Valiant, by Holly Black, was not nearly as good as Tithe. It tried but it just didn’t succeed – until the last few chapters. Those did make it worth reading.
As TW said, it felt like I’d read it before. The storyline was a little tired – bad thing happens to a girl, she runs off to NYC and finds some troubling people who take her in. Drugs (granted, these are faerie drugs) and crime and in the end, happily ever after.
I liked Val. I liked the Troll. I even liked Luis and Dave and Lolli and Ruth. The story was just a little tired. It’s a young adult novel though, so maybe 13 year olds haven’t already read a zillion of these stories? Maybe they don’t notice the same tired storyline? Maybe they simply see a modern faerie tale?
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