Review: Tithe by Holly Black

I don’t even remember what made me put this book on my BookMooch wishlist. I think I might have been browsing around Amazon.com and found it through a link. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I picked it up.

Tithe by Holly Black is described as a modern faerie tale, and… well, that’s pretty damned accurate. It’s a modern, urban faerie tale set in the wilds of New Jersey’s coast. Kaye is a wild sixteen year old girl; her mother drifts from rock band to rock band, and Kaye drifts along with her. She smokes, she drinks, she shoplifts, and is generally a weird girl, or at least other people her age think so. When Kaye was a child, she used to create the wildest stories about faerie creatures, and had three imaginary best friends: Gristle, Lutie-Loo, and Spike.

At sixteen, Kaye and her mother must go back to her childhood home in New Jersey, and discovers that she still has the power to make strange things happen. She nearly brings a broken carousel horse to life. She somehow enchants her friend’s boyfriend. And walking back to her grandmother’s house one night, she saves the life of a knight of the Unseelie Court.

The story deals with changelings, children that were switched with faeries as babies, which has always fascinated me. I picked up the World of Darkness Changeling roleplaying game books when I was in high school, and though I could never find anyone who would play with me (jerks all wanted to be vampires or werewolves), I always loved the concept of hiding fae nature under a mask of the mundane.

The story also delves into the very dangerous world of faerie politics. The solitary fae, creatures who are not part of the Seelie or Unseelie courts, are bound to the Unseelie by the Tithe, the sacrifice of a mortal girl. Kaye ends up right in the middle of a deadly intrigue surrounding the Tithe, and… damn, I can’t really say any more without spoiling the book for you.

Sometimes the book borders on darkity-darkness-for-the-sake-of-being-dark, but I like the gritty, urban feel of the story. Kaye is not a good little princess who gets swept up by her shining knight; in fact, the knights who shine are often the most dangerous. The story is intriguing and well-written, and the descriptions are to die for. Holly Black is fabulous when describing the dark beauty of Kaye’s worlds, and she can even describe clothing without annoying the crap out of me (explanation: I can’t stand it when most authors describe characters’ clothes. See anything written by Laurell K. Hamilton to understand why.).

If you’re a fan of urban fantasy or modern faerie tales, pick this book up. Now.

Buy Tithe from Amazon!