Reviews

Elfentochter by Anne Brauner, Holly Black

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mordicant's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

jmeyer376's review against another edition

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3.0

Pretty good. Like Black's style for the most part. I really dislike how damaged all the people were though. It was rather dark in many ways and I just...don't know. I'm more of a sunshine and unicorns girls I guess. I love some of the short stories I've read by her and the SW Chronicals so I will keep reading. This was good and I would keep reading about the characters anyway. Since this was her first book I feel like things will just keep getting better.

bookishlizzie_'s review against another edition

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2.0

Not my favorite read from Holly Black, it was just not for me. The characters were mediocre.

iamajellydoughnut's review against another edition

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2.0

While I did indeed enjoy Holly Black's Tithe, it was as a brainless read. I found her inconsistent and choppy style of writing very unsatisfying. Things in her novel happen without reason and are entirely irrelevant to the plot, the main character seems distant and rather dumb in that the reader never gets to truly understand her thinking, her reasoning, her actions, anything, and everytime something happens, Black describes the event quickly and we never really learn the aftermath of the event. The book skips from scene to scene without explanation. I wish Black could elaborate more. Characters are killed off randomly for no reason, and the ones that weren't killed off, I couldn't connect or empathize with. Overall, a good read, but not one that I would recommend.

bookdragonism's review against another edition

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4.0

I just love the feeling of reading holly black books. How her writing style takes me out of reality so fast is beyond me. I read The Folk of the Air before this book and now I want to reread it to enjoy all the scenes where Kaye and Roiben appeared. Also, I miss Cardan and Jude SO MUCH.

Tithe is a magical read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It had its slow parts but the atmospheric writing style compensated for that. Now I'm off to read book 2. AH IT'S SO GOOD TO BE ABLE TO READ AGAIN

karenestevenson's review against another edition

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sadly dnf it book wasn’t for me

ohsarahjoy's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF about 40% in. I just really didn’t like any of the characters or the story. It felt very cliché and the writing had a lot of the early 2000s homophobic, racist dialogue that just rubbed me the wrong way.

I loved The Folk of the Air trilogy and her later books. I’ll be steering clear of her early work from now on

sarahjasmine's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

violetsto_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

He spoke tonelessly. "That is the nature of servitude, Kaye. It is literal-minded and not at all clever. Be careful with your epithets."

more fun and dark faeries from Holly Black!!! Black is so good with fae lore, i will try any of her books. i am not going in chronological publication order, i know, but it’s so fun getting different looks at faerie. i really enjoyed the urban fantasy vibes, which are much less in tfota (trilogy) and the darkest part of the forest. also, the epigraphs were great!!!

as Black’s ya debut and first installation of the Faerie universe, it’s not as polished as say the cruel prince, but it is a whirlwind of a ride!!! the plot is engaging, i really liked kaye, corny, and roiben. kaye is very young, but it fits her character (and her

pixie-ness???

) and the edgy early aughts era of unsupervised teens. roiben was surprisingly enchanting (more pretty fae men with long hair, please!!!) and i can’t wait to see more of him (and kaye) in ironside.

(also … roiben is how old??? eep, supernatural age gaps)

i crave a bad CW tv adaptation!!!!! PLS

spiderelsa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was So In to rate this more highly, but thennn.

the only 'out' gay character killed his love interest and it was the right thing to do because it was a toxic relationship

Okay, wait, the longer I sit with this, the higher my rating goes anyway.

self-extrication from an abusive relationship with one's sanity (mostly) intact

- fine.

I'm in for more of this world, even with it being darker than I was expecting, somehow, after reading Spiderwick first. (But also, I didn't get past the initial series, I should remind myself with grace.)

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