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bookishfoxes's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have to say I'm very disappointed. I went into this thinking I would love it. There was no doubt about it, it felt like a fact. Roses are usually red, my cat is a lovable idiot, and I will like Holly Black's books. Sadly, this was not the case.
I could've known this was a possibility. While I absolutely adored the folk of the air series (minus the lost sister novella, yikes that one) and enjoyed the first book on the middle grade series Black has written with Cassandra Clare, I was also deeply disappointed with the Spiderwick Chronicles. But I just thought it would be a one time thing - 2 if you count the TFOTA novella.
As soon as I started this book, I disliked the main character. And, ok, she got a tiny bit better by the end. But honestly? I didn't care for anyone but Roiben. I kept on reading because I am not about to DNF a Holly Black book.
And, yeah, it took a long time for me to get into it, but eventually I did a bit. Because even though it felt rushed and downright sloppy, Black's writing is still pretty addictive. And as I said before, I did quite like Roiben. I think if it wasn't for him this would've been two stars.
At the end, I don't know how to feel about this. I wouldn't put it on any recommendations posts. But I don't hate it as much anymore as I did the first 100-ish pages.
As for the rest of the series? Who knows. Since I was so sure I'd love this, I had already bought the sequel. Maybe I'll give it a chance some day so my money was at least worth something. But maybe once I started reading other books, this will slip from my mind and I'll never find myself interested to dive into this series again.
I'm glad that this was released in, what, early 00s? Because I very much enjoying TFOTA and that shows that Holly Black's writing has improved a lot since then, meaning I won't be scared off from her recent books.
I'm hoping to read the TFOTA spin off series this year, or at least the first one, because now I've read 2 books by this author and both are rated badly.
I could've known this was a possibility. While I absolutely adored the folk of the air series (minus the lost sister novella, yikes that one) and enjoyed the first book on the middle grade series Black has written with Cassandra Clare, I was also deeply disappointed with the Spiderwick Chronicles. But I just thought it would be a one time thing - 2 if you count the TFOTA novella.
As soon as I started this book, I disliked the main character. And, ok, she got a tiny bit better by the end. But honestly? I didn't care for anyone but Roiben. I kept on reading because I am not about to DNF a Holly Black book.
And, yeah, it took a long time for me to get into it, but eventually I did a bit. Because even though it felt rushed and downright sloppy, Black's writing is still pretty addictive. And as I said before, I did quite like Roiben. I think if it wasn't for him this would've been two stars.
At the end, I don't know how to feel about this. I wouldn't put it on any recommendations posts. But I don't hate it as much anymore as I did the first 100-ish pages.
As for the rest of the series? Who knows. Since I was so sure I'd love this, I had already bought the sequel. Maybe I'll give it a chance some day so my money was at least worth something. But maybe once I started reading other books, this will slip from my mind and I'll never find myself interested to dive into this series again.
I'm glad that this was released in, what, early 00s? Because I very much enjoying TFOTA and that shows that Holly Black's writing has improved a lot since then, meaning I won't be scared off from her recent books.
I'm hoping to read the TFOTA spin off series this year, or at least the first one, because now I've read 2 books by this author and both are rated badly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Murder, and Abandonment
rory18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
juliesleseecke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction
hullomoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
3.75
I haven't read the book since I was in high school and it held up better then I expected. The plot was engaging and I appreciated how the main characters have depth and aren't one-note instantly lovable people
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use and Racism
ceruleanshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
“If curiosity killed the cat, it was satisfaction that brought it back.”
the unseelie court makes the greenbriar family look downright laidback.
You can break a thing, but you cannot always guide it afterward into the shape you want.
written about 10 years before the folk of the air, i can definitely see holly black's growth as a writer. though i like tfota more, i still really enjoyed tithe! more of a contemporary urban fantasy setting (a major portion is in human side of new jersey lol) there was more brutality to this one imo bc of the faeries proximity to humans and the general nature of the unseelie court.
“Just so you know, I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t,” he said automatically. Nevertheless, he found himself no longer wanting to punish her for her faith in him. Instead, he found himself wanting to be worthy of it. He wanted to be the knight he had once been. Just for a moment.
as always, i love holly's protagonist kaye and the tortured knight lord roiben rath rye (say that three times fast). i also really enjoy corny and can't wait to see what happens next with his character 👀
“Kiss my ass, Rath Roiben Rye.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
jkoncurat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
aseel_reads's review against another edition
Super boring but also had some low key toxic moments that made me feel icky when reading
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
blackcoffeebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
celisabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The pacing of the story is quick and engaging. That said, this book was written almost 20 years ago and is a first novel, and both of those elements show. I can’t fault a book for depicting the time in which it was written, but it’s still jarring to have teens not glued to their cell phones, see them using pay phones, or mention the noise their modem makes while connecting to the internet. In terms of this being a first novel, it’s well-written and engaging. There are some tragic turns and dramatic encounters, and the pacing of the story is quick and engaging. Kaye is a great character, a little jaded and world-weary, but also in awe of the new world that opens before her. She hates the power games and brutality shown by some of the Fae, but she sees beauty in this world as well. The dynamic between Kaye and Roiben is quite fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism
attempted sexual assaultmisosouplvr's review against another edition
this book is just…not very good.
the main character, kaye, is just boring! nothing about her is new, she’s a teenage girl who has never know what a home is and her mom is described as dysfunctional, the book quite literally starts out with her (Kaye) smoking a cigarette and drinking.
as I was reading this, I got more and more confused cause the words were literally jumbled to me and nothing made sense to me cause somehow we went from one scene to something entirely different?
another thing that peeved me was the big reveal thatKaye is actually a faerie, a pixie to be exact yet her reaction is non-existent.
i literally checked this book out from my library VIA libby and returned it on the same day.
the main character, kaye, is just boring! nothing about her is new, she’s a teenage girl who has never know what a home is and her mom is described as dysfunctional, the book quite literally starts out with her (Kaye) smoking a cigarette and drinking.
as I was reading this, I got more and more confused cause the words were literally jumbled to me and nothing made sense to me cause somehow we went from one scene to something entirely different?
another thing that peeved me was the big reveal that
i literally checked this book out from my library VIA libby and returned it on the same day.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual harassment
this book also for some reason makes kept having scenes of SA yet never fully getting into it