What We’re Reading

Ironside | Holly Black

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When I started reading, I immediately regretted having read Tithe and Valiant so long ago. Although it’s probably more all the stories I read in between that filled my head up so that I forgot some of the important pieces to this one. But once the story starts to pick up, you get past what you might not remember.

After a brief prologue explaining Roiben’s beginnings at the Unseelie Court, we jump to his present, where he’s about to be crowned its King. Immediately after his coronation, things take a turn for the worse. Kaye, egged on by some ill-wishing faeries, makes a declaration–something she doesn’t fully understand–and Roiben sets her an impossible task, which she takes to mean he doesn’t love her. Of course he means it in an entirely different way, but since they can’t talk until she completes her task, there’s no great way to discover that fact. Shortly after this, the court is attacked and must flee.

Back in the human side of things, Corny has gotten himself cursed, and Kaye has informed her mother that she’s a changeling and is really a pixie, not a human girl. The result is not quite what she had hoped, which leads she and Corny to take off in search of the Fixer, who’s said to be able to lead them to Silarial, who has requested an audience with Kaye.

Upon arriving at the Bright Court, Kaye quickly realizes that what Silarial wants is her help in controlling Roiben, which Kaye could provide, as the one living being to know his true name. She has absolutely no intention of using it against him that way, of course.

After a lot of unwanted adventure, and a few further mishaps, the gang figures out a few key answers, and stumbles upon some good luck. Will it be enough to save the day?

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Tithe: a Modern Faerie Tale | Holly Black

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Faye has always felt different. Being asian and blonde already set her apart, but throughout her childhood she has friends no one can see and experiences no one can understand. But her friends aren’t imaginary–they’re faeries.

When Faye suddenly has to move back from Philadelphia to her hometown, she feels alone. Though she tries to contact her old childhood friends, she gets no response, and believes they’ve abandoned or forgotten her. So instead she tries to reconnect with old best friend, Janet. Sadly, her first night out proves to be disastrous.

In an old abandoner warehouse, they meet up with the crew. Kaye, feeling uncomfortable, takes off to explore. On an upper floor she finds an old carousel horse. Its legs are missing, but she loves it just the same. When she props it up to ride, Janet’s boyfriend Kenny spots her. He says he saw it stand up.

When he moves from questions to hitting on her, Faye takes off. Walking home through the rain, she hears a noise in some woods off the road. It sounds like someone in pain, so she heads off to investigate. What she finds is a man with a branch through his chest. In actuality, he’s a gentry faery, who’s been shot with an arrow. Though he is suspicious of her, she manages to help him pull the arrow out, then, following his instructions, calls a Kelpie to aid him on his journey back home. He becomes all she thinks about.

The next day she receives a message in an acorn from her old friends, telling her to stay away from the Dark Knight, and that they need to see her. That night, they come to her room, and take her to see the Thistlewitch. While they explain to her that they need her help, the truth of her strangeness is finally revealed. She isn’t an odd human at all—she’s a pixie.

Of course, being a curious teenager at heart, Faye does exactly what her friends recommend against, and removes the glamour that’s been passing her off for human her whole life. The new sights and sounds, smells and taste, the green skin, are all too much for her. She turns to Janet’s brother Corny, who helps her to remove the rest of her glamour, and then to try to research the new things she’s leard of. The Unseelie Court, pixies, the Tithe. None of it bodes well. And as they seek to learn more, things only become more entangled.

Again, Black’s blend of fantasy and reality remind me of Francesca Lia Block. A powerful style, a compelling story.

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