#the curseworker series

[readinthedarkpod]

Episode 29 broke our spirits, so we're using this episode to complain about it. Join us as we discuss our recording hiccups, an oldie but a goodie by a perpetual podcast fave (Holly Black), a dark romance series that even our resident die hard couldn't stomach, and so much more!

Books Discussed: The Curseworker Series by Holly Black The Clearwater University series by Eva Ashwood

Books Mentioned: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black The Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black … we are sure there are more. But we were tired and fed up. Cut us some slack, for the love of God.

Join our book club @wornpagelibrary!

And if you want, follow the hosts @adxmparriish @figonas @laequiem and @hazelsheartsworn

[bubblesandpages]

I’d forgotten Jesse Eisenberg plays Blu in Rio. This isn’t to say I’ve ever seen Jesse Eisenberg in anything else, no, but he does narrate all three audiobooks in Holly Blacks Curseworkers series and does a phenomenal job at making Cassel’s life sound absolutely miserable.

[filmnoirsbian]

Hi !! I was wondering if you had any book recs/favorite books? Things that you think of as inspiration or just plain like? Genuinely curious. <3 im in love with your work btw i spent the other day binging your patreon

Some favorites that deeply impacted me from a young age up into teenagedom: the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Oddly Enough by Bruce Coville, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Little Sister by Kara Dalkey, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, Piratica by Tanith Lee, the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, Holes by Louis Sachar, The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg, Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori, The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins, Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath, Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, The Iliad and Odyssey (allegedly) by Homer, The Táin by many people, Harlem by Walter Dean Myers, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein, The Hainish Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, The Ethical Vampire series by Susan Hubbard, The Howl Series by Diana Wynne Jones, the Curseworkers series by Holly Black, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Android Karenina by Ben H. Winters, An Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, World War Z by Max Brooks, This is Not A Drill by K. A. Holt, Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Crush by Richard Siken, Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, Devotions by Mary Oliver, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Some favorites read more recently: The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, Engine Summer by John Crowley, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, Reprieve by James Han Mattson, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, Kindred by Octavia Butler, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Station Eleven by Emily St. John-Mandel, The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib, The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica, The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, She had some horses by Joy Harjo, Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón, The King Must Die by Mary Renault, Books of Blood by Clive Barker, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, Cassandra by Christa Wolfe

Plays: The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Electra by Sophocles, Los Reyes by Julio Cortázar, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco, The Trojan Women by Euripides, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr, Fences by August Wilson, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond

Graphic novels: The Crow by James O'Barr, DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, Eternals (2021) by Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribić, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Tank Girl by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

[dontjudgemeimawriter]

Fun Media Tag Game

Tagged by @lexiklecksi

Last watched (series): Recently finished a rewatch of Sex Education

Currently watching (series): Several shows, but the last one I watched an episode of is Jane the Virgin. Stopped a while back right at the time jump in 3 (They skip 3 years) and have just picked it up again. It's a favorite of my partner & we're watching together.

Last read (book): I recently bought a book with all 3 of The Curseworkers series by Holly Black and devoured the entire thing. Got reminded just how much this book was an inspiration for Syndicate.

Currently reading (book): Ummmm I've been meaning to read The Bone Shard Daughter but haven't really gotten to it.

Tagging @pluttskutt @puzzleddragon02 @autumnalwalker @theramwrites and anyone else who wants to!

[giggly-squiggily]

Hey, it's the Vladimir Tod anon! The fandom is so small and if you don't write for it, that's fine, but I am seriously craving some tickle fics, especially that of the uncle-nephew kind (aka Otis tickling the crap out of Vlad), especially since there's so many moments for it: revenge for the attitude Vlad gave him in the first book, ESPECIALLY in the fourth book when Otis is like "I can think of many other ways to do you in", (or even Vikas the family friend training Vlad to fight)!! You can disregard my other ask if you'd like!

Friend, you don't even realize the absolute GIFT you just dropped into my inbox. Vladimir Tod is such a comfort character for me- younger Squiggily is soaring right now at the chance to write for him! :D Consider your request accepted!

I'm glad you sent this one- I was just about to screenshot it and flail around ajajekrajkerkja

General announcement: Since we're on the topic of books (and I've been rereading/discovering new faves lately), I wanted to include some new book fandoms in my blog- something more then just Heartstopper, you know? I'm gonna list a few books/series I'm willing to give a shot at for writing tickle content below- if anyone is interested in a fic for them or even has some recommendations, please feel free to send in an ask! If I've read the book I can most certainly try :D (No HP though)

**: Vague memory- might have to reread

The Chronicles Of Vladimir Tod

Six Of Crows/The Grishaverse (Still reading KOS)

Red Queen Series

Song Of Achilles**

The Mortal Instruments/Shadowverse (Have not read beyond The Dark Artifices- working on that...eventually)

Royal Bastards (Only read the first book oop-)

Hearstopper

The Cruel Prince** (Read the first book- need to read the rest of the series)

Simonverse (Love Simon, Leah On The OffBeat, etc.)**

An Ember In The Ashes series

The Raven Cycle** (Read the first book- rereading and planning on continuing it soon)

Throne of Glass**

A Court Of Thorns and Roses**

Curseworkers (I highly doubt anyone has read these but if you have I am in love with you (platonically))

Those are the books that immediately come to mind; again- if anyone has any recommendations or wants any requests/HCs for these, please feel free to send them in! :D Gentle reminder that requests are still open and will be closed November 1st.

Thanks for asking! :D

[copadjacent]

hi idk if youre open to this kind of ask but youre the only not-inactive mentalist blog i follow and im desperate so. do you... do you have any jane-centric fic ideas/requests/guilty pleasures/tropes rattling around anywhere? bc i am drowning in motivation to write some jane angst/whump (with a healthy side of comforting from the team afterwards...) but agonisingly dry on inspiration

plz help i would be forever grateful 😭

I'm always up for this sort of thing, Nonnie! I love chatting about this show. I personally don’t have any posted Mentalist fanfiction that I’ve written, but I can throw you some plot bunnies from my blog and direct you toward some Mentalist fanfics on Ao3 that I love!

So, first, this is a link to my RP wishlist tag. It’s not very long, but if you see something there that inspires you, I’d adooore reading a fic centered on any of them. 

As for fanfics...

- I love basically any TM fics by Ruuger (you’ll find 60 on their page alone!), especially their apocalypse AU, but their more canon-compliant fics Big Red Tabby and Fathers’ Day are two of my personal favorites. I just think Ruuger has a lovely writing style and is usually really good at capturing the characters’ voices. Most of their fics center around Patrick and Teresa, but they dip into a fair few other relationships as well, so I think there definitely should be something good for you there.

- Musingsoftheephermial once gifted me with a 2-shot crossover series between The Mentalist and The Curseworkers Series, which is a sort of neo noir, super power YA trilogy. It’s probably helpful to be familiar with that series, but I think these could be enjoyable either way just because they’re so beautifully written.

Patrick Jane is one of those characters where I’m very persnickety about his characterization in fics, so I really haven’t read that many fics beyond those from these two people, who I think do an excellent job.

As for angst or whump, I love good torture scenes and sick fics. I love fics that force characters into hard decisions and challenge their morals, too. I’d also love to see more writing about Patrick before Red John and immediately after Red John, so anything with him in the psych ward would be amazing.

Oooh! Something I haven’t seen is an AU where Patrick goes full vigilante. Something that seriously explores his darker side, and all the things he’s willing to do in the name of catching men he deems evil. I think he and Grace, who is easily swayed by Patrick and who has a similar idea of justice, could work really well together as a duo acting outside of the CBI. 

Of course, it’d be a challenge to get Grace to give up her job, but I could totally see it if she was getting frustrated with their lack of success, and Patrick convinces her to do more and more things outside of the CBI’s jurisdiction in order to catch criminals. Eventually she realizes she can do more doing what he does than she can as a cop. I dunno, I just think that’s kind of fun.

Mmm, I dunno. I’m getting a bit long-winded here, so if you’d like more lmk and I’ll send you some more ideas, but I hope these will be a good start to getting your creative juices flowing. :)

[littlestarprincess]

I wanna post a good review of Book of Night by Holly Black because it was amazing and I think too many people are coming to it expecting it to be Jurdan 2.0 because all they've actually read by her is TFotA, but my brain is fried because I was up too late finishing it |||orz

[sereinya-archived111319-blog]

She’s staring at her rune list, trying to puzzle out which combination might end up with healing effects, but. Well, the thing is. Runes are elements; like chemicals, like numbers, like colors in a palette. They’re something by themselves, but put together, they become something different. Magic, meanwhile, is 20% mana, 30% image, 50% effort. Meaning, if she can’t figure out the way these runes link, it’s as good as shoving together puzzle pieces and expecting them to combine on their own. 

Why does this have to be so hard? She can make a tree grow, or a spring burst, or an inferno blaze, so why can’t she figure out... healing? --If only that idiot was still around to teach her. 

[literaticat]

What do you think are the top five YA and MG books to study for craft (fiction not non-fiction)?

Being that I am not a writer, I don't STUDY books... I just read them!

So I asked some of my brilliant clients who also TEACH writing to ask THEM this question and I got the following responses:

Jo Knowles says: "Usually when I suggest books to a student, it's after they tell me about the kind of book they hope to write, and I've seen their writing and have had time to think about "what's missing" from it, at least for me. Usually that's emotion. Or connection. Often their characters just don't feel "real" yet. So I end up usually recommending books that moved me deeply, or inspired me in some way, hoping it does the same for them. I give a huge range and try to make it as diverse as I can.

I AM THE MESSENGER is always on that list. Mainly because it can be looked at for so many of those perfect things, AND because it's almost a collection of short stories, as the MC tries to address each family/person he's meant to help in some way. They are all so moving and real to me. I also love recommending TENDER MORSELS because it deals with trauma in such a profound way, and can show students how powerful this sort of "fantasy" (I really hesitate to call it that), can be. But it really depends on the genre they are writing in. If realistic, that's one thing, if sci fi, another. So I don't know that I would have a top five. But for students writing memoir or biofiction, I usually recommend THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM and BROWN GIRL DREAMING and FUN HOME and STITCHES. If something with fantasy, I would definitely include THE GRAVEYARD BOOK and TITHE. And if historical, anything by MT Anderson and also Christopher Paul Curtis. There are just so many more! But I really wouldn't just give a random list because one size doesn't fit all and I'd want to get to know the person, what their likes and dislikes are, and what they are aiming for themselves before I'd make a recommendation."

Martha Brockenbrough says: "Yes! What Jo says. I don’t rank books by best of, because that’s a lot of energy over something uselessly subjective. Instead, I think about the aspects of craft that matter most when it comes to determining excellence:

character

plot

setting

structure

point of view

voice

theme

To be excellent, a book really ought to be doing all of these things at a masterful level. But there’s probably one or two of those areas that will shine.

So, I love the characters and voice of Jaclyn Moriarty’s Ashbury/Brookfield series. She does multiple POV and even crosses genres with these books.

Holly Black is absolutely KILLER for plot, and the Curseworkers series are superb. The intersection of plot/POV is extraordinary in Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity.

For structure, LONG WAY DOWN is a book about an elevator ride and it is an elevator ride. He of course is one of the finest writers ever, as well. But I do love a structure that underscore the theme.

In every category, Rita Williams Garcia’s A SITTING IN ST JAMES is an absolute work of art.

But I do think Jo’s insight—find a book that does what you want your book to do—is key when you’re trying to write a certain kind of book. Any excellent book can show you remarkable craft, and one key to recognizing it is to note a spot in the book that makes you feel a particular emotion. When you feel something, then you analyze every word and preceding scene to understand what techniques evoked that important emotion.

That’s why we read. To feel something. How do authors do this? Well, that is a very long story..."

Linda Urban says: "Agree with Martha and Jo.  My recommendations for mentor texts are usually specific to my students' needs or challenges -- what book makes you feel like you know the character in the same way that you want readers to feel they know YOUR character?  What book moves time the way you want your book to move time?  What plot twist surprised you in the way you want your plot to suprise readers?

That said, I have go-to books where I think the craft is stellar and also easy to discern.  I use the first chapter of Jason Reynold's GHOST a lot for students who want to figure out how to establish character and stakes in from the get-go.  I love SEE YOU AT HARRY'S for emotional whollop and unexpected plot twists (that are still within the realm of realism).  I like Anne Ursu's THE REAL BOY for omniscient narrator . . . etc. etc. etc.

The point is, read a lot -- read books that feel like they do what you most want to do, like they'd be great neighbors on a bookshelf (even if they are for different age readers or different genres or forms) and learn from them."

[eerna]

I’m really debating whether i should read the cruel prince because of the mixed reviews and opinions of people,, I tried reading holly’s old series (curseworkers / white cat) but i truly wasn’t able to power thru it after numerous attempts at reading the first book 😭 Also, i think the tail of that one character really isn’t so bad? 🥴

It's a very unusual series, which is why the responses to it are so polarizing. I truly don't know what other YA to compare it to. I never read Curseworkers, so idk if it's similar or not, but I suggest you try TFOTA if you're into atmospheric, dark fairy tale aesthetic, and messy, emotional family stories. If you do, happy reading!

ALso. Honestly. I love the tail. That tail was ultimate galaxy brain of character design. I love it how unattractive and weird it is. Wingspans who I only know "this is getting hot- waiT WHAT IS THAT EWWWW LOL"

[thequibblah]

Suze big question you may have already answered but what are you favorite books?

oh god this is the hardest question to answer in the WORLD. but i will attempt it // more book recs here

books i think everyone should read: the fifth season by nk jemisin; wolf hall by hilary mantel; spinning silver by naomi novik; jade city by fonda lee; conversations with friends by sally rooney; the queen's thief series by megan whalen turner; sorcerer to the crown by zen cho; legendborn by tracey deonn; mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia; everything by tana french; these violent delights by chloe gong; every austen novel; her body and other parties by carmen maria machado; seraphina by rachel hartman; the old kingdom books by garth nix; the murderbot diaries by martha wells; beartown by fredrik backman; howl's moving castle by diana wynne jones; ye olde lord of the rings; firekeeper's daughter by angeline boulley; the midnight bargain by c.l. polk; the city of brass by s.a. chakraborty

books that are my favourites but i would not universally recommend because they are unusual or not to everyone's tastes: ninefox gambit by yoon ha lee; the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson; a memory called empire by arkady martine; gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir; the ambha books by tasha suri; the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi; ninth house by leigh bardugo; vita nostra by sergey and marina dyachenko; the curseworkers by holly black; a song of ice and fire by grrm; this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone; matrix by lauren groff; the golden state by lydia kiesling; a conspiracy of stars by olivia a. cole; monstress by marjorie liu and sana takeda

[sharkfish]

2020 writing summary ✍️

WORDCOUNT: 109,348 FICS POSTED: 10 (*plus a ton of poems) 

last year’s summary included my top 5 and bottom 3 (by kudos) fics, but since i only had 10 posted this year, i’m going to list ‘em all with some thoughts! 

below the cut to prevent endless scrolling... 

a delight for the soul - 24k 

No one has ever said Dean is smart, but inviting a client to his home is a new level of idiocy. He tries to counter the mantra of insults inside his head with it’s just Cas, but he wouldn’t be the first professional to get himself killed by a client they thought they knew.

The doorbell rings. It is just Cas, in jeans and a button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up his forearms. Dean’s heart pounds and he goes to his knees on instinct, eyes on the floor.

“Hello, sweetheart."

i returned to the world of bdsm aus (and sex work) and had a great time! dean’s not the kind of sub everyone is looking for, but he’s the perfect sub for cas. <3 

boombox & cookies - 17k

“I think I misjudged you,” Castiel says.

Dean shuts and then opens his mouth like an idiot fish. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t do well with alphas and I’m not interested in being flirted with.”

“Hey,” Dean interrupts, “I swear that’s not —”

“Dean.” Castiel’s voice is deep and firm enough to shut Dean up. “I understand that now, but my original assumption was that you’re the kind of aggressive alpha who just wants to get his knot wet. You're not like that."

i won’t wax poetic for the millionth time about how great a/b/o is as a vehicle to explore gender roles, queer identities, etc, but this one goes hard on the whole gender role expectations as well as trauma aftermath... and, of course, an insane amount of sappy fluff. 

born right in the doorway - 40k

“Jimmy’s heats aren’t usually as bad as mine, but —” Cas says, then closes his eyes like he’s trying to collect his thoughts. “He’s asking for you.”

“He’s asking for me,” Dean repeats, bewildered. He struggles to ignore the way Cas is obviously hard against the front of his boxer briefs.

“I believe you could make him more comfortable.”

“You guys know there are alpha services, right? It doesn’t have to be me.”

jimmy’s a huge stoner, cas is a trans alpha, dean is a fucking oblivious idiot the whole time, constant mating cycle-related boning, the longest fic (other than riptides) i’ve written in a thousand years... what’s not to love? 

love in the time of quarantine - 6k

Dean says, “We should have sex.”

Cas chokes and looks up at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.”

“We should have sex,” Dean repeats, carefully enunciating each word. Cas keeps staring at him blankly. “It’s fun and you’re hot. Perfect quarantivity.”

my required “and they were quarantined!” fic for 2020. this one is a rollicking good time with lots of great jokes. and cas is trans, because i’m still on my righteous crusade to fill up the damn trans tags. 

most perfect possession (riptides sequel) - 17k & counting

“Hey,” Dean says, grinning. “I kinda like you.”

“And you’re willing to announce it to all of our friends and loved ones.”

“Let’s do this.”

i continued working on the riptides sequel, because these boys will probably never entirely leave me. i love them so much and it has been so great to see what their lives are like as husbands. 

punch walk - 1.4k

“Dean Winchester, get down from there.”

“Castiel Winchester, not all of us are clumsy,” Dean says. He’s in love with the stern squint Cas is directing towards him. “Remember that girl who got the first 10 in gymnastics?”

a demo day timestamp where dean hurts himself because he’s an idiot and maybe cas ends up being the one comforted. 

reckless, not reason - 6k

“When I requested a — you know. ‘Companion.’ I was just being selfish,” Dean says. “So fucking selfish that I didn’t even think about what it would be like for you.”

“Don’t worry,” Cas says, almost as if from outside himself. “It was either you or someone else. Perhaps someone worse.”

“It’s a big deal to my dad for me to get mated. He’s always trying to match me with some asshole or another, and I — I can’t, Cas.” He drops his head into his hands, rubbing furiously at his eyes. “I’m fucked up, I guess, because I just — I can’t be a mate to someone, not for real. I can’t — consummate, or whatever.”

vaguely based on one of the ace prompts i got way back in summer 2019, i returned to the world of dragons, magic, and consent porn. with a side of john winchester’s A+ parenting. 

slow dancing - 5k

Cas is near enough that their chests are nearly pressed together, an arm around Dean with the leather of their glove against his neck. They press close, the song just for Dean’s ears.

I know places we can go, babe/coming home, come unfold, babe/the high won’t fade here, babe/no, the high won’t hurt here, babe.

When Cas sings, everything else disappears. Dean loves magic, as long as Cas’s songs are for him every now and then.

for years i’ve had this idea fiddling in the back of my head based vaguely on the magic in holly black’s curseworker series (incidentally, the main character’s name is cassel lmao) and i finally put something together for it. (i hope to return to this kind of magic idea in the future.) writing this nb cas was also special to me. 

suddenly seeing - 3k

Cas stares at his own tentacle as he runs the tip up Dean’s neck, slides it along his jawline, traces the rise of his cheekbone. No one touches Dean like this.

“It’s strange,” Cas says. “Suddenly seeing something beautiful where you couldn’t in the past.”

i’ve always wanted to return to octos and here we are! another fun lil octo fic. it wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last!! 

when the wolf comes home - 11k

Daryl isn’t afraid to touch her. He’s afraid of what happens when it’s back to a dim cage and a wire mother. He’s afraid of when she leaves, runs, dies — his whole life, Daryl has watched people spin and burn out, sometimes just their soul and not their body. Life doesn’t treat his kind well and after Merle, he swore he’d never get close to someone again.

Despite all of that, Daryl reaches out and awkwardly slides an arm around Beth’s shoulders.

my first non-spn fic! i never thought i’d write a twd fic but i couldn’t stop thinking about ace daryl and beth in general. i also really liked some of the writing in this which is not something i manage to say very often. 

[filmnoirsbian]

do you have a goodreads? i'd love to know a few good books you'd recommend

I don't have a goodreads but my go-to recommendations are always:

The telling by Ursula k le guin, station eleven by emily st john mandel, heart berries by terese marie mailhot, the expanse series by james s. a. Corey, the mistborn trilogy by brandon sanderson, in the dream house by carmen maria machado, the curseworkers series by holly black, beloved by toni morrison, plainwater by anne carson, on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong, crush by richard siken, the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater, the road by cormac mccarthy, deathless by catherynne m. valente, his dark materials by philip pullman, stories of your life and others by ted chiang, sharp objects by gillian flynn

[faerytalesfromtheabyss]

How did you get into Holly Black books?

I love this question! There’s a bit of a history here so bare with me. I got into the Spiderwick Chronicles around 2007-2008 because my younger siblings were reading them. I was in middle school (a little old) but I still really enjoyed the books and I adored the Field Guide.

It goes without saying, I was hooked on faerie books so I looked into what else HB had written and I found The Modern Faerie Tale Series. Now, I went to catholic school at the time and my parents are conservative. So I was low-key scandalized by Tithe but... I was also the best book I had ever read. The atmosphere was so gritty. And these characters were not your typical heroes. Roiben was a good person forced into doing evil things. Kaye broke the rules, stole things, smoked, but still saved the day. And Corny was snarky, funny, and gay. I had never read about an LGBT+ character before.

I devoured the whole series. The trick was I could never ever ever ever ever tell anyone I had read these books. I was a good little catholic girl and a dutiful daughter, after all.

Tithe isn’t by any means perfect, but to this day it is one of my favorite books because it introduced me to a lot of concepts that I didn’t have words for at the time. Morally gray characters for one. But also the idea that there were different ways of living. It’s kind of a strange thing to explain but here it is: Faerie is obviously a terrifying place but it is also magical and (more importantly for me) freeing. I always known what terror feels like and I always new how to play certain roles to navigate home and school. But that isn’t freedom. I always had to hide parts of who I am. In Faerie, the folk do what they want and they don’t give a damn about the consequences. And more importantly in Faerie, you can love who you want. It’s subtle, but it seems like at least most of the folk are bi/pan. I didn’t figure out I was bi until much later but I found this idea very comforting.

Fast forward to 2017, by this point I’ve graduated college, I have my first full-time job, and I’ve been out as bi for a few years. I notice that a new Holly Black book is coming out. And I was getting back into reading YA after years of reading prestigious/overrated lit. I remembered how much I enjoyed HB’s books growing up. So I immediately placed a hold at the library.

As you can probably guess, I loved TCP. And it caused me to reread TMFT and Spiderwick, as well as pick up Darkest Part of the Forest, Coldest Girl in Coldtown, and Curseworkers for the first time.

So that’s a very long answer about how I first got into HB’s books and how I got back into them.

[finnlongman]

I feel like the Curseworkers series is the most underappreciated of Holly Black's work. She's gained new fans through The Cruel Prince and a lot of those people have gone back to her earlier fairy books... but this series remains somewhat under the radar.⁣

Which is tragic because it's great. I love the worldbuilding -- the subtle differences with our world that make it feel real, like the way everyone wears gloves for fear of magic, and how that affects how naked hands are perceived. If you like crime and magic and dreams and transformations... you want to read these books. ⁣

(cross-posted from Instagram)