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80th out of 1,234 books
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Valiant (The Modern Faerie Tales #2)
by
Holly Black (Goodreads Author)
When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell 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. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels ...more
But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels ...more
Paperback, 313 pages
Published
May 1st 2006
by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
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I think the main reasons most people don't like this series, older adults and parents especially, are because:
a. they don't want their own children, whether young or old teenagers, to be exposed to such drug/profanity use, even though most teenagers have already been exposed in high school settings, even as young as middle school, and/or
b. they can't possibly believe that teenagers have actually lived in poor conditions.
I have to admit that this book's not as good as t...more
a. they don't want their own children, whether young or old teenagers, to be exposed to such drug/profanity use, even though most teenagers have already been exposed in high school settings, even as young as middle school, and/or
b. they can't possibly believe that teenagers have actually lived in poor conditions.
I have to admit that this book's not as good as t...more
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I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the idea of the story captivating. Faeries are real, and they walk among us, hidden by glamour from human eyes. And they aren't necessarily good faeries--like humans, some are good, and some are stealthy. 17 year old Val discovers this world when she runs away from home and lives under the New York subway tunnels. Through unforeseen circumstances, she ends up indebted to a troll, delivering potions to faeries. But faeries are being poisoned, a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Many people loved Tithe and the Spiderwick Chronicles (though I haven't read those, I've only read Tithe) and they're very highly recommended books.
I was a little more than dissapointed, though, when I read Tithe.
The language was very vulgar, and the characters not very lickable at all.
And there were numerous other things that bothered me about that book.
When Valiant came out, I delayed in reading it.
I decided it was time to read it last week.
And this is all ...more
I was a little more than dissapointed, though, when I read Tithe.
The language was very vulgar, and the characters not very lickable at all.
And there were numerous other things that bothered me about that book.
When Valiant came out, I delayed in reading it.
I decided it was time to read it last week.
And this is all ...more
This second book of the series has a whole new cast of characters. Val, a seventeen year old girl from New Jersey, runs away to New York City after she walks in on her boyfriend and her mom. (I know, gross!)
Val ends up living in a subway tunnel with a bunch of homeless teens - finds out that fairies are real - makes friends with a troll - becomes addicted to some fairy "drug" her friends call Never - and must win the heart of the one she loves.
I really liked thi...more
Val ends up living in a subway tunnel with a bunch of homeless teens - finds out that fairies are real - makes friends with a troll - becomes addicted to some fairy "drug" her friends call Never - and must win the heart of the one she loves.
I really liked thi...more
I hated this book from the first page.
Strong words, I know, but let's just have it out. I continued reading primarily because I was interested in contacting Black's agent to represent my own work.
Trite, lame and basically a waste of tree. The plot was blurg, the characters were frighteningly unenthralling, the writing was fair, but you can find decent writing on the back of a cereal box.
The one book's one saving grace was a troll and though the idea was ...more
Strong words, I know, but let's just have it out. I continued reading primarily because I was interested in contacting Black's agent to represent my own work.
Trite, lame and basically a waste of tree. The plot was blurg, the characters were frighteningly unenthralling, the writing was fair, but you can find decent writing on the back of a cereal box.
The one book's one saving grace was a troll and though the idea was ...more
I hated loving this book. Having read Black's Titheand Ironside, I was none to keen on reading Valiant. Black has a penchant for writing about the scourge of human society, leaving me with a sense of filth, and therefore compelling me to exfoliate. None the less, Black’s writing is so perversely alluring, that she all but grabs you by the neck and drags you into the story.
Val is impossible to describe. She’s a shell of a girl. In possession of one lezzie best friend, a mohawk don...more
Val is impossible to describe. She’s a shell of a girl. In possession of one lezzie best friend, a mohawk don...more
I didn't really care for this book. I think if I was 16 into punk and dressed all in black it would be great. It had quite a bit of language and a "situation" with the mom and the boyfriend that made me want to up-chuck.
Really really good! It was way better then the first book Tithe, but I want to tell everyone that it is NOT a direct sequel to Tithe! This book can be read independently This book was about a young girl who runs away from home into New York City and gets tangled up in the modern fairy world which is trying to survive the iron of the city. I think that the thing I loved most about this book was the kick ass heroine who wasn't pretty, was a total jock, and had an attitude. The book was slow in a f...more
Valiant, the second book from Holly Black’s “Modern Faerie Tales” series, starts of after Roiben, from Tithe, became King of the Unseelie Court. But the story isn’t about the characters from Tithe; it opens us to the life of Valerie, a human who basically falls in love with a faerie – a troll to be exact.
Valiant reminds me of the well-known tale of “Beauty and the Beast”, somehow told in a dark, profane, rebellious world; although, there was a part that the tale was more like “Beast...more
Valiant reminds me of the well-known tale of “Beauty and the Beast”, somehow told in a dark, profane, rebellious world; although, there was a part that the tale was more like “Beast...more
First of all, I was surprised that this book held only a small appearance of one of the characters who was introduced in Tithe. I expected this to continue that story, but it didn't though the faerie realm was the same. Whilst I was disappointed that the plot from Tithe wasn't continued, I found this book to be more accessible and an easier read thanks to the slight improvement in writing - it seemed to flow a lot better. I don't think that the plot was exciting as Tithe but I did prefer the cha...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Valiant by Holly Black
Valiant by Holly Black is a very intense teen-fantasy novel about a seventeen-year-old girl named Valerie Russell-also known as: Val. Valiant is Holly Black’s second novel. The first to her collection is Tithe. Both of these books are beautifully written and tie into the world of faeries and trolls and things of such nature. Black is an avid collector of scary stories, creepy dolls, and crazy hats.
Val is this amazing character who changes ...more
Valiant by Holly Black is a very intense teen-fantasy novel about a seventeen-year-old girl named Valerie Russell-also known as: Val. Valiant is Holly Black’s second novel. The first to her collection is Tithe. Both of these books are beautifully written and tie into the world of faeries and trolls and things of such nature. Black is an avid collector of scary stories, creepy dolls, and crazy hats.
Val is this amazing character who changes ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Val Russell is at an okay spot in her life - she's got a relationship that's sketchy at the moment, but it's good enough for the time being. She's got her best friend, and she's got her mother. For the time being.
Until Val leaves for a date with her boyfriend one night, returns home to get something she forgot, and happens upon her boyfriend and her mother having sex. Her mother and boyfriend...together? And her best friend knew all along! So she does the only thing she thinks s...more
Until Val leaves for a date with her boyfriend one night, returns home to get something she forgot, and happens upon her boyfriend and her mother having sex. Her mother and boyfriend...together? And her best friend knew all along! So she does the only thing she thinks s...more
I was a bit disappointed when Valiant didn't start up where Tithe ended. However, I quickly got over it.
This story follows 17-year-old Val Russell who runs away from her dysfunctional home within the first few chapters. In a moment of shedding her confusion, she embraces a new identity and shaves her head, leaving everything behind. She also finds herself in the company of three homeless teens--Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live on an abandoned subway platform.
Eerie and s...more
This story follows 17-year-old Val Russell who runs away from her dysfunctional home within the first few chapters. In a moment of shedding her confusion, she embraces a new identity and shaves her head, leaving everything behind. She also finds herself in the company of three homeless teens--Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live on an abandoned subway platform.
Eerie and s...more
After the first two pages, I was pretty shocked to find this book in the kids section. Ms Black certainly enjoys splashing graphic terms and descriptions in her works (there seems to be a lot at the beginning, though it is far more sparse later on).
Ms Black does not get caught up in overwhelming and petty descriptions, which is (I think) what made me go back and buy Tithe. Not only are you allowed to let your imagination do the talking, but the emphasis in the story is laid on th...more
Ms Black does not get caught up in overwhelming and petty descriptions, which is (I think) what made me go back and buy Tithe. Not only are you allowed to let your imagination do the talking, but the emphasis in the story is laid on th...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The second book in the Ironside "series" features an entirely different set of characters from the first, which may disappoint readers just coming off a Tithe high. While I certainly missed those other characters, I personally found many of the new characters to be more dimensional and more intriguing than Kaye. My only major complaint is that the initial presentation of Val's character (i.e., the way she was perceived at school) and the circumstances that cause her to run away felt fo...more
Melissa
added it
When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell 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. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can ...more
But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can ...more
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell 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. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he ca...more
But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he ca...more
I'll be honest, though this book is more than a little bit below my reading level (and I fall well above the target audience age), I really enjoyed reading it. It's escapist modern fantasy, and there's nothing wrong with that. My biggest complaint about it is that it wasn't fleshed out enough for me. But then, I tend to read much longer books that were made for an adult attention span.
Don't mistake the fact that it is aimed at late teenagers as a sign that this book is childish mater...more
Don't mistake the fact that it is aimed at late teenagers as a sign that this book is childish mater...more
I quite enjoyed TITHE and was looking forward to VALIANT. The first chapter or two almost lost me and then the Holly Black writing took off. You know what I mean - the ugly beautiful damaged writing.
Val takes off to NY after she catches her mom and boyfriend making out. She meets some street kids, Lolli and Dave and Dave's brother Luis. The kids run errands for faeries. Not the pretty sparkly ones, but the dangerous tricky ones. The troll Ravus makes a drug called Never for t...more
Val takes off to NY after she catches her mom and boyfriend making out. She meets some street kids, Lolli and Dave and Dave's brother Luis. The kids run errands for faeries. Not the pretty sparkly ones, but the dangerous tricky ones. The troll Ravus makes a drug called Never for t...more
Andrea
rated it
Still working on whether I liked this one or not. I guess I could have given it 3 stars, but something held me back.
I just didn't care much for Val. I felt compassion for her, and hurt with her, but she went from lacrosse playing high school student to homeless drug addicted and sleeping in an old subway station way too seamlessly. It's not believable. At all.
Lolli and Dave's characters were too fake, too idealized homeless teenager, like the author did absolutely no res...more
I just didn't care much for Val. I felt compassion for her, and hurt with her, but she went from lacrosse playing high school student to homeless drug addicted and sleeping in an old subway station way too seamlessly. It's not believable. At all.
Lolli and Dave's characters were too fake, too idealized homeless teenager, like the author did absolutely no res...more
My first encounter with faeries in YA was with Aprilynn Pike's Wings ... and that didn't go all too well. But then there were The Replacement and Wicked Lovely and... well...
I shan't look at Tinkerbell the same way again.
I read the Spiderwick Chronicles when I was in middle school and fell in love (it had a devastating effect on my allowence, but what love doesn't?). I simply adored those books - the creatures, the action, the lovable characters. I was unsure what to expe...more
I shan't look at Tinkerbell the same way again.
I read the Spiderwick Chronicles when I was in middle school and fell in love (it had a devastating effect on my allowence, but what love doesn't?). I simply adored those books - the creatures, the action, the lovable characters. I was unsure what to expe...more
Holly Black is one of my all time favorite writers. I greatly enjoy her style of writing and the world of faerie that she has created. If there is anyone that I would like to emulate and write like it would be Holly Black. Even though Valiant does not continue with the story of Kaye from her first dip into faerie I'm glad that Holly Black has decided to enter the world of the faye through the eyes of a human character.
Val runs away from home after she witnesses a scene in her house t...more
Val runs away from home after she witnesses a scene in her house t...more
Even better than the first (can it be possible? It is! It is!) Valiant is not a continuation of the Tithe tale per say, but some of the characters come together in the third book. Instead of following with a normal sequel, Black has created an entriely new set of characters in the world of faery, whom you fall in love with just as quickly.
Thank you, Black, for making me 'see' your story in a bleak world of (mostly) talentless writers. I have never been to NY, nor lived in a subway, ...more
Thank you, Black, for making me 'see' your story in a bleak world of (mostly) talentless writers. I have never been to NY, nor lived in a subway, ...more
I think I liked Valiant more than Tithe and Ironside.
I mean Corny's a total doll, but storyline-wise, I prefer Valiant's. Overall, an easy read. Nothing too exciting to report, I remember liking this book a whole lot more, the first time around, years ago.
I still enjoy Val as a character, although her nature seems contradictory at most times. One second she's brave, the next she's weak, then she's the follower, and now she's in the zone. But I think that's why I liked her, s...more
I mean Corny's a total doll, but storyline-wise, I prefer Valiant's. Overall, an easy read. Nothing too exciting to report, I remember liking this book a whole lot more, the first time around, years ago.
I still enjoy Val as a character, although her nature seems contradictory at most times. One second she's brave, the next she's weak, then she's the follower, and now she's in the zone. But I think that's why I liked her, s...more
I had a chance to interview Holly back in November, 2010. I'd always heard she was a great writer and I'm a longtime fan of her writing partner, Cassandra Clare, so I decided to give her a try. I'm so glad I did. Bottom line, Holly is a great writer. She's so dark and her characters are so original. It feels like a treat each time I read one of her books.
Valiant was cool because she really gets into dark faerie mythology. You really get a sense of the time she puts into her research....more
Valiant was cool because she really gets into dark faerie mythology. You really get a sense of the time she puts into her research....more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ask Holly Black!: Val and Ravus | 4 | 74 | May 09, 2011 10:46am |
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Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh). She is also the co-editor of three anthologies, Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with J...more
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“You carried my heart in your hands tonight," he said. "But I have felt as if you carried it long before that.”
—
79 people liked it
“I would remain nearer you for what time there is."
"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.
Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”
—
61 people liked it
More quotes…
"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.
Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”
