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1/18/2012

VALIANT BY HOLLY BLACK

Valiant By Holly Black (The Modern Faerie Tales #2)
Release Date: May 31, 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Source: Bought

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Synopsis (from Goodreads): 
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 make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis's brother, timid and sensitive Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet.

When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. And as Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

I loved this book through and through. It was dark, gritty, and atmospheric all the elements that Holly Black has done so well and beautifully. Valerie our heroine is a betrayed teen who in a fit of rage runs away from home only to find herself amongst new friends who are not like anyone she has ever met. Valiant, like Tithe was a slow building suspenseful read which I liked a lot.

Valerie is a believable character who you sympathize with at the beginning and by the end she becomes this strong venerable character who despite the hurdles in front of her manages to overcome them. I also loved that this story of an enchanted world was set under the NY city backdrop. A place where trolls, faeries/faerie courts and mermaids all intermingle. Holly is a great story teller and it is clear why. Valiant like Tithe did not disappoint. Well written, suspenseful, and clever. I enjoyed it immensely.

Happy reading!!

1 comment:

  1. There's a surprise for your blog :D
    http://thereadingcorner-sere.blogspot.com/2012/01/versatile-blogger-award.html

    Serena

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