read a book: Holly Black's Valiant

So, one of the books I wrote about in my first review column for Say... (currently residing in two boxes in a Fed-Ex truck somewhere between Nashville and here) was Holly Black's amazingly wonderful new novel Valiant, which comes out very soon. I'm reprinting that section of the column here as a preview and because I think you should buy this book immediately (pre-order or it'll be available soon) and because I don't have time to write any new content for Shaken & Stirred this week. Findeth the column after the lovely cover image and be warned there are potential plot spoilers, though mostly for things that happen very early on:




Valiant, Holly Black. Black follows up her excellent first novel Tithe with a book set in the same world. It seems like faery has been done and redone, but no one has managed to reinvent the faery world and the dangers of human interaction with it like Black has. Her two faery books feel completely new, even while making extensive use of traditional depictions, history and lore. Valiant is her best yet (and I say that having adored Tithe). Like Tithe, Valiant opens with a girl living a not so perfect life in New Jersey. But Valiant quickly shows us that this will be an even darker, grittier ride, and yet, it never feels put on or overdone. The tight, evocative writing is an exact match for the story of Valerie Russell, aka Val, a lacrosse playing 17-year-old whose life falls apart in the first chapter after she interrupts her mother and her boyfriend having sex--then finds out her best friend had known about their trysts. Val flees to New York City where she’s quickly taken in by a group of runaways living in an abandoned part of the subway. One of them, Luis, has “the Sight” and is in service to a troll named Ravus.

Valiant takes its title from the early nicknaming of Val by one of her new friends as Prince Valiant. At a time when the “ass-kicking teenage girl” is beginning to feel tired, Val rings completely, winningly true. She’s filled with self-doubt but her nature is to act when it’s called for, no matter the cost. She ends up in service to Ravus, but quickly he’s in hers. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the story will still provoke surprise and wonder for readers. Val’s emotional journey and the constant reinvention of the reader’s expectations make this faery tale completely engrossing.

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If you can't tell, I seriously loved this book. Buy it.