TITHE BY HOLLY BLACK

Tithe (The Modern Faerie Tales #1)

By Holly Black
Release Date: October 1, 2002
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 331
Source: Bought

Buy this book: Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Tithe was a unique read and therefore is going to be hard to review. I say this because I loved some parts of the story and there were parts that I didn't like so much. Let's start with what  I liked. I thought that the faerie mythology was well done. Our heroine Kaye is asked to sacrifice herself in a faerie sacrifice called Tithe and she is promised that her faerie friends will save her at the end. In the course of the book the lines that separate "good" and "evil" become blurred reaffirming to Kaye that she has to ultimately look after herself. I thought that Holly black characters were original and non like I had read before. Kaye is a tough, sharp tongued heroine that was as tough as her exterior. And it is very evident that Holly black is a good writer.

Now for the stuff that left me scratching my head. I found the love between Kaye and Roiben unbelievable (as is not very believable). They fall in love without any explanation on how that happened. I want to read the relationship developing and that was not in the story which was unfortunate. Also, the interesting and important drama with her mother (a wanna be rocker and the reason Kaye travelled so much) is unresolved. It's presented in the story but just hangs there uncomfortably like hideous drapes in an otherwise nice room.

However, despite these unsavory elements the overall story was interesting enough to keep me reading. Despite the bumps I would say that it was a fun read.