Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 21, 2009 DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, young-adult, 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

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Dec 09, 2009 Literary Ames rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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

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 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. ...more

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May 24, 2009 Steph rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-first-time-read, age-group-ya-na, series-book1, year-read-2009, series-completed, author-웃, series-ended

I definitely prefer "very scary fairies", seems more "real" to me.

I really enjoyed the world that Holly Black created for us in Tithe. I also liked that fact the she created characters that aren't run of the mill. Teenagers who have broken homes, troubled parents and are openly gay. There were a lot of references to smoking, drinking and such, but I felt that just made the story more realistic. I understand how it could've offended some readers though, as shown by the wide range of ratings from ...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it

I was suprised that I enjoyed this - I expected it to have strong similarities to Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series which i didn't like. There are strong similarities in the plot but I enjoyed this much more. It is edgy and is almost brutally honest in exposing Kaye's experience of life, her negligent, though benign, single mother, a nomadic lifestyle, her isolation and a casual response to sex, drugs and crime. Kaye is not a role model and since this book is aimed at teens I can understand th ...more

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