Book Review: Tithe a Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black.

Quote: Her hands felt very cold as she remembered the diner. What would it be like to be a puppet? What would it be like to watch your own hands disobey you?

A book title I was pronouncing wrong for almost a decade now! I found Holly Black before I found Neil Gaiman, at the age of 15. Since then I have been trying to read stories she had written.

Tithe is the story of a sixteen-year-old, Kaye, a blonde American-Japanese girl. Who grew up in clubs and pubs cleaning after her unsuccessful rock singer mom.

Holly Black never sighs away from showing the dark, not so innocent and messed up world of teens. Kaye has dropped out of school, she smokes, she makes out, she works to keep her two unit family functional, and once she had friends from the faerie realm.

The story takes a shift when her mom's boyfriend turns homicidal and they move back to her grandmother's. Kaye's life turns weird soon, she saves a tall, handsome, brooding infamous Knight called Roiben, who is tied to the Unseelie Court! And learns she is a scapegoat for faerie realm, the Tithe.

The narrative looks scattered at first as the third person voice often enters the first person observation. The detailing and description are sharp and evoke fear. The faerie realm is beautiful and dangerous. No one can be trusted and there are too many betrayals, predictable but well drawn and one particular death hurts.

Crony's friendship with Kaye seemed sudden, but when you're sixteen that's how you make friends. Crony's being a gay boy didn't feel like tokenism. I loved when he geeks about yaoi manga and shows more knowledge than Kaye about faerie he acquired just be reading. But the amount of abuse, intoxication and never spelt rape that he suffers at the hand of faerie folks later gives voice to countless queer teens who have been taken advantage of by a cruel world.

Sexual undertones fuel the story, and the kiss between a charmed Kaye and Roiben serves as a good lesson on consent. I also loved the revenge Kaye takes on Kenny.

At the end of the book, no one comes out unscathed or normal. Which makes it super satisfying read, and a book to aware teens of the world of what awaits them.

P.S- It's a very smart rendition of the Tam Lin tale

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