was bored out of my mind, but what I did analyze was so ????? what???????? Most of it was clearly there to make you want to read The Cruel Prince or make you happy if you have already read The Cruel Prince. I haven’t read it but I wanted to and this awkward teaser for it only made me never want to read anything by Holly Black ever again.

~yikes & oof~

[Rachel L]

Sadly a DNF for me. I loved Black's Cruel Prince series, but this one wasn't for me. I can see how it was popular back when it was first released.

[rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Tithe—★★★★
2. Valiant—★★★
3. Ironside—★★★★★

THANK THE GODS FOR THIS BOOK. I've been wanting to read these stories ever since I read The Cruel Prince and now I finally did it. I am happy that I was able to come back to Holly Black's dark, magical, and atmospheric writing which made me forget the problems of reality for a while (WHY IS 2020 A HUGE DUMPSTER FIRE THO. I wanted to be a protagonist of a sci fi book but I didn't ask for this apocalyptic shz).

I love how cleverly-written all these books are. This series is complex, dark and intriguing. I suppose Holly Black isn't the queen of faeries for nothing. She's one genius storyteller. Ironside is definitely my favorite. Next to Cardan and Jude, Kaye and Roiben have become my favorites so it was great to read about them again since they were barely in Valiant.

I ALSO LOVE THE SHORT STORY AT THE END. It amazes me how HB has created such a vast and complex world. She wrote this series way before The Cruel Prince mania exploded like a bomb. It's amazing how she managed to tie this series to The Folk of the Air. NOW I MISS CARDAN AND JUDE ALL OVER AGAIN. I even spent all morning skimming the Folk of the Air books for the Kaye and Roiben bits and ended up reading more scenes because I miss the world of Elfhame that much.

HOLLY BLACK IS A GENIUS. I HOPE SHE WRITES MORE BOOKS SET IN THIS WORLD. MORE JUDECARDAN CONTENT. MORE KAYE AND ROIBEN. WANNA SEE CORNY AND LUIS AGAIN. WANNA READ ABOUT VAL AND RAVUS AND THEIR BABY AGAIN.

I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF THIS WORLD. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Holly Black is the TRUE faerie queen.

[Eva Gavilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pensavo fosse una trilogia pubblicata in un solo volume per l'edizione italiana, in realtà si tratta di 3 romanzi distinti, il cui filo conduttore è la scoperta, da parte degli umani, dell'esistenza del regno delle fate. Il primo racconto è promosso, una bella storia, un bell'intreccio, scorre bene ed i protagonisti sono ben caratterizzati. Il secondo l'ho trovato inferiore, più noioso e meno scorrevole, non interessante come il primo. Il terzo non è altro che il secondo tempo del primo, con la presenza di alcuni dei personaggi del secondo, anche questo è noioso per la maggior parte del tempo, solo sul finale migliora e ci sono dei capitoli interessanti.
***
I thought it was a trilogy published in a single volume for the Italian edition, in reality they're 3 distinct novels, whose common thread is the discovery, by humans, of the existence of the fairy kingdom. The first story is promoted, a good story, a nice plot, it flows well and the protagonists are well characterized. As for the second, I found it inferior, more boring and less fluent, not as interesting as the first. The third one is nothing more than the conclusion of the first, mixed with some charachters from the second novel. As the second, the third novel is boring: only its finale chapters are a bit interesting.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this bind-up of faerie stories, Holly Black's writing style is as strong as ever, but her plotting and characterization leaves a LOT to be desired.

I liked seeing how the world of Faerie and Ironside interact with one another in these books, but things just. Sort of. Happen. There's a lot of plot conveniences that were a little boring to me. I liked the main characters fine, but I wish we had gotten to know them a little better, especially Val.

Overall, this series feels like a product of its early-2000s time. Maybe it's just because it's in this big omnibus edition, but it feels very reminiscent of LJ Smith to me. Characters fall in love at the drop of a hat, conflicts are introduced and resolved within pages, and character development feels nonexistent. Holly Black's writing style started out strong in these books and has only gotten stronger, but her plotting and characters were definitely the weak points in this series.

[Brookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book okay, I would rate it 2.5 stars. I was able to finish it, which I am glad that I did in the end, but I did consider not finishing after reading Tithe (1/3)

Since it is the trilogy bound together, I'm going to also going to review the individual ones:

Tithe: I found Tithe confusing. I wasn't overly fond of the characters, but I didn't necessarily dislike them either. Things were often happening, but I really didn't know why. The romance showed up, but I wasn't exactly sure the reason for that either.

Valiant: I liked this one much more than Tithe. There was something about the characters that I enjoyed more. They caught my interest in a way the ones from Tithe didn't. I had really been looking forward to seeing them more in Ironside.

Ironside: And then I was a bit disappointed. While there was the crossover between the first two, it was mostly the characters from Tithe again. I wanted to see more of the main characters from Valiant. But I am happy that I'm able to say that I didn't get as confused as I was when I read Tithe.

[Heba (Heba Land) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished after reading it for 3 month, actually it wasn't a good experience! What is this ending! I'm trying not to be angry 😥

[Christine Spoors · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look at me adding this as just one book when it’s actually a bind up of three: Tithe, Valiant and Ironside. It’s ridiculous to try and review three books in one, so I’ll not say much haha. This was a fun adventure, I did find that the second book felt quite unnecessary to the overall story, but I did enjoy being back in Black’s faerie version of our world.

I had such mixed feelings over these. The first came out in 2004, and so one minute I was laughing to myself imagining the clothes and the thin pencil eyebrows, and the next I was so excited because we got a hint of a mention about Elfhame and the Greenbriars.

This new edition has a short story at the end called The Lament of Lutie-Loo and that was probably my favourite. In it we see characters travel to Elfhame & meet characters you’ll know if you’ve read The Cruel Prince.

If I hadn’t have read The Cruel Prince series then I’m not sure I’d have bothered with it, but it was a fun addition to that world & I loved The Queen of Nothing so much I needed more Fae haha!

[Colette ♎︎]

Okay so like after I finished Holly Black’s The Wicked King (which btw WRECKED ME!), I wanted to start reading her others series, Modern Faerie Tales. But as I went to but the first book, I saw that there’s a trilogy bind-up releasing on June with a GORGEOUS cover and I’m like....GUYS I NEED IT!!! But like no one’s mentioning it in the Book Community, heck even Holly Black isn’t saying anything. Well I guess I’m the only one who knows of this bind-up release.... Now I wait.

[Ben Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tithe: ★★.5/5
Valiant: ★★★/5
Ironside: ★★★★/5
The Lament of Lutie-Loo: ★★★★★/5

Apparently, I read Tithe back in 2012, and I still have it on my shelf, but I remembered nothing about it. I thought I did, but I think I was getting it mixed up with Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater.

So glad I stuck with this because Ironside was so good!

Tithe had my favourite characters: Corny. Valiant had my favourite love interest: Ravus. And Ironside just had everything. And the short story had an awesome link to the Folk of the Air series.

[Camilla (thecrazyreader)]

DNF

Motivazione: sono arrivata a metà del primo libro e mi dispiace, ma non riesco a continuare, anche se una piccola parte di me vorrebbe sapere come continua la storia.
Si vede che è uno dei primi libri della scrittrice. É il suo stile, poche descrizioni e dritti al punto. Però una cosa che mi manca veramente è la motivazione che sta dietro alle scelte dei personaggi, sono a metà libro e non ho ancora capito perché facciano quello che facciano. E questo mi ha portato a non attaccarmi a nessuno di loro.
In più ci sono delle scene che sono troppo trash anche per me.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up a star from the last time I read it.

Since reading more of Holly Black's catalog and seeing how far she's come, I enjoy seeing repeated patterns in her writing. They all stemmed from this story here. Reading it now just feels like gritty nostalgia.

[EA Solinas]

Stories about a girl who finds out she's part/all faerie and becomes enmeshed in that world are a dime a dozen now. But Holly Black first started this trend, with the darkly glittering "Modern Faerie Tales: Tithe; Valiant; Ironside." This trilogy of clever, entrancing little books bring a bit of urban grime to the faerie world without sacrificing any of its beauty.

In "Tithe," Kaye Fierch has spent years traveling with her mother's rock band, until one night when her mom's boyfriend/guitarist tries to stab her. So her mom whisks her back to her grandmother's New Jersey house, where Kaye reminisces about some "imaginary faerie friends she had as a child.

But then she encounters Roiben, a wounded faerie knight whose life she saves -- and soon she learns that she is a changeling, who is being targeted by the faerie courts. Now on the run with Roiben, she must deal with the faerie world's attacks on the mortal one... including her human friends.

"Valiant" switches over to Valerie Russell, a runaway who makes her way to New York City, and falls in with a bunch of teenage subway-dwellers. It turns out that they're friends with a troll named Ravus, who makes a mysterious drug that makes faeries immune to iron -- and temporarily gives humans magic. But when faeries start dying, Ravus is suspected of the crime -- and only Val can save him.

"Ironside" is a direct sequel to "Tithe," and twines in a little of "Valiant" as well. Roiben is being crowned king of the Unseelie Court, but Kaye is starting to feel out of place. Then her faerie love gives her an impossible quest to fulfill before she can become his consort, sending her into new and dangerous situations involving the Seelie Court...

Holly Black is one of the best urban fantasy authors writing today, mainly because her stories truly are urban fantasies -- they combine faerie glitter and ethereality with the grime, wire and subway tunnels of New York and New Jersey. She truly makes you feel as if both the faerie realm and the mortal cities are jumping out at you.

Her writing has a dark, raw beauty, studded with moments of poetry ("red and gold flames licked upward. A sea of burning oil and diesel fuel spread to scorch everything it touched"). And she never turns away from the uglier facets of her world -- there are hints of cruelty, addiction and heartbreak, as well as the love and persistence of her heroines.

And she writes really, really good characters who run all across the board. Kaye is a very likable, heartfelt heroine -- she's initially a little fey and odd, and she has some growing up to do before the story is over. Valerie is a little offputting at first, because you're busy thinking, "I want Kaye! I want more Kaye!", but the wounded runaway eventually grows on you. And there's a wide array of strong supporting characters -- icy knights, a half-mad gay dude, former lovers and hunky trolls.

"Modern Faerie Tales: Tithe; Valiant; Ironside" is the vibrant, haunting trilogy that spawned a thousand "I'm a faerie girl who never knew it!" knockoffs, and like many originals, it's one of the best.

[Taylor Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tithe - 3.5 Stars
Valiant - 1 Star
Ironside - 4.5 Stars

The Lament of Lutie-Loo - 5 Stars

I liked that all three books (plus Lutie’s short story) were all in one book, so I could just keep reading as I finished one book rather than having to swap it out.

1st Book - Tithe
I decently liked this book! There were some things I didn’t care for, but it was entertaining all the same. It’s been a bit since I read it, so I can’t remember too much about what took place. But it was interesting and it kept me reading. I do recall wishing that there had been more build-up between Kaye and Roiben before their relationship, as it felt sort of rushed. It’s not my favorite book, but I would read it again.

2nd Book - Valiant
I hated this book. It’s rare that I actively dislike books but this was one of them. To me, this book didn’t feel at all that it was about faeries until the last four chapters. The start of the book has Val walking in on her boyfriend Tom making out with her mother, and then running away from home to NYC, and eventually finds these gutter punks to live with in an abandoned subway tunnel. That’s really what this book was about. Val and her new friends started shooting up Never, a drug to help faeries live in the city that gets humans high. Then they would steal things and manipulate people into doing their bidding using the magic from Never. At some point, there was a scene that maybe doesn’t necessarily qualify as a rape scene, but it sure as shit felt like one. The actual plot with the faeries didn’t start until the last third of the book, and even then, it wasn’t all that interesting. I had to force myself to read this one, and that’s not great.

3rd Book - Ironside
This was by FAR my favorite of the series. I read this one within a day. And yeah, some characters from Valiant showed up in this one, but I truly think that you could skip Valiant and just go right from Tithe to Ironside, and not really miss a whole lot. This book was best written out of the three of them as well, and I felt every emotion the characters were feeling. I felt especially felt the heartbreak when Kaye told her mother that she wasn’t her actual daughter and was instead a channeling. Would absolutely read this one again.

Short Story - Lament of Lutie-Loo
Fantastic. 10’s across the board. Five out of five stars. We didn’t see much of Lutie in the series, and seeing her personality and characterization in this short story thrilled me. Also, with the appearances of Cardan and some other characters from The Folk of the Air series, it gave me life. It also gave a glimpse into what the High Court looked like before the events of The Cruel Prince took place; and I am here for it.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are minor spoilers in the following reviews!

🍂Tithe 4 stars
This was cute. Actually, I was excited to read about Kaye but didn’t realise that it was that Kaye. And so it was about Kaye and Roiben. Sweet!

I loved them both already in The Folk of the Air but now I love them even more! Kaye is a strong, brave and loyal she-pixie we all want to be friends with, and Roiben is the faerie knight we all need. What else do you need?

But this story had a very different feeling to it than The Folk of the Air. I know that it was written earlier than The Cruel Prince, but the fearies seemed more...lenient? There were riddles and correctly phrased orders, but they weren’t as picky with words as they are in The Folk of the Air. Also, Roiben is way kinder and loyal than Cardan (not that I love Cardan less, but I do appreciate Roiben more now).
I must confess, though, it wasn’t as immersive as The Cruel Prince.

🍂Valiant 4 stars
I don’t know how to rate this one, to be honest. It was way darker than what I previously read from Holly Black. It was about a runaway, junkies, addiction, casual sex, and sweet love. It wasn’t your typical fairytale. Heck, this was some very dark Beauty and the Beast meets Snow White. I was hooked from the first page!
I was sucked in deeper than when reading Tithe; I could feel my heart was beating fast while I anxiously awaited what happened next.
But I got the sense that the story didn’t flow as graciously as it could. At times I had difficulties picturing the words, leaving me frowning at the pages.

🍂Iron side 4 stars
When she was making a declaration, I was screaming.
This was a magical read! Loved the fact that Luis, Val, Ravus and Ruth made an appearance - especially Luis, who is seemingly cozy with Corny *wink wink*
The end of Silarial seemed good enough. What I love about this book and Tithe are Kaye and Roiben. Kaye is phenomenal and without her Roiben would be so goddamn lost! She’s legit saving his ass on every turn. But I cannot hold it against him because he’s a cinnamon roll.
Can I get another whoop whoop for Corny and Luis?! The ship is sailing!!

🍂The Lament of Lutie-loo 4 stars
Aww this was a cute short story. Lutie was a cutie all along, Kaye’s loyal sprite sidekick. And all the ships are sailing!! YAS. Also, Cardan is here! The baby is as bitter as I remember.

All in all, these four stories were a delight to read! Can’t wait for Queen of Nothing to visit the Faerie lands again.

[Ashli Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5*
TW: alcoholic parents, parental abandonment, drug use, drug abuse, death, drowning, racial fetishisation and more.

I really wanted to love this book, I’m OBSESSED with Holly Black and assumed this would hit the spot but it just didn’t.

this book is split into three smaller books: tithe, valiant and Ironside. the only reason this book is getting 2.5 is because I actually enjoyed tithe, but valiant? I hated it and it brought the whole book down for me. whilst reading this you can tell this was one of the authors earlier books as it didn’t have the same depth or character writing her later ones posses. most of the characters felt very flat to me (with the exception of a few) and I found myself actively hating others: lollipop and Dave, this is for you.

I found the plot all over the place too, and I know it’s a fantasy book but half the time it made no sense. you’re telling me a young girl catches her mum sleeping with her boyfriend so she runs away, sleeping with squatters she met that day, becoming a drug addict and finds herself in deep with the faerie world in less than a week? there just seemed to be no development or progression, I felt like I was jumping from one plot straight to another and this made it hard to care about it even enjoy.

overall, I’m glad this book is finished and if I would’ve picked this up first I probably would’ve avoided the author all together, but I’m glad I found her other work first.

[My Bookish Delights]

I didn't have the best relationship with these books the first time I read them. But it's been a couple years and I wanted to reread anyway since Roiben and Kaye were mentioned in the Cruel Prince book. So here we go.

Tithe 3 stars

This was definitely a good time. I paid a bit more attention to what was going on and I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I really enjoyed it. I like Roiben and Kaye. The plot kind of felt all over the place, but I really love Black's Faerie. They are so dark and creepy. It was entertaining and easy to read, but I just wasn't in love with it. I originally thought 4 stars, but it's probably more 3-3.5. I'm really not looking forward to the next one though. It was my least favorite the first time I read this trilogy.

Valiant DNF at page 289 (just past chapter 2) on 9/1/19

I just couldn't do it. I put it off for a really long time - I finished the first one in this bind-up at the beginning of July! I reread my review of this book from the first time I read it and I should have listened to past me when I said I would not reread this one. I think I'm going to find a summary of the last story to just refresh my memory and not torture myself like this. I wish I liked it, but I just don't.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Because, there is no other separate editions of this bind up, Goodreads is going to tell me I have only read Tithe. I have not. I have read the entire series, and this is my rating overall.

Tithe: ★★.5
Valiant: ★★★
Ironside: ★★

There were elements of these books that I liked, but ultimately they were a bit of a hot mess.

[Baeleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG SO GOOD!!!!!! IT'S AMAZING!!!!

[lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Modern Faerie Tales zapravo je objedinjeni serijal koji se sastoji od 3 knjige: Tithe, Valiant i Ironside, napisane davnih, ranih godina ovog tisućljeća, prije pametnih telefona, prije Facebooka i Messengera i Whatsappa, prije vremena u kojem svatko u bilo kojem trenutku ima spremnu kameru koju može uperiti u nešto neobično ili lijepo ili ružno. I to se primijeti. Ne znam za vas, ali uvijek kad čitam moderne knjige koje su starije od vremena u kojem sam ja provela svoje tinejdžerske godine, cijelo iskustvo čitanja bude mi prožeto nostalgijom. No, dosta o meni, prijeđimo na knjige.

Nije mi prvi put da čitam ovaj serijal, ali kako sam ga čitala jako davno prije i samo jednom (za razliku od serijala The Folk of the Air, koji praktički znam napamet), većinu sam radnje zaboravila i mogla sam uživati u upoznavanju likova i u iznenađenjima koja su me čekala prije samog raspleta.

U Tithe upoznajemo Kaye, šesnaestogodišnju zgubidanku koja prati svoju majku po klubovima u kojima joj majka svira, jedva uzdržavajući sebe i svoju kćer. No, sve se promijeni kad se Kaye i njena majka vrate u kuću Kayine bake i Kaye odluči da i dalje neće pohađati školu nego radije pokuša pronaći posao na obližnjoj benzinskoj kako bi mogla u slobodno vrijeme cugati s prijateljima u napuštenim zgradama. Kaye je oličenje grungea – iako je vjerojatno malo premlada za taj žanr. Kaye je, također, potpuno drugačija od svojih vršnjaka. Usprkos svojoj bujnoj mašti, ona nikada ne laže, ali zato ima magične prijatelje koje samo ona vidi i koji sad odjednom nešto žele od nje. Osim toga, Kaye usred šume upozna zgodnog, bjelokosog vilenjaka koji izgleda kao dečko iz snova svake gotičarke koja je usto bila zaljubljena u Legolasa. Ovaj se vilenjak zove Roiben i ne samo da ga je Kaye pronašla ranjenog i ustrijeljenog, u njenoj potpunoj milosti, nego mu je i spasila život, zaradivši na taj način tri odgovora na tri pitanja.

Tithe je kratka, ali slatka knjige koja je savršen uvod u vilinski svijet koji Holly Black i dalje proširuje. Tu se mogu pronaći i poneka dvorska intriga, ubojstava, nekoliko jezivih i/ili slatkih vilinskih bića te tragična i manje tragična prijateljstva, ali u središtu svega zapravo je jedna ljubavna priča koja spoji naizgled nespojivi par.

Mislim li da je ova knjiga vrhunac književnosti? Pobogu ne, nipošto! Možda je čak i malo sramotna. No ja je obožavam i obožavam Kaye i Roibena. U svakom slučaju, dovoljno je kratka da mi ne bi bila gubitak vremena ni da je manje obožavam.

Nakon Tithe slijedi Valiant i, iskreno, prvi put kad sam otvorila ovu knjigu i shvatila da u njoj neće biti ni Kaye ni Roibena, skoro sam je zatvorila i odmah prešla na Ironside. Vjerojatno mi čak ni ne bi nedostajala isključivo po pitanju radnje, ali onda bih propustila Val (i Lolli i Davea i Luisa i Ravusa) i toliko čarobnog worldbuildinga – a kakav bi to propust bio!

Ukratko, ovo je knjiga o djevojci koja je pobjegla od kuće da bi se našla u napuštenoj stanici podzemne željeznice s drugim odbjeglim klincima koji kradu, kopaju po smeću, raznose nešto tajnovito klijentima koji su još više tajnoviti i drogiraju se vilinskim prahom (koji nije zapravo vilinski prah, ali definitivno je nešto magično). Vilinska bića s kojima se Val susreće nisu dio nikakvog dvora, kao što je to Roiben, što znači da su ili stoput krvoločniji ili sasvim blagonakloni ljudima – samo što Val nikad ne može biti sasvim sigurna kojoj od te dvije skupine pripadaju oni koje ona upozna u svom bildungsromanu. Sasvim neočekivano, Val i njezina priča bile su mi još bolje od Kaye i njezine.

Na kraju svega dolazi Ironside, koja objedinjuje Tithe i Valiant, ali zapravo ponovno slijedi Kaye i Roibena (i Cornyja, koji se isto prvi put pojavi u Tithe). S obzirom na to da ne želim ništa spoilati, reći ću samo da je Kaye u ovoj knjizi malo zrelija nego u prošloj, ali još treba proći kroz puno odrastanja do kraja ovog serijala. Njezina ljubavna priča u ovoj se knjizi zasniva na lošoj komunikaciji, ali s obzirom na (vrlo dramatičnu) osobnost likova koji bi trebali komunicirati, nismo ni iznenađeni. U Ironside dobijemo i klasičnu scenu u stilu Holly Black, gdje se glavni ljubavni par nalazi na suprotnim stranama i oboje su uvjereni da zaslužuju ljubav. Je li ljubav uopće potrebno zaslužiti? Mislim da je o toj temi Holly Black razglabala nadugačko i naširoko u svakoj od svojih knjiga, ne samo kad je u pitanju romantična ljubav, već i platonska – bila ona ljubav između prijatelja, između djeteta i roditelja ili između braće i sestara. Možda svi zaslužuju ljubav. Možda nitko nije dužan voljeti drugu osobu. 🤷

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tithe- 5 stars
Valiant- 5 stars, (Val & Ravus = fav couple)
Ironside- 5 stars
Since I read this series as a whole—as one bigass book, I felt like all the stories should be rated as a whole.

[theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

i finished Tithe and this is where am i going to stop for now.maybe i will pick up the others from the series,maybe not.more likely i will stick to Holly’s newer books.

[Ciska van Bokhorst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eerste deel vond ik niet zo heel leuk, deel 2 en 3 waren gelukkig al beter.

[Rinske · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

[Junie Rönnqvist]

I read the first book in this series and it was rather mediocre, but since all three books are published in this same novel I haven't continued on with the series yet (and probably won't care to finish the series for the time being) I added this to my "read" list.

[lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tithe - 2 sterren
Valiant - 3 sterren
Ironside - 4 sterren
Short story - 4 sterren