Tithe - Holly Black

Tithe
Holly Black
Pub: Pocket Books
Cover Design: Nick Stearn

Kaye's mother drags them around the country trying to become famous in this band or that. Ellen's hedonistic lifestyle leaves Kaye cleaning up vomit, living out of bing bags and working where she can. After a particularly nasty incident with Ellen's latest boyfriend they head back to Kaye's grandmothers home. It's then that things begin to get a little strange.

Holly Black doesn't do sweet, pleasant, soft stories or characters. Kaye is likeable but not instantly, she is a little thoughtless and typically self absorbed for a teen. She has an impetuous nature and is capable of being unkind and spiteful, but she is also brave and loyal.

Roiben in many ways falls into the standard YA para romance hero role, but once again Holly Black messes a little with the trope giving a fresh new perspective and surprising her readers. The supporting cast are in some ways the most surprising. Corny in particular is complex and interesting.

Holly's stories and her characters can be recognised for their jagged edges, their sharpness, the way they are always jarring slightly against the conventions of YA paranormal romance. She takes the genre and gives it a new ferocity.

Smart, moving, immensly readable and fresh, Tithe is a superb example of a fairy tale with teeth.