Valiant
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black
Valerie is an unhappy girl who leaves home and heads into New York City. There she befriends a group of kids living in an unused subway tunnel. Lolli, Luis and Dave have been on their own and taking care of each other for some time. It doesn't help that they have a horrible love triangle, filled completely with unrequited love. Val helps to break some of that up for them, but the kids have had a pretty rough time of it. They've seen a side of the city that most people very rarely see, if ever. It's not just the seedy underbelly of a thriving metropolis, but another world entirely which overlaps in some sections of the city.
Exiles from Faerie are living in Central Park and the supplies they need are not readily available. There is one person who the faerie people are dependent upon, a troll named Ravus. Val winds up exposed to this world by making deliveries to the faerie people scattered around the city. One of the supplies is something the Lolli refers to as Nevermore, a drug with magical and addictive qualities. Val experiments with the drug and when looking for some answers she meets Ravus. To save the lives of her new friends she makes a deal with the troll. That changes her entire life.
I think I preferred this to the rest of Black's faerie novels. I like Val and I like the commitment and the loyalty she shows for Ravus. I also like that there is some intersection with the rest of Black's faerie characters. I'm definitely on board for Black's next book. Most stories of this kind take place in totally unplaceable time periods, which is generally a selling feature for this kind of tale. But, here I am finding that a faerie tale which is clearly contemporary is just as fascinating and, in fact, is so compelling and interesting that I want to believe it could be true, not just pretend it could have been true centuries ago.
