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Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1)

by Holly Black (Goodreads Author)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 34,493 ratings · 2,105 reviews

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 rive...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published August 6th 2009 by Pocket Books (first published October 1st 2002)

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Nov 14, 2011 Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: no-me-gusta, wtf, gave-up-on-series, young-adult, bad-romance, fairies, fantasy, romance

*Hello, I am here to make this review less hostile and less trollish sounding. Yaaaay.*

Okay, so ... Obviously, I did not care for this book. People seem very split on this one; people seem to either love it or hate it, and I found myself more in the latter category.

I thought it had a good concept. I like a good faerie story, something that ties in old faerie mythology and whatnot. And I admit, I was drawn to the cover because––well, look at it. It's pretty neat. And I think people might have re...more

89 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2009 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, reviews

I'm going to be up front... this series? You will either love it or hate it. I personally really love gritty real-life/fantasy stories when they're written well, and I think Holly does the combination so much freaking justice. It doesn't try too hard to be overly bad-ass. Kaye is such a great lead. Although I don't always see myself in her actions, I still liked her because she was real -- I didn't get the sense that Holly was trying to impress me. She was just writing about a real girl. And hon...more I'm going to be up front... this series? You will either love it or hate it. I personally really love gritty real-life/fantasy stories when they're written well, and I think Holly does the combination so much freaking justice. It doesn't try too hard to be overly bad-ass. Kaye is such a great lead. Although I don't always see myself in her actions, I still liked her because she was real -- I didn't get the sense that Holly was trying to impress me. She was just writing about a real girl. And honestly, when I compare other female leads in books, I always think about Kaye and if they live up to her standards (which is not often enough for me).

So many people cut down Tithe for its "objectionable" content, but I was actually able to find a lot of realism in the way most of the characters behaved. As I was growing up, the teenagers I knew cursed like sailors and were always trading stories about sex. Unfortunately or not, it's a way of life nowadays -- teenagers are naturally curious. I think in this case, Holly's choice to include these situations and words make her characters come alive. However, that's not all Tithe is about -- people want to focus on that, but it's only a small portion of the entire book. Tithe is different, and some people just don't enjoy or understand how YA can fit that profile. But that's the one thing I appreciate about Holly. She takes YA to another level and proves that it doesn't have to be sappy chick-lit with beginnings and ends that fit together perfectly.

For me, Holly Black's writing in Tithe is really hard to pin down. It's like a combination of trippy and poetic. The way she describes things, you feel like you're reading poetry -- I love the detail she pours into Tithe. I think my favorite sections have to be when she describes the faeries and where they live -- she makes it all gothic-y and enchanting and it just makes me feel like I have a spell cast over me that forces me to be in this complete daze. I can't get out of it if I wanted to. I just keep reading every sentence she writes and loving them.(less)

14 likes · like · see review

Mar 06, 2008 Juushika rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: status-borrowed

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 identifiableKaye'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 realisticinstead, 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 endingalthough 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 workI expect that as she matured as a writer, her books became more readable and less frustrating.(less)

20 likes · like · see review

Nov 28, 2007 Mary-Beth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, romance, fantasy

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 quite intere...more

29 likes · like · see review

Nov 21, 2010 Thomas rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: glbt

"Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" is about sixteen year old Kaye Fierch, a girl who has been moving around with her single mother for her entire life. At a young age she has been able to see and interact with these things called faeries, although no one believed her. Then one day, she enchants a boy into falling in love with her and makes a broken, splintered horse move. Soon after that event she meets a young faerie night named Roiben, and that is just the start of her faerie adventure.

Hm... okay,...more

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2008 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 world when she save...more

12 likes · like · see review

Dec 03, 2007 Seth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

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 f...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)

13 likes · like · see review

Mar 05, 2009 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, urban-fantasy

I find it rather hard to choose what type of review I would like to write, positive or negative. I suppose mine will be a bit of both.
One the one hand, I have to give Holly Black credit for attempting to write characters that do not fall within the norm. Not everyone is of a certain race, hair color, eye color, personality type, etc. and it is refreshing to read something other than a Mary Jane. I can also appreciate any author who is daring enough to include sex, cussing, and drugs into their...more

10 likes · like · see review

Sep 10, 2007 Chrystal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 believable and mor...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jun 24, 2008 Amber Baker rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Amber by: list on Amazon

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 without...more

22 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 Meep rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy fans, people looking for interesting female protagonists

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

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 shounen-ai....more

10 likes · like · see review

Aug 20, 2007 Andrea rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 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.

10 likes · like · see review

Mar 14, 2009 Chantele Sedgwick added it · review of another edition

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

Not finished due to profanity. Among other things. :(

4 likes · like · see review

May 22, 2012 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: not-my-cuppa-tea, romance, fantasy, young-adult, craptastic, contemporary-fantasy

Ugh. I don't know where to start with this one so I'm gonna jump right in. I didn't like it. It was all just a raging bunch of WTF?! for me. I mean, it was random. My brain hurts so this isn't going to be a very coherent review.

Before I go to my detailed ravings, it's best if I gave a brief overview of what this book was about. It's the story of Kaye, a changeling, who was put under a glamour to hide her true green-skinned self and lives with her rockstar wannabe "mother", Ellen. Her life ultima...more

5 likes · like · see review

May 31, 2011 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angst-a-plenty, ehh-it-was-okay, magical-supernatural-paranormal, not-a-fan, not-what-i-expected, sequels-and-series, faeries, young-adult-reads

I almost didn't make it through this one. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I really developed some sort of interest in this story, I'm sorry to say. I know it's a super popular book, or at least Holly Black is a very well-known author, but I really just didn't connect with Tithe.

I have to say, I did enjoy the main character, Kaye, a edgy, kick-butt changeling who's roamed around with her human "mother" for the last sixteen years. Kaye is freespirited but brave and sometimes borderline...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 26, 2011 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, fantasy, young-adult, series-or-companions, disliked, fae, too-much-hype, let-down, awful-cover, not-for-me, books-i-own

I thought this could have a little potential but the writing didn't impress me at all. I thought that the plot was interesting enough. It had some twists and turns that were interesting and I didn't get insanely bored. The characters are likeable - if they had been more developed, I think that they could have been great. What put me off this book was the writing - it was messy and it just didnt ever seem to flow for me. I felt as though the author was just jumping from point to point and I found...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Jessie R rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow.. Where do I even start? I was extremely disappointed in this book to say the least.. It was a badly written, bi-polar, triple decker poo sandwich that I had a really hard time swallowing! I have no problem with swearing, sex, smoking or drinking in a book. (Which, if used in the proper context, can make some characters seem more believable and fleshed out.)
In this book though, I find that it mostly dominates the first half of the story.(I use the term story loosely.)

The second half of the...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2007 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition 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 time she spent with what she thought...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 27, 2008 Meredith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

9 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2007 Evan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: youngadult, fantasy

"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 issue brought up [the...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 19, 2007 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition 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 non-existen...more

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2009 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 f...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)

10 likes · like · see review

Oct 29, 2012 Becky {Somewhere Between The Pages} rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 2-stars, review, fantasy-or-urban-fantasy, purchased

I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this book. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about Tithe, but the majority of the people who rated it badly did so because they didn't like the amount of swearing and vulgarity it contains. I, personally, don't care about that. I swear a lot without meaning to, so who am I to judge an author who decides her characters like to drop the f-bomb a lot? Anyway, I just wanted to say that that wasn't even close to being the reason I didn't like this book - no, I s...more I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this book. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about Tithe, but the majority of the people who rated it badly did so because they didn't like the amount of swearing and vulgarity it contains. I, personally, don't care about that. I swear a lot without meaning to, so who am I to judge an author who decides her characters like to drop the f-bomb a lot? Anyway, I just wanted to say that that wasn't even close to being the reason I didn't like this book - no, I simply didn't like the story. It moved far too fast and there was never really anything exciting happening, or if there was, it was over too quickly for it to sink in. Choppy is the word I'm looking for. It seemed like one minute this was happening, then before you even reach the next page, that had happened. There didn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason as to why certain things were happening. It honestly seemed like Black had spent a few years writing paragraphs in no particular order, and then mashing them all together when she had enough to be considered a book. It felt rushed, plain and simple.

As for the characters, I didn't care what happened to Kaye and her friends, nor did I have a single ounce of respect for any of them. Kaye herself was flawed, which I personally like in a YA heroine, but the problem with her was that she didn't have a single redeeming quality. Flawed, I like... completely unlikeable, not so much. I don't care that she's spent her entire life cleaning up her mum's vomit; I don't care that she likes to screw around with her friends' boyfriends; I don't care that she's half-Japanese (was there even a point to that? It's mentioned several times that her blonde hair is why a lot of people are confused about her heritage, but why mention it if there's no specific point?) I just didn't care about Kaye at all. Nor any of the other characters, actually. Roiben seemed like a cool guy (for an emotionless faerie, anyway), but we never learned anything about him! I hope Ironside brings in some backstory - not that I have any idea as to when I'm going to read it. The romance between the two was... not romantic. Insta-love? Blergh. That's all I'm going to say on that subject.

I think the reason I'm so angry with this book is because I've heard great things about Holly Black. Everybody raves about her writing, but I just can't see what the big deal is. I might have to pick up her Curse Workers series in the future - perhaps that will shed some light on the whole "Holly Black is an amazing author" thing. The only reason I rated this book 2 stars rather than the 1 I was inititally leaning towards is because of the end. Though the entire book was a jumbled mess, the ending was actually quite interesting. I find myself - against my better judgement - wanting to see where Black takes the change in Unseelie leadership in the next book. Perhaps in a few months I'll get bored enough to pick it up. I may read the companion novel, Valiant sooner, due to the fact that it features a whole different set of characters. Who knows, perhaps I'll actually like one of them!

For more reviews, check out my blog at Somewhere Between The Pages.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 25, 2012 Eunice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fey

3.5 stars?
There were elements I adored about this book but also things I really didn't like - hence the fence-sitting.
I liked how Tithe is grittier and darker than most YA fantasy - the female protagonist was not some squeaky-clean never-been-kissed cliché, people die, people do bad things, vivid descriptions of crazy faerie shit etc. (because faeries are meant to be pretty mental).
Like...dancing until your legs get ground into stumps!
The writing was very descriptive without being tedious, and d...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 04, 2011 Janus Vielle (The Blair Book Project) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-paperback

I wouldn’t recommend this book to myself if I was still a teenager. The characters in the book wouldn’t be good influences to those at the same age; they smoked, drank liquor, cursed, and other unscrupulous behavior. I also don’t think it was appropriate to have a mom who lets her kid do whatever the hell she wants; major parental irresponsibility!

But reading it from an adult’s point of view, this book wasn’t so bad. It was mostly a love story. Although, I didn’t feel much connection between Kay...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Amy or "Ames" rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 1st-in-series, read-in-2011, young-adult, fae, i-heart-the-cover-art, series-abandoned, to-donate

Meh. The writing was pretty bad. It plainly said that it was unsure of its audience. One minute it read like it was for 9-year-olds and the next they're talking about uncircumcised penises and people poking out the eyeballs of innocent children. (Those two things aren't related by the way. Just thought I'd let you know, in case you were wondering.)

I didn't care about Kaye's smoking, drinking, shoplifting and truancy etc. It didn't bother me because it was realistic, and I sympathised with the s...more Meh. The writing was pretty bad. It plainly said that it was unsure of its audience. One minute it read like it was for 9-year-olds and the next they're talking about uncircumcised penises and people poking out the eyeballs of innocent children. (Those two things aren't related by the way. Just thought I'd let you know, in case you were wondering.)

I didn't care about Kaye's smoking, drinking, shoplifting and truancy etc. It didn't bother me because it was realistic, and I sympathised with the situation concerning her mother.

Kaye's sexuality seemed stifled even for a young adult book, which frustrated me because it was difficult to figure out whether she was actually attracted to Kenny or Roiben. Corny (what a nickname, but then who wants to be called Cornelius?) however - yay for a gay character who doesn't fit a particular stereotype. He's just an ordinary guy with insecurities.

But there was one thing that baffled me. One of Kaye's friends drowns but she doesn't think to give them mouth-to-mouth and try and revive them. Guess they weren't that good of a friend.

I liked the descriptions of the Unseelie Court and it's fey but most of the book was set in Ironside (our world). Kaye didn't slip down the rabbit hole until halfway, when I was about give up on this due to boredom.

Speaking of the rabbit hole, Tithe reminded me of Alice in Wonderland except Kaye/Alice is fey rather than human so she's an outsider in the human world despite growing up there and an outsider in the fey world because she doesn't understand all of the rules there.

The different elements of this book didn't really come together in a way that worked. It was unsatisfying. The highest praise I can give it: I love the beautifully striking cover accurately representing what's inside.

Out of the all the characters Roiben and Kaye's mother were the most fleshed out, the others were thin throwaways. The ideas in Tithe were interesting but the writing could've been better. I'm the first to admit that the fey aren't my favourite supernaturals but I didn't completely hate Black's incarnation of them. Despite my less than warm reception of the book, I do believe it would make a good movie (by Tim Burton?). I won't be reading the sequel.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 16, 2009 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Firstly, I'd like to start with the fact that this was more of a Young Adult book than anything. Why?

The Author knew how most modern day youngsters act. At least the ones that smoked, drank, and cursed a lot. Believe it or not, there are loads of youngsters that do that. She just emphasized it and brought it out more. There are even Mom's just like Kaye's. I had loads of friends who had mom's who smoke and actually drank with their daughters. My parents were completely different from that.

The wo...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2009 DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 2009, fae

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 transformation into the...more

10 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2008 Kat O'B rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

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 never saw what th...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Tiff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, own, have-reread

I admit I might be a little biased because it was one of my first books when I started into books of the super natural. I originally read this book years ago because I wanted to read something different. I absolutely loved it right away. I loved the way it potrayed everything in fey compared to the happy, cute, little faeries people traditionally think of. And the fact that it is set in modern times makes it more relateable as opposed to reading something set in a time that I haven't experienced...more

2 likes · like · see review

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For the Love of B...: Tithe by Holly Black	1	2	Jan 09, 2013 05:31pm
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Original cover?	9	48	Jun 27, 2012 12:30am
Paranormal Book Club: March BAM.......	4	31	Apr 03, 2012 11:20am
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Genres

Fantasy

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Young Adult

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Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

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Paranormal > Fairies

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Fantasy > Paranormal

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Romance

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Young Adult > Teen

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Fantasy > Magic

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About Holly Black

Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh) The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, and The Curse Worker series (White Cat, Red Gl...more

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Books by Holly Black

The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, #1)

The Wrath of Mulgarath (The Spiderwick Chronicles, #5)

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Quotes from Tithe

“Yeah, the whole family knows. It's no big deal. One night at dinner I said, 'Mom, you know the forbidden love that Spock has for Kirk? Well, me too.' It was easier for her to understand that way.” — 194 people liked it

“If curiosity killed the cat, it was satisfaction that brought it back.” — 154 people liked it

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Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1)

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