Valiant by Holly Black

It's always weird writing posts for multiple books in a series, which is why I started doing those series posts a while back. Those series posts always felt a little lack luster though and so now I'm back to this.

I'm not sure what I expected from a second novel in the Modern Faerie Tale series. I guess I assumed that the story would follow Kaye or at least Roiben. However, Valiant introduces entirely new characters. While still part of the same world, there is almost no cross-over in characters.

Valiant introduces Val who is something of a jock and something of a tom-boy. She plays lacrosse at school has a gay friend named Ruth and a boyfriend with a mohawk named Tom. There's nothing unusual or difficult about her life, she's just drifting through. That changes when she accidentally walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman, and the last woman Val would have expected.

Val goes to a hockey game to clear her head and just doesn't go home. It's not a concious decision, she just fails to get on the train home and soon is distracted by meeting Lolli and Dave who live in an abandoned subway station. Val fits right in. Soon, Val meets Dave's brother Luis and finds out how the exiled fey manage to survive in New York City. Oh, and obviously she discovers that the fey exist.

The only glaring problem is that someone is killing the fey and humans are high up on the suspect list.

This one reminded me less of the paranormal romances and more of Francesca Lia Block's Weetsie Bat books. I think because there is more of a dreamy quality to some of the writing. During her time on the streets, Val experiments with a drug that is a sort of magical acid. So there is a sort of weird magical realism going on.

Clearly there are some tough themes here, but relevant to a teenaged audience. Aside from the drugs, Val spends most of the book living rough on the streets. It's appropriate for teens but does require a more mature mindset.