Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Ratings104
Average rating3.3
Es fácil romper un objeto, pero no siempre podrás darle luego la forma que quieres.
I liked it alright but TFoA are a more solid series. You can definitely tell this one was written earlier. I probably would not have pushed through it if I hadn't read the other Trilogy though.
A decent story. Just so very angsty. Had I read it when I was younger I would've liked it more.
Read the first 100 pages and was so uninterested in the story that I couldn't continue. I liked Holly Black's “The Folk in the Air” series. I thought I would give this a try, but no. The characters are all unlikable and the story was weak. This is one of only two books this year that I dnf'ed.
This book gets off to an incredibly slow start. There is a lot of finding out about Kaye and her life and learning a little bit about the Faeries. Other than that, the part of this book fails to pull you into the story. I love Holly Black and her writing, so I was invested from that standpoint, but I was not feeling this book at first.
What I did appreciate about the beginning of this book is the dark Gothic aspect of the story. Many of Holly Black's books focus more on the happy, good fae then the dark ones of this story. This is definitely a darker and more mature faerie novel. I really appreciated this different side to faeries that we got to see. It showed how fae are not always the charming, cute beings we imagine them to be.
Kaye is one of those characters that make you cringe with their bad choices, she smokes, drinks, does not go to school, and is all around a poor role model. While Kaye is this despicable character, she does have some redeeming qualities that keep you on her side. And she also had definite character growth throughout the novel.
The other big issue I had with this book was the lack of information, I feel like a lot of new fae words were used but never truly explained. I would have liked to have had more background information on the faeries and why the compact was the way it was during the story. For me the world building was lacking in terms of explaining the fae world.
While this novel got off to a slow start, it definitely picked up and pulled me into the story. I started to really care about what was happening to the characters and how everything was going to turn out for them. So while a lot of this book was very “meh” for me, it definitely redeemed itself toward the end. I'm now invested in these characters and seeing where the story takes us next in Valiant. Also, I really love the new covers in the box set! While the originals do not have characters on them, in this case I prefer the use of people on the cover.
Eh
It was okay. I had a lot of trouble with the writing. I found paragraphs had to be reread to make sense. Or maybe I'd lose my train of thought and have to jump back.
I've read better fairie / urban fantasy.
The closer I got to the end, the more I wanted to know how it ended so I could move onto another book. It was good enough to knot bail, but I also had trouble staying focused reading. I kept finding myself skimming paragraphs, reading only a couple words a page to get closer to the end. I want to see where it was going but at 85% it felt more like a chore than pleasure.
If characters got hurt, or bad things happened to them, I didn't seem to care. They seemed pretty flat. Even the main characters, who you spend a lot of time with, I felt nothing when bad things happened to them.
I wouldn't recommend it, but wouldn't stop anyone from checking it out.
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And with that, the ending, I kinda feel disappointed.
It was okay. I wasn't crazy about Kaye, I didn't undentify with her. Roiben is the exact opposite of my ideal guy. He is slave to whoever knows his name, silvery haired, and stiff as a board. I really dislike fairy things so don't go by me.
What was great was that it was edgy, gritty, and took place in Jersey. I am sooo sick of reading about pouffy rich girls who have no idea what the real world is like. I think I'm just a little too vampire/werewolf for this.
One would to describe tithe–the word, not the whole book–sacrifice. From the very beginning, you experience the challenged world of Kaye's life; looking after her mother, keeping a full time job and dropping out of school. When she grew up, she saw faeries that were her day-by-day entertainment. Spike, Gristle, and Lutie-loo. After moving and staying in no-where particular, she hasn't seen her friends–both human and faerie–in years. After one evening out with her old school friend, Janet, an epic change in her daydreams leads to a series of unexplainable actions until Kaye finds out the truth her faerie friends have been hiding for far too long. With these revealing secrets, soon Kaye acquires a new view for the color green, saving a knight from the Unseelie Court from a untimely death becomes more troublesome then she ever thought a favor to be.
Tithe was set to be a dark, distractingly addictive read that'd consume you within the prologue. The small poems at the beginning of every chapter were a nice touch. I had to stop myself every time I read one, and think how it cooperated perfectly with what was going on in the chapter at that time. Kaye is a powerful character that takes everything that is thrown at her with a fluidity you'd envy in the hardest times. With a very unusually destructive-thinking friend, Kaye sets out to some very fearless adventures to get some answers of her purpose in the Unseelie/Seelie Court debacle.
Black's writing style is one I can admire because unlike many other authors, instead of staying stuck in one scene for endless amount of pages, she moves forward in the story and doesn't linger. From Kaye's point of view, the meetings with both faerie Queens and their courts had an impressive sense of imagery with due to both creatures and scenery alike.
The ending was comfortingly perfect after such a moving plot; just a wrap-up that let's you know there's going to be future stirrings of that faerie world.
Recommended to readers that enjoy dark, engaging novels with cheery and twisted faeries!
Grade: B+
Tithe is a very well put together story. From the first page you are immersed in Kaye's life, and it is truly entertaining. Kaye is a wonderful protagonist! She is unique, sarcastic, tenacious, all the things that I as a reader love about a good character. Each time she stumbles into a problem and emerges unscathed, you can truly believe it. After all, Kaye is written to be totally self-sufficient!
I really enjoyed the other main characters as well. Corny was a great yin to Kaye's yang. One strong, the other wanting to be strong but therein weak. The two of them mesh together beautifully in this story. Roiben was also a fabulous read, and might I say a bit of a literary hunk! You know, the type of character whose description makes you daydream? Ah yes.
My only qualm with this story while reading it, was that it didn't seem to peak at any point. There was no clear climax. I kept waiting for something epic to happen. Waiting for something that sucked me in and made me really want to keep reading. Was the story boring? No! Not at all. However, the lack of a climax made the story kind of flow into itself and, even when the ending was great, I still felt unfulfilled.
Overall though I'd say that Tithe is a great book! The characters are well written, you can relate with them, and the faerie tale itself was wonderful. I recommend Tithe to lovers of all things romance, as well as lovers of modern faerie tales.
