Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale Holly Black 331 pages; published 2002
A man was sprawled in the mud only a few steps from her, clutching a curved sword in one hand. It shone like a sliver of moonlight in the hazy dark. Long pewter hair, plastered wetly to his neck, framed a face that was long and full of sharp angles. Rivulets of rain ran over the jointed black armour he wore. His other hand was at his heart, clutching a branch that jutted from his chest. The rain there was tinted pink with blood.
“Was it you, girl? … [have you] come to finish me off?” (24-5)
Kaye’s mum is a unknown rockstar-wannabe, her grandmother disapproves of everything, and she hasn’t been to school in years. Her life couldn’t be less magical. It is a far cry from the happy life she enjoyed as a small child, surrounded by her fairy and pixie friends, even if no one else could see them.
When Kaye and her mother move back to town, however, her little friends are nowhere to be seen, and life just isn’t the same without them. And the friends who are around aren’t quite the same either. Even the people she meets are a little unusual. Roiben, the young man she meets in the woods is… well, he’s not human for starters.
But as it turns out, neither is Kaye.
Having proof that fairies are real makes life different but no less hard when Kaye finds herself the target in a battle of good and evil in the world of faerie.
It is so good to finally read a book that has been on your tbr list for so long… not so good when it’s the first in a trilogy and you don’t have the next two books (stupid, stupid). Despite that little hiccup however, it was still a pretty good read – hard to make a final judgment until I read the rest of the series.
I was a little bugged to read another ‘normal-girl-loves-supernatural-boy’ story (was written before Twilight) but got over it pretty quick because there were a few spins on it – namely that the girl herself isn’t exactly normal.
For the most part, Tithe was a good first book, it set up the world well – a somewhat intimidating world, I might add. Kaye was an interesting character, damaged enough to make you very sympathetic toward her, but curious enough to make her interesting. My only real concern was the language; it was a little strong in the first part the novel which, while somewhat confronting (and may need a warning for some readers), worked quite well within the context of the world they were setting up. 3.5/5