She finds refuge with a group of teenage squatters: Lolli, Dave, and Luis. Val cuts off her hair and runs away to New York City upon discovering that her mother and her boyfriend, Tom, were having an affair. But no matter how hard she tries, she still ends up dragged into the world of faery politics, after having ventured into the forest. The Unseelie Court wants to use her as a tithe to hell, so she ought to maintain her human appearance. It is also revealed by her friends that she is not a mere human girl, but is, in fact, a changeling. Wanting revenge for her friend’s death, she tricks Roiben into revealing his true name, giving her complete power over Roiben’s actions. Afterwards, her faery friends contact her, informing her that Roiben killed Gristle during a fox hunt. Kaye doesn’t use her questions right away and saves them for another time. When she pulls a magical arrow out of his chest, Roiben rewards her with three truthfully answered questions. Later however, she attends a party and encounters an injured faery knight, Roiben, causing her to realise that she didn’t imagine her friends. Once there, she looks for her imaginary friends, Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle, but can’t find them and chalks it up to her childhood fantasies. Her mother is in a band, and they end up leaving Philadelphia to live with her grandmother in New Jersey. I’d say it falls under the category of a trashy, YA guilty pleasure. This trilogy is incredibly fun and super easy to binge-read. She’s such an imaginative author who manages to mould her faeries into something both elegant and eerie. If that’s triggering for you, I’d recommend giving Holly’s other books a go.īut no matter what book Holly Black writes, you can truly see her expertise when it comes to faery lore. PSA: While this is marketed to a younger YA audience, there is a surprising amount of adult content in this trilogy, including homophobia, sexual assault, and an abundance of f-bombs. You can really see how much Holly Black has improved as a writer, from her début novel here to her more current ones.

It also didn’t help that the sexy elf king, Thranduil from The Hobbit, was who I was imagining in my head! All in all, these were rather enjoyable, even though they weren’t that well-written. I probably wouldn’t have finished them if I hadn’t developed a crush on the sexy faery knight, Roiben.

Ironside by Holly Black