Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

Reader reviewed by Ruthie

This is one of my favorite books dealing with Faeries. Holly Black turns a light fairytale dream into a dark, harsh environment. I enjoyed her Spiderwick books as a child and I love her Faerie books now as a young adult. This book shows two worlds, both imperfect and believable. If you're one for Faerie books I'd suggest this to you.

Reader reviewed by Lisa the Nerd

in a sentence or so: Kaye and
her mom move back in with her grandma in Jersey after her mom's latest
attempt to be a rockstar doesn't turn out so well. it is when she moves
back to the small town of her childhood that she starts to feel faeries
on the edge of her existence. she is sure that the world of real life
and magic are merging into one when she finds an elf (a pretty handsome
one at that) dying in the woods.

Kaye's mom has been the lead
singer in many a rock band. this means that Kaye has led a pretty
nomadic life and seen her fair share of bizarre, unpleasant, and
morally questionable things. but through it all, Kaye has always felt
loved and encouraged by her mother. which is not always the case with
her best friend in Jersey, Janet. Janet and Kaye go back to the days of
elementary school, and so when Kaye returns to Jersey as a sixteen year
old, Janet remembers her friend's knack for making up imaginary
friends/creatures and seeing things that no one else can see. well,
apparently that knack is still with her.

Kaye stumbles upon
Roiben, a wounded elf, in the woods. through her help, he is able to
stumble back home to his home, the Unseelie court. Kaye is being told
by her childhood faerie friends that this handsome elf means to do her
harm...something she has a hard time believing. what she can believe is
the fact that she is starting to feel strange things happening to her
and around her, and that her life is not at all what she thought it to
be.

i had a tough time working my way into this book. i think
part of that is because this is the first faerie book i've read, so
maybe the names and mythology were supposed to be assumed knowledge of
the reader and i just didn't have that assumed knowledge. i felt like
the framework was established quickly and loosely, and it wasn't until
about a hundred pages in that i felt comfortable with the story, the
characters, and the direction. it finished strong, so i ended up really
enjoying the read.

all of the characters are SERIOUSLY flawed,
which is something i dig. they are also seriously humanistic, which is
something else i dig. you get why people (faeries, queens, pixies,
etc.) act and think the way they do. at times i felt like this wasn't a
great read, but overall i enjoyed it more than i expected. after i was
hooked into the plot, i was really hooked. i am genuinely interested to
read the further adventures of the characters in Ironside.

there
are twists and turns a plenty, laugh out loud moments, vivid
descriptions of what the faerie realm is like, and the title of the
book is the anchor of the plot - which i will not get into because
that's a bit spoiler-y. i'd recommend this to fantasy genre junkies
like myself for sure.

fave quote: "She
smiled ruefully. 'But they never told me. They knew all this time, and
nothing - not one hint.'' Kaye looked pensively at the joints of her
fingers. Why should one extra joint make them horrifying? It did,
though - flexing them bothered her." (119)

fix er up: more explanation on the background of the creatures and the plot development.

Reader reviewed by Yan

This is a book that I'd love to hate but can't help but love.

From goodreads: 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.

This story is so gripping and attention grabbing that I COULD NOT put this book down! I love almost every aspect of this novel and am dying to read the next book of this series. Fans of feary tales and of helpless YA romance, do not pass this book up. Just try it at least, and I'll assure that you'll love something about it! The only problem I had with this book was that I thought it should have been geared to older teens as some of the book contains may be offensive.

Reader reviewed by Severa Drabczyk

I got this book free for Pulse it, I am a book reviewer for their site and they send me a free book every month and September's was Tithe. This was one of the better fairytales I have read, it's definitely one of my favorites now. It is about a girl named Kaye, her mother is a drunk and her dad left both her mom and her long ago. Kaye's life pretty much stinks, until she meets a fairy in the woods named Roiben, finds him wounded and nurses him back to health. What she didn't know was that she's not a human, but a pixie, and she discovers there are two sides of the fairy world, the Seelie and the Unseelie, and they have been at war for sometime and it's up to her to understand why. This is indeed a love story as well as a fantasy story. But if you're looking for that kind of mix I highly recommend Tithe, it has all the fantasy creatures and magic you could ask of a story like this one. Though the book has ALOT of cussing in it and some sexual elements and drug usage. If you don't want alot of cussing and drinking, then this book is definitely not for you. I rate it PG-14 and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Reader reviewed by Noxzeema

Tithe is the stoy of Kaye, a sixteen year old who lives the life of a twenty-three year old. Alcohol, cigarettes, and New Jersey are what lies in store for her when her and her mother need someplace to stay.

There a little hints in the book as to Kaye's faerie nature, the odd thing seen/heard here and there, but when she levitates a carousel horse, she knows something weird is happening.

So begins her journey into the Faerie world, where she shed her human skin for green coloring, wings and faerie dust. But all is not well, there is a battle raging, a battle that Kaye must choose which side to fight on.

Reader reviewed by linda

The novel begins in a bar, where Kaye's alcoholic mother's boyfriend tries to kill her; to escape from him, she and her mother quickly move back to New Jersey where Kaye grew up. These events were planned by inhabitants of the Faerie world and Kaye is a changeling pixie under a spell. Kayes "imaginary" faerie playmates want her to pretend to be a human, so they can use her as the Tithe (sacrifice) so they can escape servitude. She rescues the mysterious knight Roiben who is in between words and he falls in love with her. In the end, Kaye discovers her best qualities and finally finds a place between worlds where she can feel at home. I liked this book and the descriptive language that Holly Black used. The story was exciting and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy books.

Reader reviewed by Stella

Tithe is the story of a teenage girl who saves the life of a man, who is not quiet a man at all. On that fateful night a chain reaction of events was started that will uncover the truth about her life and the beautiful, yet dangerous world that is Faerie.

A fast-paced read recommended for mature readers due to some language and content, but altogether an exciting take on the age old stories of faeries.

Reader reviewed by anonymous

This book was a great fantasy read! It captured my interest completely. The only reason I take away points is for the language. I think the book should warn about the bad words it uses. Although this did show the circumstance of the setting, it did take away from the enjoyment of reading it.