Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (The Modern Faerie Tales) Paperback – October 20, 2020

“If curiosity killed the cat, it was satisfaction that brought it back.”rating: 4.5the unseelie court makes the greenbriar family look downright laidback.You can break a thing, but you cannot always guide it afterward into the shape you want.written about 16 years before the folk of the air, i can definitely see holly black's growth as a writer. though i like tfota more, i still really enjoyed tithe! more of a contemporary urban fantasy setting (a major portion is in human side of new jersey lol) there was more brutality to this one imo bc of the faeries proximity to humans and the general nature of the unseelie court.“Just so you know, I trust you.”“You shouldn’t,” he said automatically. Nevertheless, he found himself no longer wanting to punish her for her faith in him. Instead, he found himself wanting to be worthy of it. He wanted to be the knight he had once been. Just for a moment.as always, i love holly's protagonist kaye and the tortured knight lord roiben rath rye (say that three times fast). i also really enjoy corny and can't wait to see what happens next with his character 👀“Kiss my a**, Rath Roiben Rye.”

This was the second Holly Black book I read. I enjoyed White Cat a lot and so I went back to read her debut novel. And liked it even more.The similarities are striking. Both are short YA books, with nice prose and likable main characters thrown into `weird' paranormal situations. Both have the action so condensed as to occasionally be confusing. Both wrap themselves up in the last quarter in a way that compromises the believability of the secondary characters. Both have unhappy but not completely tragic endings. While White Cat's premise is perhaps a tad more original, I found Tithe`s creepy fairy flavor more to my taste. Not that I didn't like the first, but I really liked certain things about the second.Tithe is written in third person past, with the protagonist Kaye dominating the POV. Mysteriously, approximately 5-10% is from the point of view of her friend Corny, and about 2% from the romantic interest. These outside POVs felt wrong, and at least in the Kindle version, no scene or chapter breaks announced the transitions. Every time one happened I was confused for a paragraph or two and knocked out of the story. Still, said story was more than good enough to overcome this minor technical glitch.Kaye is an unhappy 16 year-old with a loser mom. When they move back to New Jersey she is rapidly involved with the Fey, discovers she's a green skinned pixie, and gets drawn into a conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie (rival fairy) courts. It's a fun read, and the prose is fast and evocative of the fey mood. Ms Black seemed to have done at least some research and the feel is quite good. The loose descriptive style sketches some rather fantastic creatures and scenarios, and that works. There is some darkness (which I like), and wham bam death of secondary characters without the proper emotional digestion. There is sexuality, but no sex (boo hiss!).But I really like the way she handled the fairies. There isn't a lot of description, but what there was left me filling in my own detailed, sordid, and mysterious collage of imagery.I was loving the first two third of the book, and then it pivoted a bit and lost me a little. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it, but the last third felt sketchier. The author had a bunch of double takes and betrayals on her outline, and it felt to me that it didn't really matter if the secondary characters got to be true to themselves -- they just followed the script. The protagonists best friend dies in like two seconds, and there is barely any reaction. Everyone also seemed to roll way too easily with the rather gigantic punches (as in Fairies are real). And to be darn good at picking up new powers in no time at all. This is a typical issue, and very hard to address perfectly, but it always bugs me when magic seems too easy. White Cat had the same final act issues.It's still a fun book -- way above average -- with nice prose and breakneck pace. But the potential for great gave way to merely very good.

Tithe is an ok book. It is not spectacular. It is not horrible.I have a rule. I must give each book I attempt to read at least 100 pages. For Tithe, I needed all 100 of the pages to get into the book. The first part of the book is slow to start and a bit confusing. The tale bounces back and forth and is not clear where it is talking about. However, the plot becomes clearer around page 100. Once this happens, the book picks up pace and keeps you drawn in. By the end of the book, you are looking forward to what happens next, but it is not one of those books you just cannot put down. I found myself taking breaks from it often without the "I have to finish" feeling.The book does contain some strong language and controversial themes such as homosexuality, murder, and dealing with alcoholic parents. The recommendation is 13+. Personally, I think this is a good recommendation. The themes in the book are not anything that cannot be seen on the 6:00 news. As much as we sometimes want to believe our youth is completely innocent, it just isn't plausible in today's world.Overall, Tithe is not bad. It take a bit to start, but it does pick up. By the end, I did find myself wanting to read the next book in the trilogy. If you are looking for a book to pass the time that is entertaining, give this one a chance. If you are looking for a non-stop action filled read that you cannot put down, pass this one up.