TITHE BY HOLLY BLACK

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Series: Modern Faerie Tale Trilogy

“Crippled things are always more beautiful. It’s the flaw that brings out beauty.”
– Holly Black, Tithe

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms – a struggle that could very well mean her death.[Goodreads]

This book came highly recommended to me by Autumn @ Kitty Cat Reads. And let me just start by saying I am so happy I finally got around to reading it!

Tithe was a unique, edgy, dark urban fantasy faerie tale. I was greatly surprised because the book seemed to catch me off guard and was an unexpected story that was interesting and had characters that were unique , almost unlikable and a little odd. You are emerged into a world that is alluring and shows another side of faeries that are usually not portrayed in novels. The writing was hard to follow at the beginning and I found myself having to reread parts, but than a little bit into it stuff was starting to make more sense and worked itself all out.

I thought Kaye was a great lead character. She was real, with that sassy teenage attitude. Following her story you are just as lost and confused as she is as she’s pushed  into a world she wasn’t sure existed. Although there are many other characters I felt like a lot of them were all just secondary and you didn’t learn much about them besides Corny and Roiben. I really enjoyed Roiben and thought he was a fantasy faery hero!

The story was gripping and had just enough mystery that really pulled you in and wanting to know more of what exactly was going on. It had many surprises and twists that I didn’t see coming. It followed many faerie themes including changelings and the power of a persons real name. Than there was the epic divide of the good and the bad faeries and throughout the book it keeps you guessing at who is really the good faeries!

Overall this was a book that is either a love it or hate it book. I really enjoyed it and the dark, mature, violent side of the faerie world. It is an interesting story with unique characters and an intriguing writing style. The book ended abruptly and I can’t wait to read the next book. If you enjoy a action packed urban fantasy that has a different take on stereotypes and is a unique read I recommend this book to you! (Sorry this was a hard book to write a review on)