Once upon a time… I was certain that I wouldn’t like books about “faeries.” In fact, aside from The Chronicles of Narnia, I was pretty sure that the genre of fantasy was not for me. Ironically it was the Golden Compass and Harry Potter that changed my mind. I had to read both books for a YA Lit class in college. I was not looking forward to that assignment. However, to my surprise, I wasn’t even 1/4 of the way through Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when I found myself at the book store buying books two and three and then putting four on hold at the library. It turns out that I LOVE fantasy!! Who knew?!? Luckily for me this is a very prolific time for YA fantasy. I know that vampires are in the spotlight but I want to look at Faerie tales. Whatever you choose to call them — Fae, the Fair Folk, the Good Neighbors, Fairies, Faeries, the Green Children — faeries have been the focus of a number of great YA novels.
In what I’ve read I’ve noticed two major “types” of faerie tales. Although it’s not entirely correct I like to think of them as the traditional faerie versus the modern faerie. In both types you have the human world and the faerie world existing simultaneously. Faeries are in the human world but humans don’t see it. Either the humans can’t see the fae or the fae are “glamoured” so that they appear human. You also typically have a main character who has been raised as a human only to discover that they are fae or part fae. These characters then venture in to the Faerie realm to save loved ones, our world, the faerie world, or all three.
To me the main difference between the two types is that the “modern” faerie tales have more of an edge to them. The characters are a bit more mature. There are more piercings and tattoos. The faeries are darker too. They don’t all speak in Old English and they are more prone to pursue their wants and desires over all else. In the more “traditional” faerie tales things are a bit more wholesome. The human characters tend to be in less desperate circumstances and the fae tend to be more “old fashioned” (for lack of a better term.)
There are many great YA examples of both types of faerie tale. My favorites are listed below. I recommend all of them 🙂
“Modern” tales:
Holly Black’s three novel set Ironside, Valiant, and Tithe as well as her graphic novel series The Good Neighbors (book one Kin is out and book two Kith is due out soon.)
Melissa Marr’s three novel set Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and Fragile Eternity as well as the manga spin off that is set in the same world as the novels
Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument series The City of Bones, The City of Ashes, and The City of Glass
“Traditional” tales:
Frewin Jones’ The Faerie Path series The Faerie Path, The Lost Queen, The Seventh Daughter (previously The Sorcerer King), and The Immortal Realm
Gillian Smmers’ The Faire Folk trilogy The Tree Shepherd’s Daughter, Into the Wildwood, and The Secret of the Dread Forest
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