Ironside (Modern Tales of Faerie #3) by Holly Black

Ironside is the third and final book in the Tales of Modern Faerie series from Holly Black.  Here is the cover and blurb:

In the realm of Faerie, 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, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now Kaye can't see or speak to Roiben unless she can find the one thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie.

Miserable and convinced she belongs nowhere, Kaye decides to tell her mother the truth -- that she is a changeling left in place of the human daughter stolen long ago. Her mother's shock and horror sends Kaye back to the world of Faerie to find her human counterpart and return her to Ironside. But once back in the faerie courts, Kaye finds herself a pawn in the games of Silarial, queen of the Seelie Court. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she will use Kaye, and any means necessary, to get it. In this game of wits and weapons, can a pixie outplay a queen?



Holly Black spins a seductive tale at once achingly real and chillingly enchanted, set in a dangerous world where pleasure mingles with pain and nothing is exactly as it appears.

I really liked this ending.  It showcased exactly how tricky it can be to deal with the fae.  They are all manipulative little creeps whether Seelie or Unseelie and Holly Black makes sure that we see that.  I liked how Corny came into his own in this book.  He has decided to no longer be a victim of the fae and he starts to fight back.  He also got his version of a happily ever after, which is great.  He deserves it.  Roiben's time spent with Kaye has made him more human than fae but he benefits from it, I think.  In the end, all of the characters from the books come together and hammer out a new order for the fae and I think that they all make better friends for each other because of how the events of the books brought them together.  Highly recommend.

You can also find out more about Holly Black and her other books on her website and you can follow her on Twitter!!  Click here to add Ironside to your Goodreads.  I give Ironside 4 Fairies for a satisfying ending to the series.

Valiant (A Modern Tale of Faerie #2) by Holly Black

If you know me, you know that I LOVE fairies.  I have them all over my house and in the garden.  So I have been really enjoying getting to read Holly Black's Modern Tales of Faerie.  Valiant is the second story in the Modern Tales of Faerie by Holly Black.  Here's the cover and Goodreads blurb:

When seventeen-year-old Valerie 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 involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

Valiant was neat because it did not jump right back in with Kaye and Roiben.  It introduces Val and shows how she gets drug into the world of fairy.  Val leaves home after finding out that her mom has been sleeping with her boyfriend.  Totally gross.  So Val leaves for the city and ends up running into a couple of kids who live in the subway.  Oh yeah, the kids also work for a troll by delivering his potions to fey exiles across the city.  I can't say that I much cared for Lolli and Dave but Luis seemed to be pretty awesome.  I hope we see more about him in Ironside.  Val's relationship with Ravus was pretty awesome.  It's definitely a new take on the troll, that's for sure.  This book is Young Adult but it contains homelessness, sexual scenes with dubious consent, drug use, under age drinking and under age smoking.  Please take all that into consideration.

You can also find out more about Holly Black and her other books on her website and you can follow her on Twitter!!  Click here to add Valiant to your Goodreads.  I give Valiant 3 Fairies for a super scary fairy story with some great twists.

Tithe (Modern Fairy Tale #1) by Holly Black

I love Holly Black's work.  Her Curse Workers series was the first of her books that I read and I knew after finishing White Cat that I had to try her fairy series.  Here is the cover and blurb for book one in the series, Tithe:

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

I loved that this book has the story of a changeling.  What must that be like to have everything you thought you knew turn out to be false?  To find that your skin is green and that you have wings?  The amount of metal and technology in the modern world would have to cause a great deal of stress on the fey world.  Kaye finds Roiben in our world, hurt and in need of help and from there... well, it all goes to hell.  Kaye has a life that is a lot like the lives that my high school friends lived.  I found this book to be both creative and realistic.  This fairy tale as dark as one would expect from Holly Black.  I look forward to reading the rest of this series!

You can also find out more about Holly Black and her other books on her website and you can follow her on Twitter!!  Click here to add Tithe to your Goodreads.  I give Tithe 4 Fairies for a creepy modern tale of fairies and changelings.

Doll Bones by Holly Black

I love Holly Black so when I found her new book on the shelf at the local library, I had to take it home with me.  Here is the creepy cover and the Goodreads blurb:

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . .

This book was a quick and spooky read.  It tells the story of a group of friends as they enter that awfully confusing time of life called The Teenage Years.  They struggle to hold together their friendship in the face of changes in their bodies, their parents' expectations and society's expectations.  The journey to bury The Queen is the event that helps them move on from where they were stuck and helps them realize how they feel about each other.  This is an awesome read that has a ghost story and a coming of age tale all in one.  I highly recommend this one for teens and tweens but anyone can enjoy it!

You can also find out more about Holly Black and her other books on her website and you can follow her on Twitter!!  Click here to add Doll Bones to your Goodreads.  I give Doll Bones 4 Fairies for a creeptastic coming of age story.

White Cat (The Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Cassel Sharpe is the odd ball in a family Workers.  Workers can do things to you through touch.  They can give you good or bad luck, change your emotions, kill you and even transform you.  His mother can work your emotions and his grandfather can cause death with a touch.  His brothers are workers and his father was one too.  Cassel is the one person in their family who isn't a worker.   He wears the gloves, like everyone does, to protect himself and not to keep others safe from him.  Cassel is good at something though, the art of the con.  He attends a private school where he runs a gaming business.  He's good at knowing the odds in any situation and when the odds don't work in his favor... well, let's just say that they are always in his favor.  Cassel's mom is the one who taught him the art of the con but now, she's in jail  and not really much of a mother at all to him.  His brothers work in the "family business" as part of a crime family.

Cassel tries to blend into the normal world since he doesn't feel he belongs in his family's world.  He knows he doesn't since his brothers had to cover up the murder he committed.  He'd thought he loved Lila but now all he sees when he thinks of her is the twisted smile on his face as he knelt over her holding a bloody knife.  He's a con man and a murderer hiding in plain sight.  One night, Cassel wakes to find himself on the roof of his dorm with no way down.  He's got no idea how he got there.  Then he begins to notice a white cat everywhere, including in his dreams and nightmares.  What is the deal with the white cat?  He also notices that his eldest brother, Philip's marriage is on the rocks.  Why does he feel like he is missing something BIG?  Something important?

I really liked this book.  The world of the Curse Workers is so realistic and so unique that it sets itself apart from all the other Paranormal YA out there.  I thought that the story moved along at a good pace and that you didn't start the story knowing what was going to happen and how it was going to end.  The plot really kept you guessing.  I also really felt for Cassel because even though he steals and lies up a storm, he's still a decent guy.  He has honor even though he's a criminal.  Poor Cassel also gets treated like crap and taken for a ride by most of the people that he cares about which totally stinks!  I have the second book already just need to get time to read it but I really hope that Red Glove has some good things in store for Cassel Sharpe!  Red Glove came out a week ago so you can find both books on store shelves now and they are definitely worth reading.  I would suggest them for older teens and up due to the complex mob based plot.  You can also find out more about Holly Black and her other books on her website and you can follow her on Twitter!!

White Cat earns 4 Fairies for being a wonderfully unique new series! 

W...W...W... Wednesdays!

W... W... W... Wednesdays is a weekly feature at Should Be Reading. To play along you just have to answer three simple questions:

1. What Are You Currently Reading?
2. What Did You Recently Finish?
3. What Do You Think You'll Read Next?

1.  What Am I Currently Reading?   Covet by J. R. Ward 

2.  What Did I Recently Finish?  White Cat by Holly Black 

3.  What Do I Think I'll Read Next? Crave by J. R. Ward

What are you reading???

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers are from White Cat by Holly Black:

"That's when I realize that they've already worked me.  Before they woke me up."