Simon & Schuster Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

good book

I have developed a recent faerie addiction, reading everything I can find relating to it! Tithe is my new favorite; it's dark, full of faeries and other supernatural beings, and addicting. I loved the plot and the characters. Holly Black has become a new favorite and I will be devouring more of her work asap. Basically the story revolves around Kaye, who has always had faery friends but no one has ever believed her. After moving away (from her childhood home and the faeries), she begins to think maybe it was all a daydream. Then her and her mother return home, only for her to reconnect with all things faerie. It isn't long before she meets Roiben, the dark faery Knight of her dreams. But things are never what they seem; is he really good and able to be trusted? Or is he one more bad boy Kaye needs to avoid? Of course, that whole relationship is moot compared to the faerie court planning to make a sacrifical lamb out of Kaye. I couldn't put this book down, and you won't be able to either! The only thing that dragged, for me, was the constant smoking. I don't smoke, and while it does bother me (irl), it usually doesn't bother me in books/movies. Until now. It seemed like everyone was constantly smoking, and as this is a book directed at YA, it seemed too make smoking way cooler than it was, and that really struck me wrong for my concern of younger readers. Smoking should never be glorified. But that said, it probably won't bother most people the way it did me, and even bothered by it I still give this book (and series) a glowing 5 star review as it is excellent. Pick the whole series up today or you'll be beating yourself up when you finish Tithe and don't have the next two!

There were two reasons why this book amazed me so much. The first is that, being the first book by Holly Black that I have read, I was surprised at just how good it is. Secondly, I was completely amazed to see that it is actually supposed to be for children. I would not even consider allowing a child of any younger than 15 reading this book. This is not the traditional fariy tale at all - the main female character is not sweet and innocent; she is headstrong and rebellious. The faeries are not traditional either - although they may have the appearance of pretty winged things from children's books that we all know and love, these are often wicked, devious and amoral. Even the knight in shining armor is not quite what he seems. The story is about Kaye, a sixteen year old with a single mother who is a band. Most of her life has been spent following her mum around the country on tour, usually looking after her as she drinks too much and sees various men. An attack on her mother after one of her gigs forces both of them back to Kaye's grandmother's house - a place where Kaye spent a lot of time during her childhood, and where she made friends with the faerie folk (or her imaginary friends as every else called them). Kaye's already messed up world is turned even more on its head when she discovers that she is not a mortal but actually a changeling (she was swapped with a pixie at birth). As Kaye returns to her childhood home and learns exactly who she is, she finds herself entangled in the faerie world as never before, only this time the faeries and things she expereinces are like nothing from her childhood. That is all of the stroy I am going to give you - there are many twists and turns, and it is better that you discover them yourself. All I will say is that this book will definitely be like nothing you have read before. It is a mixture of horror, folklore, magic and romance. The ending will more than likely surprise you (definitely in a good way though). If, unlike me, you have children, I would recommend you looking over the book and deciding if you think it is appropriate for them before letting them read - but if you decide it isn't, I recommend you keep this book for yourself, you will certainly enjoy it.

I enjoyed both the plot and the theme, and thought the use of inventive fairies in a story, unusual. The characters, as out of control teenagers living in their imperfect lower class world, were interesting elements in our sea of either plastic perfect, or predicatably flawed characters that we often find in other novels. Some criticise the language and mature themes, but I found that, forwarned, it only added believability to the flawed subjects. Not for kids, but hey, not everything should be. On the negative side, the dialogue was often unrealistic, short and choppy, to the point of making some scenes hard to follow (the author knew what was happening, but I was sometimes unsure). Teenagers might talk the way the author depicted, but writers need to work at it more than teenagers do. At times, the actions and motivations of the characters were illogical, or worse, not fully explained, including the main characters too-quickly shifting relationships (virtually all of them). The technical skill of the author is still a book or two away from being fully professional. However, the story is engaging, and somewhat unique, making the read worth the price. Other, better written works, might be much easier to set aside, proving that a good overall idea and approach is worth a lot more than is often given credit. Buy it.

Ich fand dieses Buch zwar schon fesselnd aber irgendwie zu merkwürdig. Man bekommt keinen wirklichen Zugang zu den Personen und es fehlt auch irgendwie der rote Faden. Nicht schlecht aber auch nicht wirklich gut.