Helpful Score: 1
Meh. Maybe I've read too many "fairy tales" in a string and need to explore some new territory. Because I have to say, Ironside -- the third book in Holly Black's Modern Faery trilogy -- left me cold. I had enjoyed the first installment, Tithe, and struggled through the second (Valiant) only because I knew the resolution to the first novel was promised in Ironside. Unfortunately, Black actually uses this final volume to tie together the loose ends of both stories. There is just as much action from the loathsome characters of Valiant as there is from Kaye, Roiben and the other Tithe players that actually interested me.
To sum it up, Ironside follows pixie Kaye as she tries to find the changeling human child she was switched with at birth to return to her mother. While she's at it, she also enlists the help of Luis and the Valiant cast in helping her complete her quest to prove her love to Roiben, now the reluctant king of the Unseelie Court. To be his consort, he's charged her with an impossible task: to find a faerie that can lie. Good think pixies are notoriously clever...
I think that this trilogy is marketed as young adult fiction -- but I'd be very hesitant to recommend it for readers younger than 15. It's pretty raw. Black writes "ugly" very well, especially when delving into the darker corners of human nature. The horrors of the Unseelie Court are graphic and lewd, and actually made me uncomfortable as a reader at times. Worst of all is the character Corny -- the awkward, misfit human friend of Kaye -- who represents the worst parts of books one and three. He's absolutely loathsome. To make matters worse, Black gives him a limping gay romance in this book that, rather than making the novel more inclusive and modern, just made my skin crawl. Yuck.
Despite the popular genre and my general appreciation for Holly Black and her imaginings, this is not a series I would recommend or read again. Even true die-hard "fairy tale" fans will find it off-putting. In the end, the story is good, but the characters aren't likeable enough to sustain interest or to make readers care about what happens to them. It was actually a relief to close the back cover and have the chance to move on to something else. [close]
To sum it up, Ironside follows pixie Kaye as she tries to find the changeling human child she was switched with at birth to return to her mother. While she's at it, she also enlists the help of Luis and the Valiant cast in helping her complete her quest to prove her love to Roiben, now the reluctant king of the Unseelie Court. To be his consort, he's charged her with an impossible task: to find a faerie that can lie. Good think pixies are notoriously clever...
I think that this trilogy is marketed as young adult fiction -- but I'd be very hesitant to recommend it for readers younger than 15. It's pretty raw. Black writes "ugly" very well, especially when delving into the darker corners of human nature. The horrors of the Unseelie Court are graphic and lewd, and actually made me uncomfortable as a reader at times. Worst of all is the character Corny -- the awkward, misfit human friend of Kaye -- who represents the worst parts of books one and three. He's absolutely loathsome. To make matters worse, Black gives him a limping gay romance in this book that, rather than making the novel more inclusive and modern, just made my skin crawl. Yuck.
Despite the popular genre and my general appreciation for Holly Black and her imaginings, this is not a series I would recommend or read again. Even true die-hard "fairy tale" fans will find it off-putting. In the end, the story is good, but the characters aren't likeable enough to sustain interest or to make readers care about what happens to them. It was actually a relief to close the back cover and have the chance to move on to something else. [close]
Christine H. (solarawynn) reviewed Ironside (Modern Tale of Faerie, Bk 3) on + 724 more book reviews
Are reunited with characters from previous books. Enjoyed it very much
Reviewed by Andie Z. for TeensReadToo.com
I have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished TITHE, and Holly Black most definitely does not disappoint. IRONSIDE picks up soon after the events in TITHE and VALIANT, and takes the reader on another breathless journey into the amazing and deadly world of Faerie.
Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roiben's coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lord's consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.
Kaye doesn't know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human child's life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellen's real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if there's no way she can complete Roiben's quest.
But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she's willing to do anything, including using Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roiben's not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.
In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.
I have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished TITHE, and Holly Black most definitely does not disappoint. IRONSIDE picks up soon after the events in TITHE and VALIANT, and takes the reader on another breathless journey into the amazing and deadly world of Faerie.
Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roiben's coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lord's consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.
Kaye doesn't know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human child's life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellen's real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if there's no way she can complete Roiben's quest.
But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she's willing to do anything, including using Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roiben's not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.
In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.
I liked this book and it does tie up the story very nicely, though I think I preferred the first two books over this one. The beginning dragged a little for me, but I was really into the story in the second half of the book - I wasn't sure how it was going to end and I liked that. A couple of minor things I guessed, but for the most part I was an on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen to everyone. There was also a couple of cameos from characters in Valiant here too (brief appearances from them with the exception of Luis, who plays a bigger part in Ironside). As usual I really liked the descriptions of the faerie world and how they continue to secretly survive amongst humans (who can't see them as they really are).
There are some minor moments of disbelief - like I have a problem with Faye being a blond asian, but this wasn't brought up much in Ironside as much as it was in Tithe.
This book also shifted focus a bit more onto other characters besides the main one (Faye). We see some of the thoughts of Roiben, who is usually distant and hard to understand from Faye's point of view, and we also see what's going on in Corny's head. Corny is an interesting character because he's become fragile and fearful after his experiences in Tithe. In Ironside, Corny goes very far to try to protect himself. Actually the theme of doing something that's not quite right because you want to protect something else is a reoccurring one in this book. Right and wrong gets murky, like life, and this is especially true in Roiben's case, who is responsible for his people and wants to protect those he loves, even when they think he doesn't care about them.
There are some minor moments of disbelief - like I have a problem with Faye being a blond asian, but this wasn't brought up much in Ironside as much as it was in Tithe.
This book also shifted focus a bit more onto other characters besides the main one (Faye). We see some of the thoughts of Roiben, who is usually distant and hard to understand from Faye's point of view, and we also see what's going on in Corny's head. Corny is an interesting character because he's become fragile and fearful after his experiences in Tithe. In Ironside, Corny goes very far to try to protect himself. Actually the theme of doing something that's not quite right because you want to protect something else is a reoccurring one in this book. Right and wrong gets murky, like life, and this is especially true in Roiben's case, who is responsible for his people and wants to protect those he loves, even when they think he doesn't care about them.
I have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished TITHE, and Holly Black most definitely does not disappoint. IRONSIDE picks up soon after the events in TITHE and VALIANT, and takes the reader on another breathless journey into the amazing and deadly world of Faerie.
Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roibens coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lords consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.
Kaye doesnt know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human childs life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellens real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if theres no way she can complete Roibens quest.
But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roibens throne, and shes willing do anything, including use Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roibens not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.
In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.
Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roibens coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lords consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.
Kaye doesnt know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human childs life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellens real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if theres no way she can complete Roibens quest.
But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roibens throne, and shes willing do anything, including use Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roibens not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.
In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.
I enjoyed the final installment of this series more than the first two. I thought it wrapped up all the ties well, while managing to still surprise and entertain.
