Reviews

The Poison Eaters: And Other Stories by Holly Black

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ellie_pan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.5

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 4/5
A Reversal of Fortune 3/5
The Boy Who Cried Wolf 3.5/5
The Night Market 4/5
The Dog King 5/5
Virgin 2/5
In Vodka Veritas 2/5
The Coat of Stars 5/5
Paper Cuts Scissors 4/5
Going Ironside 1/5
The Land of Heart’s Desire 4/5
The Poison Eaters 4/5
⌀ 3.5/5

breezy610's review against another edition

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3.0

it was good, but it's not my usual book that i read. and none of the stories couldn't keep me entertain enough, but i manage to stick to it and finished it.

letstalkaboutbooksbaybee's review against another edition

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4.0

What a strange little compilation of short stories

Dark and grungey but not bad

3⭐️ The Coldest Girl In Coldtown - definitely made me want to read the novel by the same name, set in the same world. I think it’s an interesting take on Vampire Lore

3⭐️ A Reversal of Fortune - this one made me want to puke lol

4⭐️ The Boy Who Cried Wolf - this was so unique and felt like a real fairy tale story, some real Brothers Grimm vibes

4⭐️ The Night Market - this one kinda was sweet and I would’ve liked it to be a full novel

4⭐️ The Dog King - this was weird but also kind wanted it to be full length

2⭐️ Virgin- booooorinngggg

3⭐️ In Vodka Veritas - this story made me uncomfy but it was also kind of intriguing

4⭐️ The Coat of Stars - probably my favorite of the whole collection, felt really well rounded and fleshed out

3⭐️ Paper Cuts Scissors - such an interesting premise but fell flat

2⭐️ Going Ironside - pointless

3.5⭐️ The Land of Hearts Desire - was happy to see the Modern Faerie Tale crew again, I like domestic life for them

4⭐️ The Poison Eaters - yooooo this I would read a whole book about too

eforw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

thefantasticshell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

qkat's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars. The stories were nothing to write home about. Nothing memorable. If you like young adult urban fantasy short stories, then you might like this.

swampbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Holly Black is the queen of writing modern fairy tales and I’m just now realizing why she named one of her series as such. Some of them were honestly kinda meh but some of them were definitely very intriguing.

xandrarama's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

mjewell2727's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

3.0

ladybeehyde's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This collection of stories is beautiful and diverse with a whole host of characters and plots that are distinct but still fit together well. If you’ve read Holly Black’s other works, you’ll recognize the short that inspired Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the setting of In Vodka Veritas, as well as the entire cast and setting of The Land of Heart’s Desire. The thirteen shorts included in this book are impossible to resist.

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