#modern faery tale series

[mia-nina-lilly]

Holly Black's fairy universe is so rich, expansive, and solid that one can have some certainty about the nature of her fey without it being affirmed all the time.

For example, one thing that seems clear is that fairies feel, and they feel intensely. If they hate, they can hate for centuries. If they love, they will love eternally and be willing to give their life for their beloved. In "The Darkest Part of the Forest," this is told as a horror story. In "Modern Faerie Tales," Kaye's entire adventure is based on her desire to become Roiben's consort.

In "The Cruel Prince" trilogy, Balekin hints at this difference when he talks strangely about how humans love — this is all without mentioning Tiernan and Hyacinthe, who became enemies and still love each other enough to fight for each other, or Lady Nore with her late husband's hands around her neck.

We see this firsthand with Cardan not once, but twice! The first time occurs when he throws himself in front of Jude to save her from being hit by one of Grimsen's traps, and the second time is when, similarly, Cardan throws himself in front of Jude to save her from having a blade buried in her body.

The first time, he shows surprise with himself. It was the moment he realized he loved her on that level — in fact, he just loves her as is natural to his species. The second time, any surprise seems to have vanished, as if he had already accepted that he would do it for her a thousand more times if necessary.

That is, the fairies indeed love as described in the poems, and that is simply fantastic on the part of the author because, let's face it, it makes perfect sense considering the aesthetic of the fairies and everything else. Yes, all of this is about how much I love Holly Black and her skill in creating such wonderfully subtle wonder-filled settings ✨✨

[starrynightsxo]

HELP ME BUY A BOOK

help me guys I need opinions on what book to buy and why...

PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG for a bigger sample as I've only done the poll for ONE DAY SO I NEED VOTES I BEG <333

[l3st1b0urn3s-707]

Here again with more book posts because I read A LOT in the past two weeks, so let's star with The folk of the air by Holly Black.

I already mentioned that I was rereading these books but god they were good. I first read the series when it first came out, and I remember having to wait for both the 2nd and 3rd book to be published, so it felt so good to read them all together this time.

For those who don't know what The folk of the air is, it's s trilogy (featuring The cruel prince, The wicked king and The queen of nothing) about a mortal girl growing up in Elfhame, the land of the fae, and trying to get recognised and involved in the world's pollitics.

I've always felt this fascination mixed with a bit of terror about celtic mythology and folklore, having lived in a territory with celtic herritage since I was born. So it's not surprising that I like this series, filled with magical creatures.

One thing I must say is that I enjoyed it so much more this time, also because I read The modern faerie tales not that long ago and now I got some of the easter eggs (and recognised my dear Lord Roiben, who I love deeply). You don't need to read these to understand the plot, but it just adds a little something.

What else to say? This trilogy is just so amazing, I loved when I first read it at 11 years old and I loved it even more now that I could understand some things better. Some noticeabld characters that I wanted to mention just because I love them so much are Cardan, Oak (I still haven't read his books but I really want to 😫), Bomb and Hollow Hall's door, who I personally think is very underrated.

Aghhh, I love these books so much, specially because I think they make me connect with younger Les a bit. I still haven't read The darkest part of the forest yet, but I'm really hoping I'll be able to read both that one and The stolen heir soon.

I coud talk about these books for ages, so if anyone wants me to discuss this more deeply I will (please ask me about it, I really need to talk about this stuff). That's it for today :)

[faeish-art]

Kaye ˙𖦹 ⋆꙳ ໑ had some inspiration as I’m rereading my fav series :> photo one is glamoured Kaye and photo two is pixie Kaye!

[mecharose]

the modern faerie tales series is rly getting me bc the whole thing abt Cruel Prince is oooh cardan and his friends are so meeean fairyland is soooo dangerous which like fair

but in this series. bitches are being RITUALLY SACRIFICED underneath NJ highways and being tortured like literally tortured for each others amusement and shooting up magic like its drugs in the manhattan bridge T-T HELLO???

[godzilla-reads]

Before I started reading The Folk of the Air series, I started with The Modern Faerie Tales series and I still think it’s my favorite series by Holly Black.

[livvyofthelake]

random question but do u have any recs for good YA books? ive started like doing student assistant stuff for my schools librarian so ive been reading a lot of books from there in my free time. usually i gravitate towards the classics but ive started really reading YA for the first time and im honestly really liking it. i already finished speak and the hate u give and my heart and other black holes and some other popular ones and wanna know if theres any particular YA you like that i should try. or i'll even take middle grade recs too if there are any good ones that you can think of

again i know this is a random question lol ive just seen you sometimes posting abt YA and middle grade and i trust your judgement so i figured why not ask😭 no pressure for a reply tho

ok sorry it's taken me like 2 weeksish to answer i've been like. in some kind of torment nexus or something idk. it happens! anyway! any ya i have to recommend is gonna be at least 8 years old at this point i fear so i can't exactly give current recommendations but i mean it's not as if libraries don't have older books so i guess it's fine <3 anyway if you want to read a series there is always the mortal instruments of course.... would not be me if i didn't throw that out there... not the entire shadowhunter chronicles that would be an insane thing to recommend to a person i've never done that and i wouldn't unless i was speaking to a 13 year old who has that kind of stamina and passion. but the mortal instruments books 1-3 is actually a really great trilogy. and i know there's 6 books but you can read 1-3 as a trilogy it's set up weird like that. moving on. idk about genres you like but given your examples i'm getting a contemporary fiction vibe. so here's some of my favorite ya books like that i read in high school that actually stood the test of time for me and i still hold in high esteem and would recommend unlike say. john green's paper towns (not necessarily hating on paper towns or john green. but i just personally would not recommend his work... it doesn't stick out to me...sorry john) anyway here's a list

the sky is everywhere by jandy nelson. it's about a girl grieving the loss of her sister and there's romance and it's well written if you like a sort of camp-esque purple prose writing style, which jandy nelson does in a way that would be annoying if she wasn't so good at it. i'd technically recommend her other books but this is the one i'd say to start with it's her first and it's definitely the one with the most chill version of that writing style. like just in case you find it ridiculous the sky is everywhere is the toned down version

i am the messenger by markus zusak. insane book. maybe not as good as the book thief which is his popular one but still solid. take this rec with a grain of salt though because this was my favorite book in ninth grade and i don't actually know 100% if i just have a nostalgic fondness for it or if it was actually that good

hacking harvard by robin wasserman. insane silly fun book about a group of guys in like 2007 trying to scam some deadbeat kid into harvard to win a bet. it was awesome

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sáenz. have to get ari in this list that's literally my buddy ari.... you have most likely heard of this one before i won't bore you with a description

the upside of unrequited by becky albertalli. same author as simon vs the homo sapiens agenda, but this one's better. source: dude just trust me....

one of us is lying by karen mcmanus. i will not lie to you i didn't like this book and i don't think it's good. however. it was memorable. it was SOMETHING. i have read manyyyyy books in my day i do not remember a lot of them but this one i remember clear as day because it was so like. kinda bad... my intro to the world of the mid murder mystery.... cannot deny the impact. for an EXPERIENCE this is the book

in terms of middle grade i fear i have not much to say on the subject of contemporary fiction in middle grade... i think all the middle grade i've ever read in my life is fantasy or historical mystery or something weird idk. but i love the sisters grimm series a lot and i think it should have been as big as percy jackson or harry potter if we lived in a world where books could have female leads and still be considered gender neutral and get popular with all kids regardless of gender. alas i guess young boys just don't want to get their asses up and read about girls. even though it's literally not written For Girls it's written exactly like every other gender neutral kids book series. it's just like percy jackson. the author is literally a man. we live in a society

[rewritingkel]

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with (Item) on the Cover

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday a new topic is assigned, and then you post your top ten list for that topic. You can read others Top Ten Tuesday picks here. This weeks topic is Books with…

[ekbelsher]

Kaye and Roiben having a quiet moment 🖤 The Unseelie king has a blood red bedchamber and you can’t change my mind. I’m re-reading The Modern Faerie Tales, and it’s still among my favourite-ever series (although I was low key offended when I read that Roiben later cut off his beautiful pewter hair!). 

[wearethekat]

Anticipated Upcoming New Releases

Anticipated by Me. Asterisk for titles where I haven't read anything by the author previously (ie sounds cool but unvetted)

*Single Player, Tara Tai. f/nb romance about a romance storywriter and her video game dev boss.

*Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto (14 January). In a far-future world, a thief is approached by the partner who betrayed her for one last job just after getting out of a prison planet on early parole.

*Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor (14 January). Recently unemployed Zelu starts to write a new science fiction book, as the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.

*Modern Divination, Isabel Agajanian (30 January). Young witch has carefully balanced her witchcraft with her demanding life at Cambridge University—only to find that her magic powers are fading.

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales, Heather Fawcett (11 February). Book three of a series, in which Emily deals with the repercussions of being engaged to a faerie king.

*But Not Too Bold, Hache Pueyo (11 February). Novella. Sapphic retelling of Bluebeard featuring a giant humanoid spider.

Wooing the Witch Queen, Stephanie Burgis (18 February). Romantasy in which an evil sorceress queen gets catfished by a disguised imperial archduke pretending to be a librarian in a gaslamp setting.

*Greenteeth, Molly O'Neill (25 February). The legendary Molly Greenteeth teams up with a local witch to defeat an evil pastor.

*The Fourth Consort, Edward Ashton (25 February). A human representative to what's supposed to be a pan-species space confederation finds out he's actually on the wrong (and losing) side, and gets trapped on another planet.

The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar (4 March). Novella. Two sisters living at the edge of Faerie tumblr into trouble when one of them takes a faerie suitor.

Once Was Willem, MR Carey (4 March). In medieval England, the eponymous Willem drags himself out of his grave to defend his village against an evil threat.

The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison (11 March). Reportedly actually coming out this year! In book 3 of the series, Thara Celehar investigates a case involving an old cemetery and a miner's group.

A Gentleman's Gentleman, TJ Alexander (11 March). Alexander sticks their nose into the Regency genre with this t4t lord/valet romance.

Idolfire, Grace Curtis (11 March). One woman searching for a last chance and another woman looking for redemption travel to a sleeping magical city.

*Murder by Memory, Olivia Waite (18 March). A sci-fi mystery novella set on a generation ship, where a ship's detective investigates a mysterious murder.

*Aunt Tigress, Emily Yu-Xuan Qin (18 March). Reformed monster Tam investigates the murder of her aunt in Chinese folklore inspired urban fantasy Canada.

*The Keeper of Lonely Spirits, EM Anderson (25 March). Cursed to live forever, ghost hunter Peter starts to settle after two hundred years in a small town in Ohio.

A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett (1 April). Sequel. Our Sherlock Holmes coded detective investigates the disappearance of a treasury officer with the help of her trusty assistant in a complex secondary fantasy world.

*Where the Axe is Buried, Ray Nayler (1 April). In a crumbling near-future Earth, a brilliant scientist flees, because her new invention might be key to assassinating the immortal uploaded President.

*A Duke Never Tells, Suzanne Enoch (1 April). In this Regency romp, somehow both a young lady and the man she's affianced to are in disguise below stairs.

Don't Sleep With The Dead, Nghi Vo (8 April). Vo returns to the fantasy Great Gatsby setting with this novella from the POV of Nick Carraway post-novel events.

*The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson (15 April). Seven candidates compete to become the next emperor—until one of them is murdered. The emperor's scholar attempts to find the killer.

*The Gentleman and His Vowsmith, Rebecca Ide (15 April). An accidentally falling in love with your wedding vendor by during your arranged marriage book, now with a locked mansion murder mystery.

*Notes from a Regicide, Isaac Fellman (15 April). Trans Griffon's adoptive parents die suddenly, leaving him to sort through their papers, which follows the failed revolution they fled.

Advocate, Daniel M Ford (22 April). Book three of a series. Insufferable lesbian necromancer Aelis is summoned back to the capital to investigate an accusation against her former teacher.

Saint Death's Herald, CSE Cooney (22 April). Sequel to my particular favorite Saint Death's Daughter. Lanie Stones must contain her murderously ambitious (and dead) great grandfather before he conquers the world.

*The Sun Blessed Prince, Lindsey Byrd (29 April). Queer romance between a prince with healing magic and the assassin sent to kill him.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter Than Flame, Neon Yang (6 May). Emissary and dragon hunter Yeva is sent to a nation that worships dragons to seduce their queen. Novella.

Drop Dead, Lily Chu (6 May). Rival journalists Nadine and Wesley spar for the scoop on a reclusive author-- until she dies suddenly, and the executor grants them both three weeks to study her papers together.

Ascension, ST Gibson (13 May). Sequel to Evocation about the contentious urban fantasy wizard polycule.

The Incandescent, Emily Tesh (13 May). A professor at a magical academy deals with some troublesome demons. (I'm VERY excited for this one)

*Anji Kills A King, Evan Leikam (13 May). In an impulsive moment, a laundry maid assassinates the king. She flees, pursued by a band of mercenaries with magic masks.

The Starving Saints, Caitlin Starling (20 May). After a six month siege, a castle is freed by a group of cultlike saints. As the castle descends into cannibalism orgies, can three women find a way to save themselves?

Strange New World, Vivian Shaw (20 May). The fourth book in the Greta Helsing series, in which Greta escorts an angel and a demon across America .

*Behooved, M Stevenson (20 May). Princess Bianca agrees to marry a prince in order to end the war—only to have a botched assassination attempt turn him into a horse. They flee together in order to unravel the evil plot.

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association, Caitlin Rozakis (27 May). Ordinary parent Vivian has to rapidly adapt to the world of magic schools when her kindergartener is bitten by a werewolf.

June and later releases under the cut

The Listeners, Maggie Stiefvater (3 June). Hotel manager June is put to an unexpected test when the hotel's rich owners make a deal to host captured Nazi officials.

The Witch Roads, Kate Elliot (10 June). An arrogant prince enters the haunted Spires against the advice of their guide, leaving ex-slave Elen with the unenviable task of guiding a man who isn't quite the same as the one who entered.

The Mercy Makers, Tessa Gratton (17 June). Criminal heiress Iriset uses her ability to create magical disguises to infiltrate the palace and free her father, insinuating herself into the lives of the emperor and his sister in the process.

*This Princess Kills Monsters, Ry Herman (17 June). A sapphic retelling of the Grimm fairy tale The Twelve Huntsmen.

A Far Better Thing, HG Parry (17 June). Changeling child Sydney escapes and crosses over to the human world during the French Revolution to get his revenge on the fairie that took his place.

A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace, Emily Skrutskie (24 June). Two redshirts unexpectedly don't die in a fantasy apocalypse after a band of plucky heroes intervene, forcing them to contemplate their one last night stand.

The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (15 July). A multigenerational story about three women and the curse that stalks their family.

The Memory Hunters, Mia Tsai (29 July). Secondary world academia about using memory magic powers for archaeology.

Hemlock & Silver, T Kingfisher (19 August). A retelling of Snow White from the point of view of a healer trying to cure the poisoned princess.

*Terms of Service, Ciel Pierlot (23 September). Luzia sells herself to the mysterious fae-like Astrosi who live above the metropolis in order to rescue her nephew.

[starrynightsxo]

anyone know what the tithe series by holly blck is about? tryna do some reasearch here. is it similar to the folk of the air or completely different? is there a romance subplot (not that I want there to be but I wanna know if there is? who's the main character? who's the love intefest, if any? I really appreciate any help !!

[im-fostering-it292]

I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE SERIES. I HAVE DECIDED ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS IS HOLLY BLACK.

THE MODERN FAERY TALES SERIES WAS AMAZING.

I LOVE KAYE AND CORNY AND ROIBEN AND LUIS AND VAL

IT WAS SO PERFECT

IGGUFJFJGKBJFURJFJVKVKBKFJDUEYWUFJVJ

[godzilla-reads]

☃️ Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“You are the only thing I have that is neither duty nor obligation, the only thing I chose for myself. The only thing I want.”

The thrilling, despairing, and satisfying finale to the Modern Faerie Tale series. A rash declaration of love and Kaye Fierch is sent on an impossible quest, while the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are inches away from all-out war. Once again, Kaye finds herself caught up in the rivalries.

Not only was I enraptured by this book from start to finish, but it went miles. The characters experiences so much growth and pain, they deal with change and finding their place in a confusing world. Being human is hard enough, but adding the world of Faerie into it?

I loved reading this series and I’m happy to know that some of the characters are reoccurring in the Folk of the Air series. That’s where I’ll be going next!

P.S. Luis and Corny get ALL my love.

[avas-poltergeist]

To the five people who also read The Modern Faerie Tales alongside The Folk of Air series. have ya'll talked about the parallels between Roiben and Kaye and Jude and Cardan? Has anyone in this place talked about how Cardan more times than not is like Kaye? Has anyone talked about the Kaye and Cardan got along right before the coronation and how she sent him a mug with a phrase that imitates the mug in Knives Out, apparently a movie that Cardan likes? Has anyone even tried touching upon the way knighthood is just constantly unattainable to Roiben and Jude?

[letmeliveinelfhame]

What's your favourite book set in faerieland?👀

Thank you so much for your ask! I love getting asks but it's very rare I actually get any 😅

GOOD QUESTION purely because I cannot choose just one book 😭😭 my favourite series is of course TFOTA, that's what started everything for me when I read it on my Kindle back in the summer holidays of 2023.

I'll do a ranking of my favourite to least favourite series:

1. TFOTA (The Cruel Prince, The Lost Sisters, The Wicked King, The Queen Of Nothing, How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories)

2. The Stolen Heir + The Prisoner's Throne (it's part of TFOTA but it's a seperate series so it gets a seperate ranking)

3. The Modern Faerie Tales (Tithe, Ironside, Valiant)

4. The Darkest Part Of The Forest (I haven't read it yet, so I'm just going to put it here on the ranking for now)

AND CAN I JUST SAY I cannot wait for Holly's next faerie book, I'm curious on whether it will be Jurdan focused or Nicasia focused. Something tells me it will be Nicasia focused with Jurdan appearances here and there, BUT I WILL ACCEPT THOSE CRUMBS

[aroaessidhe]

okay I was asked about fey books I’ve read that Do stick to folklore a bit more than certain popular books - and actually looking at what fey books I’ve read  it’s a bit like.... books that stick to folklore closely I sometimes Don’t Love, and there are others that don’t stick to it as much but I like the overall narrative more? or some mix of that. 

so here’s a list of a few - a range of how much they stick to folklore (which of course is an amorphous thing) and how much I like them, but it’s something!

YA

That Self-Same Metal - literally just read this, it’s about a Black girl who’s the stage blade expert for shakespeare’s company and can see fey, and they’re appearing more and more in the city. explores a bit of the midsummer night’s dream fey but also like “shakespeare was wrong” and general folklore. definitely the start of a series and has a lot going on but I thought it has some cool ideas!

all Holly Black’s books deal with them well! the Modern Faerie Tales companion/trilogy has maybe aged a bit by now, and I hate way the romance ended up together in The Folk of the Air (and the way the fandom is about it) but otherwise I do really like how it deals with fey and politics! also enjoyed The Darkest Part of the Forest. these are all intertwined/same world

The Buried And The Bound - a hedgewitch girl keeps fey away from her town, and gets caught up with two boys who are cursed. mostly deals with minor fey and a powerful hag

An Enchantment of Ravens - it’s been quite a few years since I read this, but I do remember enjoying it. It is a bit more of a romance focused story also, an artist stolen into the fey realm for painting a fey prince as if he was human(iirc?)

The Bone Houses - not directly dealing with fey, but like the aftermath of the ancient fey’s curses? welsh myth inspired. which I think is cool.

At The Edge of The Woods - about a girl in a religious/patriarchial village who starts to have strange dreams about a fey boy luring her into the woods. it’s not super focused on them, but they’re very much the classic ‘dangerous fey stealing people away for entertainment’ kind of thing

Adult

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - I sort of have mixed feelings about this - I really enjoy how it dealt with fey and the creepier folklore creatures side of it! the handling of the changeling was a bit iffy and not sure about the romance

The Wolf Among the Wild Hunt - dark fantasy novella about a wolf-shifter made to join the wild hunt to save his qpr. focused on the unseelie/wild hunt area

Silver in the Wood - gaslamp fantasy novella about the keeper of a magical forest, dryads and dangerous fey

The Wind City - a bit of a mashup of fey folklore and Māori atua in a modern NZ setting

Sinners/Veiled - very classic but also with the element of a modern setting where human pollution is like a drug to fey (and the MC is a drug lord.) (so kind of dark but also not dark in the sexy way bc the MC is aroace)

Under The Pendulum Sun - this is a gothic fantasy that has a bit of a new take on a fey world, but also definitely has some of those creepy folklore vibes.

Siren Queen - this only partly involves fey but I thought the way that it mashed up old hollywood and fey (aka shady deals for fame themes) was interesting!

Sorcerer to the Crown/The True Queen - my memory on this is hazy, but I believe it’s regency fantasy, with its own take on a fey world/magic (moreso the 2nd book)

Malice/Misrule - adult high fantasy lesbian sleeping beauty reimagining, this is kind of doing it’s own thing I guess (I don’t remember if they’re even called fey?) but definitely has a bit of the creepy creature/court vibes in book 2 especially

In The Jaded Grove - I was just looking up books to see if there was anything I missed and found this, which seems interesting to me!

I also haven’t read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (but I watched the show ages ago) and I believe that has the vibe too