A little more dark than I usually enjoy in YA books. ( )

One of my first YA fantasy novels. It kind of set the standard for me (as far as urban fantasy goes). Read it once several years ago and read it again just this summer, still enjoyable. ( )

Valerie loopt van huis weg. Met haar vriend en haar moeder is alles fout gegaan. Ze gaat naar New York City en maakt daar kennis met een aantal zwerfjongeren, de broers Luis en Dave en het meisje Lollipop (Lolli). Zij wonen op een verlaten perron van de ondergrondse. Ze hoort van het drietal verhalen over monsters die daar ook rondzwerven. Lolli is verslaafd aan een goudkleurig poeder dat ze inspuit. Dave brengt af en toe bestellingen rond. Als hij Val een keertje laat meegaan naar een vrouw, blijkt die hoeven te hebben in plaats van voeten onder haar lange jurk.
Totaal in de war neemt Lolli haar mee naar de man waar Dave de bestellingen voor rond brengt, dat blijk een trol te zijn, genaamd Ravus. Val raakt in de ban van deze man/trol. ( )

When it seems as though everyone in Val’s life has betrayed her, she simply walks away...to New York City, where she falls in with a gang of squatters who live in the subway system. But there’s something off about her new friends. And when she ends up breaking into the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they’re all involved, and owing him as a consequence, she finds her new-found affection for him will help her battle the true evil in town. I bought this series at a used bookstore, and it sat on my to-read shelf for god-only-knows how many years before I finally picked it up and read it. It was good, but YA; book 2 definitely took a weird spin into unrelated territory before turning back; story elements I expected never appeared. It was satisfying, but the books went back into the used bookstore bag without much regret.
( )

This was okay . . . Tithe was a lot better in the plot line and character development. So after reading about the 'betrayal', the song 'Stacy's mom' popped into my head. I got Val and the reasons why she did what she did, the never popping up and that this story was, sort of, a retelling of beauty and the beast. The other song 'Drag me to hell' by Lords of lost, with the lyrics 'Obsession craves respect'; I feel that was Val's song when she got mixed up with Lolli and the others. This is not my favourite Holly Black Book so far, but still a quick read. I think Ironside will quench my faerie thirst, lol. ( )