Ironside Audiobook By Holly Black cover art

Ironside

A Modern Faerie Tale, Book 2

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Ironside

By: Holly Black
Narrated by: Lauryn Allman
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The time has come for Roiben's coronation, and pixie Kaye is sure of one thing – she loves him. When she declares herself to Roiben during the celebration, he's forced to send her on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie.

But Kaye's adventure soon leads to danger when she finds herself caught up in the games of the Seelie Court. Queen Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she will use any means necessary to get it. Can a pixie outplay a queen?

©2007, 2019 Holly Black (P)2024 Bolinda Publishing Dark Fantasy Fantasy Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy

Critic reviews

'Decadent and deadly, the urban fantasy setting is not for the faint of heart; the cruelties of even the so-called good faeries are breathtaking. Fans of faerypunk will eat it up.' (Kirkus Reviews)
'Essential for fans of Tithe , this tale of tough yet romantic punks and misfits, both human and faerie, is told in an authentic street voice.' (School Library Journal)
'The chilling game of wits culminates in a satisfying conclusion to this dark, edgy fantasy, a must-purchase for Black’s many devoted fans.' (Booklist)
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Did not like narrator :( ruined the story for me. Felt disconnected and I had a hard time listening. Made it feel like a completely different author.

Did not like narrator :(

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Morally gray cast of characters that will steal your heart or make you add more Iron into your life to protect it. Such is the nature of darker faery stories.

“whatever you love, that is your weakness”

Kaye and Roiben are back to being the focal point of the story again. Roiben is about to be coronated as the King of the Unseelie court. This isn't something he ever wanted but he will do his duty to keep the few he cares about safe. At least that is what he was trying to do until Kaye ruined all of his plans to keep her out of the line of fire in an upcoming war.

With some bad alcohol consuming decisions Kaye has ended up on an impossible quest for the new Unseelie King and will not be able to see him again until the quest is complete. Roiben's goal was to keep her out of the mess he is in, especially since he is not sure he will survive it.

“He had known only two rulers, both great and neither good. He did not know how to be any kind of King nor how to win, other than to be even more ruthless than they."

Kaye on the other had ends up in the middle of everything accidentally. The Seelie Queen will use her if she can against Rioben.

I enjoyed this book the most of the series. She Kaye is a bit impetuous and makes some increasingly bad decisions, but she is overall likeable. No matter what she will try to protect Rioben, even if her place in his life is unclear. With the help of Corny they will find a way to get out of all the trouble Kaye has gotten herself into.

I liked seeing some of the characters from Valiant again too. Luis tries to help Kaye and Corny, but we also get a few cameo's from some of the other main characters from the last book.

The conclusion to this series is one I found fitting and satisfying. It wasn't all cherry blossoms and softness, but had just enough jagged edges to make it seem all the more real and a fitting conclusion to a story in the Fae realm.

Narration

While not perfect, I got confused on who was talking some of the time, this is a solid performance by Lauryn Allman. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.

Performance: ★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★
Diction: ★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★
Sound Effects: limited at the introduction

Enter the Darker Side of Faery Stories

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Holly Black nails urban fantasy with this one. Great continuing characters, immersive plot, beautiful writing, lush setting--it's a must-read.

Good audiobook narration.

Will read again. 5 stars.

Solid storytelling

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i loved it it has been one of my favorites since i was a teen

in depth world

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I've adored this story since I first picked up the series back in high school and having the audio book as well as the new short story on the end has been such a treat

always a favorite

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darkly enchanting sequel to tithe .. holly black never fails to submerge the senses in a magic all its own.

love this

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La trama estuvo excelente, pero la interpretación a veces confundía los acentos de los personajes.

La trama/Thé plot

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I love this series and I love how it ties into her other dark farie series at the end!

Great conclusion

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It was a little slow at times and confusing , but it wasn’t enough to drop the book completely

I loved the accents the narrator did

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