Valiant by Holly Black

Valiant
When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

I borrowed this book.

At first sight
So I've been trying to get my hands on this book for a while. I'd read Tithe and while I enjoyed it and actually really liked it, I wasn't about to die if I didn't get the next book. But I kind of breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to get this book. I'll finish the series (or at least continue it) once and for all.

My Thoughts
Valiant is crude and quite hard to read. It has a shocking beginning, a boring middle, and an amazing end.

The thing with Valiant is that it's very underground stuff. Valerie runs off to New York to live on the streets and we see how these kids shoot up (and quite graphically). It's not my usual cup of tea.

But then, things seem to flow naturally for the characters. There's no forced romantic relationship, it simply happens. Which I think is a plus.

I didn't love any of the characters, really, except for Val's love interest. The whole book just kind of fell short for me. I really like Kaye on the previous book of the series so I'm sure to pick Ironside, which is the third book, at some point.

In one sentence:
"Nice beginning, boring middle, good end."

Plot: 3
Characters: 2
Writing: 4
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 2.7
Average: 3.3 stars

Geektastic by Various Authors

Geektastic

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside)and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!

This will be a short review since it's an anthology of short stories. Basically this book is awesome to the nth power. Every geek and non-geek should get it because it's like a freaking anthem to geekdom. There's nothing in this genre better than this. Yes, that's how good this is.

Not only is it written by many great (and my favorite) writers but the stories are not what I expected them to be at all. They deal with everything and each one has from light geekyness to hardcore geek and they have A BUNCH of humor.. I loved it! My favorite stories were:

Once You're A Jedi, You're a Jedi All The Way by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
One of Us by tracy Lynn
I Never by Cassandra Clare
Quiz Bowl Anarchist by David Levithan
Secret Identity by Kelly Link
The Truth About Dino Girl by Barry Lyga
The Stars at th

I just realized that I was listing more than half the story. So thing is, go get it because it's AWESOME. Favorites of the year, truly.

In one sentence:
"These stories are the true anthems of the nerd herd."

(In general)
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Writing: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 5
Average: 5