The Poison Eaters and Other Short Stories

This is an old review I wrote back in January of 2011 before the blog was created.

The Poison Eaters and Other Short Stories

Author: Holly Black

ARC recieved from: Simon and Schuster 

Reviwer: Megazarooni

In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. These stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and have been reprinted in many "Best of" anthologies. The Poison Eaters is Holly Black's much-anticipated first collection of stories, and her ability to stare into the void--and to find humanity and humor there--will speak to young adult and adult readers alike. (Description from Holly Black’s website)

     I’m a huge Holly Black fan! I’ve read her Modern Faerie Tales series, the first book in her Curse Workers series, and most of her published short stories. Well, you can imagine my excitement when I received an ARC for The Poison Eaters and Other Short Stories in my mailbox.

Here are some of my brief spoiler free thoughts on the stories featured in Holly’s collection:

     In my opinion, Holly's stories The Dog King, In vodka Veritas, and Virgin were rather dull. The Story concept was interesting, but they didn't really catch or keep my attention.

     Her stories Going Ironside and The Land of Heart's Desire are rather confusing if you haven't read her previous series The Modern Faerie Tales, but are awesome if you have.

     The collection features some of my favourite stories: Paper Cuts Scissors, The Night Market, The Coldest girl In Coldtown, and to no surprise The Poison Eaters. It didn’t matter that I had read most of these short stories before because Holly Black’s writing is magical. She has this way with words that makes me want to reread her work over and over again. I’ve honestly read her short story The Poison Eaters half a dozen times, but the story never gets old. I feel like a child again; always wanting to hear the same story over and over and over again.

     On a side note, each story contains a small ink drawing that I read came from Holly’s hubby Theo. The man’s got talent! Each drawing depicts an object of importance in the story which really enhanced my reading experience.

I give this book a solid 5/5 changelings.