Die Zehnte

by Holly Black (Goodreads Author), Anne Brauner

book data

6,433 ratings, 3.71 average rating, 849 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		32%
3		24%
2		9%
1		4%

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published

2003 by Arena (first published 2002)

details

Hardcover, 336 pages

characters

Kaye Fierch, Ellen Fierch, Cornelius Stone …more

literary awards

ALA Teens' Top Ten (2003)

isbn

3401055348 (isbn13: 9783401055343)

description

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 neve…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 10,302)

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Jun 03, 2008

Rita rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: didn-t-finish, hated, most-recent

Since my previous review keeps receiving ire from the teen-thang population, I have decided to rewrite it.

I did not finish the book. What I read of it was poorly written and did not make any sense. I did not feel it was worth my time and energy to keep reading it. I do not feel compelled to finish a book that I do not like simply because it has been written. There are millions of other books to read, why waste a moment on one that you don't like?

I would not recomme...more

Like this review? yes (33 people liked it)

15 comments

May 06, 2008

♥ Brigid ♥ rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

I really hated this book. I thought it looked interesting when I picked it up, but it turned out to be one of the dumbest, most bizarre things I had ever read. The characters were all very strange and I just couldn't relate to them or sympathize with them. There was a lot of unnecessary killing, swearing, etc. It was also horribly written, and the dialogue was so stupid it sometimes just made me laugh at how ridiculous it was. I do not recommend it.

Like this review? yes (18 people liked it)

23 comments

Mar 06, 2008

Juushika rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: borrowed

Read in October, 2007

As a child, Kaye had faery friends; throughout her life, she has always been unusual. Now, following an barfight, Kaye and her would-be-rock star mother return to Kaye's childhood home. There, Kaye meets another faery, and discovers that her childhood friends really do exist and that she is far more unusual than she ever suspected. She soon falls into the middle of the power struggle between two rival faery courts, a struggle which could easily spill into the human world. Tithe is a mix of wonde...more As a child, Kaye had faery friends; throughout her life, she has always been unusual. Now, following an barfight, Kaye and her would-be-rock star mother return to Kaye's childhood home. There, Kaye meets another faery, and discovers that her childhood friends really do exist and that she is far more unusual than she ever suspected. She soon falls into the middle of the power struggle between two rival faery courts, a struggle which could easily spill into the human world. Tithe is a mix of wonderful and horrible aspects: the characters are difficult to like or identify with, and the writing style is inconsistent and immature, but the plot is realistically complex (even though it ends abruptly) and the faeries are dark, enthralling, and vividly conceived (if overdrawn). I found this book at times both frustrating and wonderful, and though it has many faults, I still recommend it for its plot and atmosphere, as well as its great potential.

At the beginning of reading Tithe, the weaknesses far outweigh the strengths. Kaye, her mother, and her friends are neither likable nor identifiable—Kaye's mother is a struggling rock vocalist, Kaye is a high school drop out, Janet is a superficial teenager, Corny is an unattractive gas station attendant; everyone drinks too much and smokes too much. Maybe I just lived a sheltered life, but wouldn't have identified with any of these characters as a young adult, and I still don't now as an adult. They are not likable, nor are their flaws realistic—instead, they are exaggerated and simplistic. Along with difficult characterization, the writing style is inconsistent and immature, replete with adverbs, repeated gestures, and dull dialog and episodes. This is clearly a first novel, and accordingly it feels unfinished and unpolished. The book would have benefited from a rewrite, to tighten the language and unify the style.

But for all of these negative qualities, Tithe remains readable and exhibits some real jewels and true potential as it goes on. The plot moves just fast enough that it is not frustrating and slow enough that it is still intriguing. There are many points where the book could have ended prematurely, wrapping up the plot into a nice and neat package; Black, however, rejects these endings, instead introducing new complications to build a plot that is is political, complex, and ongoing. The unfortunate effect of the ongoing story is that the book has an indistinct ending—although not a cliffhanger, it seems arbitrary and incomplete. On the whole, however, the complex plot fits the book's wide political premise and makes for a satisfying read. The faeries are equally satisfying: they are otherworldly, diverse, and carefully imagined. Some of the dark faeries are overdrawn and excessively macabre, but on the whole the faeries are the highlight of the text. Black's imagination is lively and wide; her descriptions (in particular Kaye's transformation) shine off of the page in vivid language that is at once ethereal and tactile.

I found this to be an alternately frustrating and delightful book. The characters disappointed me, the writing style annoyed me, but whenever I became too frustrated, another new aspect would shine: a banquet scene in a faery court, a new plot development, some measure of character growth. So while I can't rate this book very highly on account of its many faults, I do recommend it. Less critical readers may not find it so frustrating as I did; no matter the reader, the magic and imagination make this a book worth reading. There is great potential here, and where it is realized, Tithe is a truly enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more of Black's published work—I expect that as she matured as a writer, her books became more readable and less frustrating.(less)

Like this review? yes (10 people liked it)

2 comments

Nov 20, 2007

Mary-Beth rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction, romance

Kaye is obviously incredibly lovely and then it turns out she's a magical fairy. Sure her life is hard, but it's the fairies making it that way because she's so important that they're all out to get her. Look, what I'm saying is, it's like the author tried to think of all the coolest latest trends among teenagers and tried to mash them into a fairy story. Kaye is also not anyone's typical teenager. She has super special protagonist syndrome.

I found the Faerie described by the author ...more

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Apr 10, 2008

Rachael rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

Kaye has always been different. She’s Japanese and a natural blond. 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. That’s because Kaye’s friends were part of the world of Faery.

Kaye is dragged farther into this dangerous w...more

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Nov 06, 2007

Seth rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: young-adult

Read in November, 2007

Summary: comfortably predictable storyline with some huge plot holes, but more than fun enough to read. Just make sure it doesn't put off Weetzie Bat or other masterpieces of the YA genre.

This book is marred by one major flaw that doesn't affect most of the YA set: bad things happen--both on- and off-stage--to sympathetic characters around our protagonist and no one cares. Several "best friend" character die, the two mothers are left bereft of their children, a small child...more Summary: comfortably predictable storyline with some huge plot holes, but more than fun enough to read. Just make sure it doesn't put off Weetzie Bat or other masterpieces of the YA genre.

This book is marred by one major flaw that doesn't affect most of the YA set: bad things happen--both on- and off-stage--to sympathetic characters around our protagonist and no one cares. Several "best friend" character die, the two mothers are left bereft of their children, a small child is abandoned to the faeries, and the nearby world is beset by death and destruction, but it doesn't affect the main, teen-aged protagonist and we only follow her pursuit of a dangerous older man who doesn't want to use her naivety no matter how much she tries to make him. His self-recriminations--even while he's killing innocents--for making out with her while she was drunk make for a great character.

In addition, the important and interesting family drama with her wanna-be rocker mom and her controlling and narrow-minded grandmother is left not only unresolved, but probably unresolvable.

Fortunately, the faerie plotline is well handled, if 100% comfort-food, even for the YA crowd. Our protagonist is asked to play the role of the sacrifice victim in a faerie sacrifice taken straight from Tam Lin, with the promise that her good faerie friends will save her at the end and reveal thats the bad faeries had broken the rules. Of course, "good" and "bad" will intermingle and swap around throughout the course of the story (as is appropriate in a faerie tale) and she has to look after herself and mis-trust her lifelong faerie friends.

She does a passable job of wising up, if not growing up, and the action-y scenes are quite fun as her wanna-be beau fights off orders to kill her, she tries to rescue her almost-friend from a dangerous lover, and both the supposedly good and definitely bad faeries line up to use her for their political ends even if it means killing her.

So it's a fun read, but don't expect any of the usual YA moral or character growth. Pure entertaining fluff. (less)

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Sep 09, 2007

Chrystal rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

Read in January, 2003

Romantic without being too soft and edgy without being too harsh, Holly Black's first entry effortlessly draws you into the alluring and alternately horrifying world of the fey.

When I first began reading Tithe, I was afraid that Kaye's background/lifestyle would be too gimmicky, but Black gives her just enough depth to be likable (though I personally never felt intimately connected to her). Corny, on the other hand, is such an odd combination of qualities that I found him very believ...more

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Jun 24, 2008

Amber Baker rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

recommended to Amber by: list on Amazon
recommends it for: no one

If I could have given it 0 stars I would have. To publish this as a young adult novel is horrifying. I wouldn't read past 30 pages it was too offensive and to think it was published as content for young adults is terrible. It would be R rated as a movie. Not only was the f word used liberally throughout the few pages I read, teens were drinking, smoking and hinting at being sexually active. NOT something I would want my kids to read, or myself. I normally wouldn't dream of rating a book wi...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

8 comments

Apr 22, 2008

Meep rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: fantasy, young-adult

recommends it for: fantasy fans, people looking for interesting female protagonists

I really did not expect to enjoy this book. I thought it was going to be really lame, but I was pleasantly surprised. I checked it out from the library one afternoon and finished it that day. I found myself feeling like Kaye's friend, sympathizing with her while she lusted after Roiben (a trait I normally cannot stand in a female protagonist, but because she had a personality and Roiben was, well, very attractive, I found it really compelling).

My favorite part was when she mentioned ...more

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Jul 29, 2007

Andrea rated it:

(review of isbn 0689860420)

bookshelves: read-young-adult

Call me conservative, but I just can't believe this was a young adult book! There was so much swearing in it (more than most adult books) that just wasn't needed that it distracted from the plot of the book. That doesn't generally bother me...but it did with this book.

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Apr 07, 2007

Erin rated it:

(review of isbn 0689849249)

Read in April, 2007

recommends it for: Fans of fantasy/faerie books

Kaye Fierch has been taking care of her "rock-star" wannabe mother for as long as she can remember. Now sixteen, she's dropped out of school, is working for a Chinese restaurant as a delivery girl, and is getting into the swing of moving from city to city.

Until the night one of her mother's boyfriends attempts to kill her in a bar in Philadelphia. Kaye and her mother pack up and move back in with Kaye's grandmother in New Jersey.

Kaye looks back fondly on the t...more

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Mar 27, 2008

Meredith rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

Read in January, 2007

The best thing about this book was by far the poetic style; the phrasing and descriptions were beautifully atmospheric and generally readable. As a teenager, I must say I found the excessive swearing, violence, and sexual references a relief; the teen characters were all the more relatable for the omnipresent language and innuendo. Holly Black definitely remembers how teens think. I don't care if it was just there for the shock value; I rather enjoyed reading a book that wasn't (unintentionally)...more

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Aug 15, 2007

Evan rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: fantasy, youngadult

Read in August, 2007

"A Modern Fairy Tale," says the cover. Apparently 'modern' means the teenagers drop out of school, drink and smoke. Not that I have a problem with this, but there is certainly no Stardust-esque innocence. Also, I think she got a little loose with the protagonist's character. At some point an interesting, troubled but imaginative and a bit crazy teen turns into your basic do-gooder female heroine. Where'd the crazy, creative girl go? Who knows? Then there was this huge moral issu...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

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Nov 15, 2007

Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

recommends it for: pre-teen/teenagers

What I remember from Tithe are the characters and several extremely vivid scenes from the book. The sun "bleeding into the ocean as if it had cut its wrists", as Kaye described it, her friend Corny and his gay-fantasy fairy who wore the iron crown, his cape of thorns, and the fruit he had Corny eat that created a scene of pure humiliation for the boy. The carousel scene, where Kaye first accidentally enchanted a friend of hers into loving her, and made a broken carousel horse rise on n...more

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Apr 18, 2009

Natalie rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

Read in April, 2009

I ended up reading this book by accident. It was recommended to my 14 year old, Gini. She began the book and then brought it to me saying that she didn't feel it was appropriate for kids and that she, personally, had no interest in a heroine who consistently made such poor life choices. Well! I decided to read it to see what the deal was. This book was recommended for kids 14 and up and Gini has read books that were definitely adult reading level and she LOVES faery.

The proble...more I ended up reading this book by accident. It was recommended to my 14 year old, Gini. She began the book and then brought it to me saying that she didn't feel it was appropriate for kids and that she, personally, had no interest in a heroine who consistently made such poor life choices. Well! I decided to read it to see what the deal was. This book was recommended for kids 14 and up and Gini has read books that were definitely adult reading level and she LOVES faery.

The problem with this book for Gini (and I am proud of her for it) is that the girl, Kaye, who is the main character, as well as her friends, smoke, drink, sneak around, fool around, and generally make all the choices that parents hope their children will avoid. Gini loves books and movies with really strong female characters. Ultraviolet, Alias, Charmed, Dragonlance, Bones and Sarah Connor Chronicles are some of her favorites. She just really didn't like the idea that a 16 year old who was so "messed up" and misguided would be turned into a heroine of faery. She appreciates that the best heroines have flaws to overcome but this just didn't work for her.

Now! All that that being said, I finished the book and for an adult with the grace of age and perspective, this book is a fun, light read. This poor kid who has pretty much raised herself and her mother could very well end up the same dead-end mess that her mother has but she doesn't. She discovers something very special within herself. She ends up showing a lot of character and courage. The teens dealt with in the book are not the teens that I have guided my girls to become or to identify with but those kids are out there and they have the same potential and beauty within them. It was really cool to talk to Gini about why she didn't like this character and how the character developed without requiring her to read something she objected to and without glorifying the type of kid portrayed in the book.

This is just my opinion folks so take it for what it is worth to you! I would not have this book in the hands of anyone under 16 and even at 16, my girls would probably not read this type of material if for no other reason than the frequency of the "f" word which we don't appreciate in our home, hearts or heads and the underage drinking and sexuality. But if you do have a child who wants to read it and you don't like to censor your child's reading (and I do very little of that, believe it or not - I teach them the principles and let them apply them, which Gini did very well) then this book is a good opportunity to talk about the choices the kids in the book make. Why it may or may not be a good idea for an author to portray a young person with such poor judgement as a hero or heroine (I thought it was a great idea!) and how people can turn their lives around no matter how dismal and dead-end they seem to be.(less)

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Jun 21, 2009

DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it:

(review of isbn 0689860420)

bookshelves: 2009, fae, young-adult

Read in July, 2009

I was really looking forward to this book, despite the mixed reviews, and I wasn't disappointed. Black created a wonderful and gritty world. I know some reviewers have complained that Kaye and her life were unrelatable - but that's okay. Not everyone's life is perfect, and some teens do cuss and drink and dabble in drugs. (It's got the same dark quality as Melissa Marr's books - more favorites of mine.) I actually think that made her more interesting and realistic.

Kaye's transfo...more

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4 comments

Jul 26, 2008

Kat rated it:

(review of isbn 0689849249)

bookshelves: young-adult

Read in July, 2008

I got this book from the library as I generally like fantasy and fairy tales. This author, Holly Black, also co-authored the Spiderwick Chronicles, which I did enjoy.

As for Tithe, I think the idea for the plot is good- the teenage misfit who discovers that she is, after all, a faery. However, I felt the teenage characters were all a little too unbelievable- all they did was smoke and drink and Kaye had't attended school for several years. Perhaps the problem is that the reader n...more

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Oct 11, 2007

Meg rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: ya

In an interview I read, Black mentions that she wrote this story a couple other times through a couple other POVs; she also mentions that she wasn't sure if it was YA or adult lit. I think both seams show. The staccato writing really put me off--a couple of times I had to flip back and forth between pages, sure I'd missed a handful of paragraphs. People show up really fast, people get to destinations really fast, time shifts really, really, really fast. It creates more confusion than forward mot...more

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Feb 22, 2008

Shasta rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

Being a huge fan of the Spiderwick Chronicles, I was rather delighted to find that Holly Black had put out some books of her own. I decided to devour Tithe first--and let's just say I got food poisoning.

The story is hardly inviting, even from the beginning. I continued to read on, still slightly interested to see where it was going. I kept praying for it to get better. Unfortunately, it never did.

What I ended up reading felt like the outline for an R-rated Barbie Fairy Pr...more

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Dec 13, 2008

Kimberlayy º rated it:

(review of isbn 0689867042)

bookshelves: horrible, sci-fi

i couldn't finish this book and i WON'T finish it. it is horribly stupid and swears like 10 times a page. it is all about cigarettes, drinking, and freakky people in dark alleys. WHAT THE HECK?! i couldn't believe what was happening in the book; it was disgusting!! ew! ew! i learned a lesson from this book: DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

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