6/4/09

Ironside - Holly Black



Ironside by Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Form: Hardback Book

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 aye 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?
Source: Flap of book

Once again, Holly Black captivates me in her story telling ability. This was a great part 2 of the story of Kaye and Roiben. The first book, Tithe, really didn't center around the two characters as much as it did Kaye and the shock of finding out she was really a pixie placed in the care of humans, and then outsmarting Silarial, the Seelie Queen. In Ironside Kaye is once again in the midst of Faerie traditions that she really knows nothing about. She's not only struggling with the fact that she flat out told Roiben she loved him only to have him send her on some impossible quest which makes her think he never loved her, but she feels like an outsider no matter which way she turns. She knows nothing about the Faerie courts, yet it's painful and feels like faking to stay on Ironside.

THEN Kaye finds herself, once again, running to the rescue of Roiben. She is again outsmarting the Seelie Queen and proving herself worth of Roiben's consort. That Kaye...she should be queen with how she's always figuring everything out.

I enjoyed many aspects of this book, one of which is how they brought back Luis and Dave from Valiant. I also liked how this book was a bit more tame than Valiant as well. I will say, I like the original covers to these books rather than the people they've put on the newer version. Just an opinion.

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