Customer Reviews
DEFINITELY, not my book of choice. 
2008-06-11
I recently read this book for a school project with a group of 3 other girls, one of which turned us onto the book. The girl that offered up the idea to read it was the only one who enjoyed it. The rest of us had to torture ourselves through the rest of the novel to be able to receive credit for the assignment. The author's style of writing seems to be quite abnormal, she jumps around a lot and there is a lot of random pieces where you have to reread the last paragraph multiple times to understand what is happening, and even after that you still don't understand sometimes. I was definitely not ready for absolute randomness! In one part the Black starts talking about how Kaye, the main character is suddenly riding a horse etc. and I'm thinking: where the heck did the horse come from? I suppose if you like fantasy and the sporadic random style of writing, knock yourself out. But for those like me that have to be guided through a story, a story with meaning, a point, something that you can get out of it, where when you're done you feel like you accomplished something and can walk away satisfied. When I finished this novel I didn't have any of those feelings. There wasn't a thing I liked about the book outside of the kind of cool looking cover.
A Dangerous Story 
2008-06-10
Kaye has always been different. She's Japanese and a natural blond. She stopped going to school when she was fourteen because her musician mother kept them moving around. But what made the other kids really back away were the stories about her friends Gristle, Spike, and Lutie-loo. Everyone thought they were imaginary because no one besides Kaye could see these creatures. That's because Kaye's friends were part of the world of Faery.
Kaye is dragged farther into this dangerous world when she saves a dying faerie named Roiben. After this encounter, she meets up with her old friend Lutie and Spike only to find out that her other friend Gristle has been murdered by the faerie she saved earlier, Roiben. Her friend then bring her into the plot to let the solitary fey be free for seven years: Kaye has to break the tithe, a ritual in which a mortal is sacrificed for the Unseelie Court. And with that, she is in the middle of a war between that the two powerful faerie courts.
Holly Black presents a fantastical faerie world similar to the one in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, yet it is difficult to compare the two. Both Kaye and Aislinn are strong-minded characters, but it is the setting and the rest of the faerie world that makes the stories so different; Kaye's is one filled with drinking and shoplifting. I appreciated how Kaye is unapologetic for who she is and found it amusing that Kaye didn't know her own cleverness. I also found Kaye and Roiben's relationship extremely romantic.
I highly recommend this exciting story, especially for fans of other faerie stories. I definitely look forward to reading more of Black's faerie novels.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
Nice fantasy story. It kept my interest. Interesting characters and events. 
2008-05-26
It is about two opposing fairy groups. They use magic on humans as well as other fairies. Kaye thinks she is a 16 yr old human, and learns that she is really a pixie (fairy) with magic powers. One group of fairies plans to kill her as a sacrifice.
Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: none. Setting current day Philadelphia and New Jersey. Copyright: 2002. Genre: young adult fantasy.
Tithe 
2008-05-22
Tithe is a story about sixteen year old Kaye, who has to move back to her childhood home after a puzzling attack by her mother's boyfriend on her mother. After helping a mysterious knight, Kaye is visited by some faerie friends from her childhood. What she learns about faeries and herself sends her on a daring deadly mission.
Exciting and suspenseful, I personally liked Tithe. Though being a book about faeries, it is an extremely dark novel, which includes smoking, drinking, sexual themes, and death, which makes it only appropriate for high school age and above.
I haven't read any other books by Holly Black, but this book was suggested to me by a friend, and is a great fantasy novel.
Some reasons I liked the book was that there was a blend of fantasy and action, along with romance and real life issues. The entire book was very descriptive, with good visual words, allowing you to picture the scenes perfectly. The book was exciting and there never was a lull in the action.
On the other hand, without a lull, the plot almost moved too fast. Also, the book is actually pretty depressing, so if you're looking for a happy read, this is not your book.
All in all, I recommend this book. It's the first book in the series of three. Tithe is good, though dark, and full of action, so if that is what you're looking for, I suggest this book.
so not what i was expecting 
2008-05-21
After reading Valiant by Black, i was really excited to read this. I was highly disappointed. Writing is bad, characters are not believable or well formed, storyline is not engaging or believable i know its fantasy, but the way the story plays out is just not very believable. She could not suspend my disbelief and draw me into this world). The whole time i was wondering how she could write such drivel after a stunner like valiant. Even if i had not read valiant, i would of disliked it.
A good idea for a story, but written and executed oh so badly.
don't bother. Read valiant.
Not your average Faerie tale 2008-07-26
An absolutly amazing novel. I can't even begin to guess how many times I've reread it, for writting ideas, to read an excerpt of it, or to just read it. I would recommend this to anyone at all. It's completely unique, original and wonderful. The plot is intriguing, the characters are well rounded and it's beautifully written. Absolutly amazing!
Not really about faerie 2008-07-18
Though the book is intriguing in itself, I found myself let down on many occasions within this book. The plot line is actually rather depressing, and if you're not an emo hate-my-life distraught teenager, than i think all you'll get from this book is a bad memory.
Though the author writes this beautifully, with great voice and nice prose, the plot lacked anything to make it engaging and I found that i was forcing myself to finish it just so i could get it over with and done. The characters are thin, with bad personalities, and even the vivid and embellished settings don't make up for worst thing about this book. A lack of grandness.
In the end, though the plot is resolved, i felt like saying, "Great job everyone, but everything that you did was done within an area of about one square mile, and even then it was kind of cheesy and weak. I bet that there's something even worse just in the next square mile."
It just let me down.
They make books this good for teens? 2008-07-15
Tithe is definitely a dark, involving, fantasy story. Let me take those in turn. First of all, Tithe is DARK. Seriously so. Some reviewers said it was too cliche or formulaic, but it seemed genuine to me. This was not a 'troubled girl escapes her problems by going into faurie land' book. Kaye's life is pretty terrible, yet she has suprisingly little angst, and virutally every encounter with faeries makes you long for her depressing normal life. Even with the drinking, smoking, poverty, failure in life, shoplifting, and lack of any future at all. That, and people will end dead and/or messed up by the end of the book.
The story was involving. There are over 300 pages (with the biggest print I've seen since I was 12) but I literally couldn't put the book down. It took me about 3 hours to finish. Once you reach the middle of the book, it will hurt not to find out what happens next.
The fantasy is heavy too. Some reviewers said the faeries acted too "human." They tend to act randomly, maliciously, emotionally, or in their own self-interest. But that's how any conscious being would. This book has put me right off faeries. It shows a really dark side to them, and I can really appreciate a book that changes how I think about things.
Overall, this is a good romance, with great tension, average fighting, excellent description, and some truly fiendish intrigue. I can't wait to recieve the next 2 books, which I'm ordering immendiately. 5 out of 5.
Roiben & Kaye 2gether 4ever 2008-07-14
Our main character Kaye is not at all what she first appears to be. She has a mother who plays guitar in a rock band, she has stopped attending school, works full time at a Chinese restaurant and in her home town she used to see fairies. When her mom's band mate attempts to kill her they move back with to New Jersey to stay with her grandmother. In her first week back home she tries to contact her "imaginary" friends, reconnects with her best friend and assists an injured fairy named Roiben. In thanks for her assistance he agrees to answer any three questions that are in his power to answer. From the moment that he answers her third question Kaye's life sure as hell ain't normal. Things begin to unravel while at the same time becoming really clear.
As Kaye's world begins to unravel she becomes friends with her best friend's dorky older brother and they help each other get through all the weirdness that surrounds Kaye. From point A to Point B I really liked the story it wasn't always a mystery but it was definitely holding my attentions and I wanted to read to discover what would happen next. There were some surprising things and I loved the unexplainable chemistry between Kaye & Roiben. You don't really understand who Roiben is but you can't but hope that he ends up with Kaye.
I loved Holly Black's writing I don't know it was the best I have ever read but I would definitely read this book again. She kept me entertained and longing for the Kaye & Roiben to be together. She leaves you wanting more but happy at the same time.
A Modern Day Faerie Tale 2008-07-12
Kaye Fierch isn't your average 16-year-old girl. She hasn't been to school since she was 14. She got a job to help her Mom pay the bills. To be honest, she was more of an adult than her Mom, who spent all her nights in bars singing in a band. Besides, Kaye was always considered a little weird. As a child, she spoke to Faeries, though everyone thought it was all in her imagination.
When an attack on her mom left the two without a place to stay, they were forced to go back to New Jersey to stay with Kaye's grandmother. As Kaye got a chance to look up old friends, she meets a Faerie Knight that is wounded. This starts off a chain of events that leads her right in the middle of a war between the two Faerie Courts, the Seelie and the Unseelie. The bright and the dark. The tradition of the Tithe is being brought back. It is the sacrifice of a mortal. And it will require that all the solitary fae, those that aren't a part of either court, be bound for seven years in servitude to the Unseelie court.
Just when Kaye starts to understand that she herself is set up to be the mortal sacrifice, she is blindsided with more news. For the last 16 years, Kaye has been living a life that wasn't hers to live. She is not a mortal at all, but part of the Fae world herself. Now with her mortal friend, Corney, and the Dark Knight, Roiben, she has to figure out who to believe. Things are not always as they seem.
I really enjoyed reading this book, although it is exceedingly darker than I originally expected. Holly Black has created a strange and dark world in which faeries aren't exactly the nicest creatures around. In fact, they are down-right frightening!! Kaye is a great character in that she has feet in both worlds. She is faerie by birth, but having lived in the mortal world for 16 years, she is starting to understand the delicate balance of power between the two worlds. And the need to keep each world in it's place.
My only major complaint at all is that this book IS marketed to the young adult set. As a 16-year-old girl, Kaye spends more time in bars with her mother than anywhere else. She drinks and smokes and is a high school dropout. There is also a lot of sexual innuendo that is just way too much for those under the age of 16. It's not a book that I would go right out and buy for my son, who reads at this age level now, at age 11.
But for older kids and adults, I think it's a unique story about new worlds. And I'm looking forward to reading Ironside, the follow-up to this book.
