Review Detail

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.