Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Holly Black
Kaye isn't your typical 16 year old. She's dropped out of school to help pay the rent, while her mother struggles to succeed as a rocker. She has more friends backstage at clubs than in her own decade. And she used to be able to see faeries when she was a child. Now, due to hard times, Kaye and her mom have moved back to their hometown and in with her grandmother. Immediately things start going wrong. Kaye's best friend is happy to see her, until her boyfriend suddenly becomes obsessed with Kaye. And after a night out partying Kaye finds a beautiful stranger in the woods...shot through with an arrow like a tree branch. She saves him, and discovers that he is not at all human. Suddenly, her magical childhood friends reappear...to convince her to help play a deadly trick on some faerie royalty.
Black's partying, smoking, high-school drop out heroine will be a breath of fresh air to readers who are tired of perfect characters who just happen to have everything go right for them. This is a dark tale with death, abuse, and lots of terrible things happening to innocent people and creatures. All of this is built up to create a dark frame for what is at heart a pretty sappy love story. Tough acting teen girls who are closet romantics will love it.