Reviews

Valiant by Holly Black

letstalkaboutbooksbaybee's review against another edition

3.0

I know a lot of people don’t like this one because it doesn’t follow Kaye and Roiben and instead introduces a whole new set of characters set in Faerie. But the whole series is called Modern Faerie Tales, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe her original intent while writing them was to write a bunch of interconnected stories all set in the same world? Who knows. 

Either way, this one was still aggressively 2000s grunge. A lot of things were very dark and wouldn’t age well today, there was a lottttt of drug usage and a lot of questionable consent sex scenes that made me uncomfy when thinking too hard about it. 

But I liked Val a lot more than I liked Kaye and I thought Ravus was a compelling and interesting love interest. 

I still am having a hard time reconciling that the person who wrote Folk of the Air wrote this, but it is definitely a product of its time. 

lcvesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

4,5 ☆ this book was very comforting i don’t know why i just loved it. please read it.

jessicaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I usually love Holly Black’s writing but I hated the story of this book. 

spookynerd00's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Even more urban than the other modern faerie tales. I found it to drag at different points. Val was a fine MC, and Luis is cool (and knowing about Luis is useful for Ironside), but none of the characters really spoke to me.

Another book that has a cool premise, but I mainly enjoyed as a means of getting more world building.

melinoedevours's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

karouty's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Murder, and Drug use

sam_hartwig's review against another edition

2.0

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this as much as Tithe. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, or the story. This also felt more like a 1.5 story instead of an actual sequel. I wonder if any of this story will even have a mention in Ironside... It felt more like a non-essential filler to me. Luckily it wasn't very long listening to it on audio book.

It obviously follows the events of Tithe, but it features all different characters and doesn't actually mention the events of Tithe. Roiben (and a lesser extent Kaye) is at the end, but that's the only connection I could see.

I have to say that I absolutely 100% enjoyed the Folk of the Air series more. Also, on a side note that's slightly spoilery... I just couldn't get over the fact that Val wanted to make out with a troll

ravenclawlibrary's review against another edition

5.0

Enjoyed it very much

klbarnette's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

elenikin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Loved this book as a teen