Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale - Holly BlackThis book was written by the author of Spiderwick Chronicles. I thought the cover was nice looking and the blurbs were interesting. "Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!" "Debauchery, despair, deceit, and grisly death--what more could you ask for from a fairy tale?...A luscious treat for fans of urban fantasy and romantic horror." That was enough for me to give it a shot.
The story is about a 16 year old girl named Kaye who lives with her mother. Mom is the lead singer for numerous failed rock and roll bands and big on freedom. Stuff happens and Kaye and her mom must move back to New Jersey to live with Grandma. This was Kaye's childhood home. As a child she had many "imaginary" friends who were faeries.
The faeries are real. Kaye herself finds out she is not human and is in fact a pixie. She was planted in the human world in disguise as an infant. The faerie world has three factions. A "good" group, a "bad" group, and a group that are allied with no one. The unallied group is always in servitude to one group or the other. Every seven years a ritual is performed to enslave the "free" faeries...and that is what this story is about.
The faeries in this book are not like tinker bell. They don't flutter around sprinkling dust on people and picking flowers. They are mean, vindictive and downright cruel.
I didn't hate the book. I can't say I loved it either. The story was interesting, but it seemed way too simplified. This could have been much better had the author drew it out, brought in more characters in depth, and not been in such a rush to get from one thing to the next. It read just fine, but I kept waiting for the detail that would draw me into the story deeper.
The book is young adult fiction. Maybe that explains the simplification of the story. I don't like it though. All those Harry Potter books, Aragon, and countless others that teens love are not simple. This could have been better, even for a young adult.
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