Think twice if…
- Content warnings: Violence, Torture, Death, Murder, Drug use, Addiction, Kidnapping, Animal death, Self-harm, Blood, Suicide attempt
Ironside
by Holly Black
Book 3 in Modern Faerie Tales
The satisfying conclusion to Holly Black's groundbreaking Modern Faerie Tales trilogy. Kaye's impossible quest to find a faerie who can lie forces her to confront her identity as a changeling while navigating the lethal politics of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.
goodreads 3.99/5 49,402 ratings
storykind_community 3/5 1 rating
Quick fit
Is this story right for you?
A decision-first view of the reading experience.
Length323 pages
Series statusCompleted series · 3 books
Spice1/5 · Closed door / fade to black
PacingMedium
Story profile
What the story promises
The strongest reviewed signals about romance, fantasy, and the reading experience.
Romance promise
- Forbidden love
- Male/female pairing (M/F)
- Slow burn
- Low
- Closed door / fade to black
- Cathartic release
Show more
- Dark/tortured soul
- Emotional / vulnerable intimacy
- Closure
- Morally gray
- Power imbalance
- Tension / anticipation focus
- Earned hope
- King / ruling monarch
- Star-crossed
- Tension
- Anticipation
- Touch starvation
- Longing glances
Fantasy promise
- Urban fantasy
- Big city / metropolis
- Fae
- Hidden identity
- Forest / wilderness
- Fae realm / faerie courts
Show more
- Changelings
- Secret relationship
- Underground / underworld
- Goblins
- Immortal/mortal romance
- Trolls
- Fae romance
- Nymphs
Reading experience
- Third person
- Medium
- Mysterious
- Atmospheric
- Heavy
- Outcast/loner
Show more
- Dark
- Survivor
- Lyrical
- Feral/unhinged
- Melancholic
- Immersive
- Bittersweet
- Sharp
- Eerie
- Dangerous
- Fae courts and politics
- Forbidden desire
- Court of shadows
- Betrayal and forgiveness
- Survival against impossible odds
Similar stories
Similar in ways that matter
Matched by the most important shared story signals, with the tradeoffs made explicit.
362 pages Completed
The King's Shadow
K.M. Shea
Similar because
King / ruling monarch · Fae romance · Court of shadows
400 pages Completed
Vision in Silver
Anne Bishop
Similar because
Urban fantasy · Survival against impossible odds · Outcast/loner
432 pages Standalone
A Dark Forgetting
Kristen Ciccarelli
Similar because
Melancholic · Fae romance · Fae courts and politics
Different because
It is standalone rather than completed. A longer read (432 vs 323 pages).
Book details
- Length
- 323 pages
- Language
- English
- Format
- Book