Holly Black - Ironside.

Holly Black – Ironside.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars.

Hey Everyone! I hope you’re all doing as well as you can be considering everything that’s going on in the world. I find myself watching the news in disbelief of what is happening. With the UK back in full lockdown and the madness going on in the states, everything is so up in the air and crazy at the minute. We are literally living through a high school history exam. My DMs and emails are always open as a safe space if anyone needs one.

On a lighter note, I have finally written the review for the sequel to Tithe. It took me a few days to gather my thoughts on it, and honestly I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it, so if my opinions change I will write an updated version at some point. So here is it, my review for Ironside by Holly Black. I hope you like it.

Synopsis:

An unwise declaration of love, a seemingly impossible task, a boy cursed so that he dare not touch the object of his desire, and an exquisite act of cruelty and revenge. These are the elements Holly Black weaves together with the deft touch of a master storyteller and her trademark blend of thwarted romance and otherworldly violence.

Belonging neither in Faerie nor in the human world – Ironside – changeling Kaye has one chance to win her lover once and for all – if only she can find it. Set in a dangerous realm where pleasure mingles with pain and nothing is as it appears, Ironside is the spellbinding sequel to the critically-acclaimed Tithe.

Part love story, part fantasy, part rite of passage, this is a book which, like the realm of Faerie itself, will haunt the imagination long after you have left it.

A Little About The Author:

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newberry Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son.

A Little About The Story:

The sequel to Tithe saw the progression of Kaye and Roiben’s relationship. We saw Kaye come into her own as a member of the supernatural community, and not the human girl she originally thought she was. Throughout the story Kaye has to complete an impossible quest or risk the new relationship she was in. While Roiben was battling to keep his crown as King of the Night Court. We also follow Corny and his journey into accepting the Fae. We see his struggle with everything that happened to him in Tithe and how he gets through that.

The main characters in this book were Kaye, Roiben and Corny. Luis plays an important role in the story in the second half of the book too. Also notable mentions go to Kaye’s mother and grandmother, and the ‘real’ Kaye. Further, Ethine and the Bright Queen are vital to the storyline too.

Roiben’s role in this story is probably the most dramatic and crucial. He found himself at the end of Tithe being the King of the Night Court. Naturally in this sequel there is some tricky opposition to this. However, the opposition isn’t just from a place of politics or dislike, he has a complicated emotional tie to them. Kaye tries to complete an impossible task that Roiben has given her as part of a declaration, if she does not complete it, she can not see him. We follow as she struggles with this, as well as the knowledge of what is going on in Faerie.

The entire book solves all of the problems that were left in the rubble of Tithe. Typically, there was no way Roiben was going to be allowed to be King peacefully, and Kaye and Roiben had to have some relationship drama and problems. And Corny was bound to have some kind of psychological damage after everything he had gone through. And we met the other Kaye, it was expected that she would tie into the story somehow.

My favourite character in this book was Kaye’s mother. I think she handled everything so well and had such character growth from the way she was in the first book and I grew to like her a lot. Notable mentions go to Kaye though. I loved the way she solved the impossible quest. It cracked me up I have to say.

Again, this isn’t a story that I felt I could relate directly to the characters. But this isn’t a problem for me. I enjoy reading about situations that I know nothing about. I feel like it gives me new insights and more knowledge that can be valuable.

I have mixed feelings on these books as I said in my last review. I’m really struggling on whether or not I liked them. The story did grip me. I felt sucked into the world and I liked that aspect. I liked the development for all of the characters and how they all grew after the events of Tithe. But it really felt like something wasn’t quite right. For example, I’m still confused with the age differences between Kaye and Roiben. And I’m still not a massive fan of Corny. I’m going to have to read it again to see if it clears anything up. But the writing was good, it flowed nicely, the ending wasn’t something I expected 100%, this I liked. So all in all it was a decent read, hence the 3 out of 5.

My favourite part of the book is ‘real’ Kaye’s (Kate) outcome. I loved the ending that she got. I felt like it was really healing for Ellen. And it pulled together Kaye’s family in a way they hadn’t been before. I also loved how Kaye grew into herself. At the beginning of Tithe she didn’t seem sure of much, but now she was confident and had an idea of what she wanted to do with herself. The character growths in these two books are amazing.

My least favourite part of this book would have to be the fact that Kaye and Roiben were apart for pretty much all of it. In the last book we didn’t realty see them fall for each other, or their dynamic, I really wanted to see them bounce off each other, and see the chemistry, but we weren’t able to do so. I would have loved to see more of them together so I could understand why they were so attracted to each other.

I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy novels. Anyone who has a love of Holly Black’s other works, or anything my Sarah J Maas or Cassandra Clare. All of those people would love this book to be able to read more about Fae and the world of Faerie. Also, of course, people who read Tithe would love to read more about Kaye and Roiben.

In conclusion, for the most part I really did like this book. Don’t get me wrong, it has some flaws that I explained further up, but it had a good plot, great characters and it was gripping. So I would definitely recommend it. I am going to re-read to see if this helps me form a more cohesive opinion on it. Thank you for reading! If you have read this book I would love to know your opinions on it. If not I hope my review encouraged you to pick up the book!

Stay Curious! J x