Tithe: A Modern Faery Tale (The Modern Faerie Tales #1)

Tithe was an amazing and fascinating novel. I loved the story line and the characters. The way the story was told and all the details were great. I’m looking forward to reading more from Holly Black. A must read!

Easily one of my favourite YA books. I just love the way Holly Black writes and the depth to her characters.

Reader reviewed by fayeflame

synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch is not human, but she
doesn't know it. Sure, she knows she's interacted with faeries since
she was little--but she never imagined she was one of them, her blond
Asian human appearance only a magically crafted cover-up for her true,
green-skinned pixie self. First-time author Holly Black explores Kaye's
self-discovery and dual worlds in her riveting, suspenseful novel
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale.

The novel begins in a bar in
Philly, where Kaye's alcoholic rock-singer mother's boyfriend tries to
kill her. For their own safety, mother and daughter quickly move back
to grandma's on the New Jersey shore where Kaye grew up. This ugly turn
of events was all rigged by the Faerie world, as it turns out, a world
Black describes in deliciously vivid, if rather overblown, detail.
Kaye, a drinking, smoking, foul-mouthed high school dropout in the land
of mortals, soon finds herself embroiled--as a human sacrifice, no
less--in a battle between Faerieland's Seelie and more malevolent
Unseelie courts. The beautiful, mysterious knight Roiben, torn between
worlds himself, falls in love with Kaye--the brave, clever
changeling--against his better judgment. Throughout the electrifying
journey to the horrific underworld of this modern faerie fantasy, teen
readers will relate to a hard-luck tough girl who feels alienated,
discovers her best qualities in the worst of circumstances, and finally
finds a place between worlds where she can feel at home.

There's
been mixed reviews on Tithe, but i have to say I LOVED IT. Holly black
is a great writer. Tithe is just so interesting and exciting i just
couldn't put it down. I loved everything about it. I'm always looking
for more fairies books, Tithe is defiantly my favorite.

Reader reviewed by fayeflame

synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch is not human, but she
doesn't know it. Sure, she knows she's interacted with faeries since
she was little--but she never imagined she was one of them, her blond
Asian human appearance only a magically crafted cover-up for her true,
green-skinned pixie self. First-time author Holly Black explores Kaye's
self-discovery and dual worlds in her riveting, suspenseful novel
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale.

The novel begins in a bar in
Philly, where Kaye's alcoholic rock-singer mother's boyfriend tries to
kill her. For their own safety, mother and daughter quickly move back
to grandma's on the New Jersey shore where Kaye grew up. This ugly turn
of events was all rigged by the Faerie world, as it turns out, a world
Black describes in deliciously vivid, if rather overblown, detail.
Kaye, a drinking, smoking, foul-mouthed high school dropout in the land
of mortals, soon finds herself embroiled--as a human sacrifice, no
less--in a battle between Faerieland's Seelie and more malevolent
Unseelie courts. The beautiful, mysterious knight Roiben, torn between
worlds himself, falls in love with Kaye--the brave, clever
changeling--against his better judgment. Throughout the electrifying
journey to the horrific underworld of this modern faerie fantasy, teen
readers will relate to a hard-luck tough girl who feels alienated,
discovers her best qualities in the worst of circumstances, and finally
finds a place between worlds where she can feel at home.

There's
been mixed reviews on Tithe, but i have to say I LOVED IT. Holly black
is a great writer. Tithe is just so interesting and exciting i just
couldn't put it down. I loved everything about it. I'm always looking
for more fairies books, Tithe is defiantly my favorite.

Reader reviewed by stephanie

Sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch is a modern nomad. She travels from city to city with her mothers rock band. However, an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. She finds herself in an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival kingdoms. A struggle that can easily mean her death. Another thing, Kaye Fierch is not human but she does not realize this yet. Sure, she knows about faeries since she had interacted with them while she was younger. But she never imagined herself to be one. Her blond Asian appearance hides her true, green-skinned pixie self. The book starts at Philly in a bar where Kayes mothers boyfriend tried to kill her and for safety reasons, mother and daughter both fled to grandmas home in New Jersey also known as Kayes childhood home. Events somehow rigged by the Faerie world and Kaye finds herself as a human sacrifice in a battle between Faerielands Seelie and Unseelie courts. Somehow along the way, the beautiful knight Roiben falls in love with Kaye, the brave and clever pixie. Kaye has to somehow survive the sacrifice with or without Roibens help and along the journey, she discovers her best qualities and finds a place between worlds where she can finally feel at home. I highly, highly recommend this book. This book had me sitting at the edge of my seat in anticipation of what is to come.

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Kaye has always been different. Shes Japanese and a natural blonde. She stopped going to school when she was fourteen because her musician mother kept them moving around. But what made the other kids really back away were the stories about her friends Gristle, Spike, and Lutie-loo. Everyone thought they were imaginary because no one besides Kaye could see these creatures. Thats because Kayes friends were part of the world of Faery.

Kaye is dragged farther into this dangerous world when she saves a dying faerie named Roiben. After this encounter, she meets up with her old friend Lutie and Spike only to find out that her other friend Gristle has been murdered by the faerie she saved earlier, Roiben. Her friend then bring her into the plot to let the solitary fey be free for seven years: Kaye has to break the tithe, a ritual in which a mortal is sacrificed for the Unseelie Court. And with that, she is in the middle of a war between that the two powerful faerie courts.

Holly Black presents a fantastical faerie world similar to the one in Melissa Marrs Wicked Lovely, yet it is difficult to compare the two. Bother Kaye and Aislinn are strong-minded characters, but it is the setting and the rest of the faerie world that makes the stories so different; Kayes is one filled with drinking and shoplifting. I appreciated how Kaye is unapologetic for who she is and found it amusing that Kaye didnt know her own cleverness. I also found Kaye and Roibens relationship extremely romantic.

I highly recommend this exciting story, especially for fans of other faerie stories. I definitely look forward to reading more of Blacks faerie novels.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com/

Reader reviewed by abscae

I just loved this book. I read it a while ago, but despite that, I can still remember it vividly. I think the best part I liked about it is when the dramatic parts came, you could just envision it so clearly, and it was so vivid itself, beautiful in so many ways. It left me breathless then, and I was so enchanted by it, but mostly by the writing. The imagery proved exceptional, and I'm definitely checking out the other books by this author.

Reader reviewed by Kate

A friend of mine suggested Tithe, and I was skeptical at first. The book initially seemed to be a cheap imitation of Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars or Charles de Lint's urban fantasy stories. However, I was quickly proved wrong. Black's prose is crisp and engaging, and I was drawn into the story almost from the first page. The characters are interesting and realistic--something which many Young Adult authors seem to struggle with. The protagonist, Kaye, is much more than just a teenaged "bad girl," and many readers will be able to identify with her.

One of Tithe's many strengths is the author's ability to effectively blend fantasy and reality. While Kaye's discovery about her faerie blood is something completely fantastical, her reaction is entirely realistic. Both the faerie world and the "real world" are vividly described and seem realistic.

I would definitely recommend to young adult fantasy readers.

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Holly Black spins readers an enchanting world in her brilliant debut dark fantasy novel, TITHE. Kaye Fierch and her musician mother Ellen move back in with her grandmother in New Jersey after Ellens boyfriend mysteriously tried to attack her. Now Kaye is back amongst the friends she had to leave six years agoboth the human and the faerie ones.

In the middle of the rainstorm, Kaye stops to help a wounded faerie knight named Roiben and attracts the attention of two warring faerie kingdoms, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. The Unseelie Court has recently brought back the Tithe, a human sacrifice for the obedience of the solitary fey, among which are Kayes childhood faerie friends.

An even more shocking secret is revealed to Kayeshe is actually a faerie herself, disguised with some very strong glamour! Her fey friends want her to go along with her selection for the Tithe and then reveal her true faerie identity at the last minute, thus making it seem like the Unseelie Queen was trying to kill her own kind.

The trouble is that things dont go exactly the way they planned. Kayes involvement in the faerie war means endangering her human friends, not to mention falling for Roiben, whom her friends warn her to stay away from. Its hard to distinguish between friend and foe in this exciting world of faerie.

Holly Black is not one to waste words, and so TITHE is written succinctly but beautifully. The plot is sometimes hard to follow, and even after my tenth or so reading this time everythings still not all clear, but I think thats part of what makes this book so exciting for me!

Reader reviewed by janine

I thought this book was totally awesome!!! I love how Holly Black made us feel while Kaye and Roiben went through this rather complicated ordeal. It is absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. Oh, and the use of curse words also boosted the enjoyment. Since I can't say them I'll just read them, hahaha.

But anyway this book is a must-read fantasy-horror-romantic-dark-fun-curse-word-encoded book.