Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Tithe by Holly Black
Tithe by Holly Black is billed as "A modern fairy tale" and was in the young adult section of the book store. I originally bought this book so that I could read it and then give as a gift to a 12 year old girl. I won't be passing this on to her just yet.
Tithe is a black story of the compact between 2 fairy houses and the lesser magical beings like pixies. Part of the great truce requires a sacrifice and in this year the decision has been made on a human sacrifice. Unknown to most fairies and the human, she is not a human but a changeling.
That part, the human sacrifice, does not bother me unduly and would be fine for my friend as would the Goth heroine. It is several other parts that caused me to withhold the book for a time: There are detailed descriptions of the debauchery (boy, does that sound prim) in the evil fairy camp, there is involvement of a human boy who is gay (that isn't a problem) and his treatment at the hands of sadistic and sexually sadistic fairies. The sexual sadism and the deep loathing and longing that the boy feels toward it were, in my opinion, too difficult for this particular 12 year old to handle.
I haven't actually recommended this book to anyone yet but I also didn't get rid of it.
Tithe is a black story of the compact between 2 fairy houses and the lesser magical beings like pixies. Part of the great truce requires a sacrifice and in this year the decision has been made on a human sacrifice. Unknown to most fairies and the human, she is not a human but a changeling.
That part, the human sacrifice, does not bother me unduly and would be fine for my friend as would the Goth heroine. It is several other parts that caused me to withhold the book for a time: There are detailed descriptions of the debauchery (boy, does that sound prim) in the evil fairy camp, there is involvement of a human boy who is gay (that isn't a problem) and his treatment at the hands of sadistic and sexually sadistic fairies. The sexual sadism and the deep loathing and longing that the boy feels toward it were, in my opinion, too difficult for this particular 12 year old to handle.
I haven't actually recommended this book to anyone yet but I also didn't get rid of it.
# posted by JJ @ 8:59 AM 
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Holly Black stabs at the dark heart of faerie and delivers a realm to readers that is both enticing, addictive, and macabre. "Tithe" is a black carnival of treats where the crimson candy apple you're sucking on has a razor sweet surprise hidden in its very core.
Black's unvarnished portrayal of misfit Kaye Fierch as today's disaffected youth is successful and realistic. Finding herself in the middle of a chaotic faerie turf war and questioning her own murky origins, she embarks on an otherworldly quest that straddles light and dark.
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Black's unvarnished portrayal of misfit Kaye Fierch as today's disaffected youth is successful and realistic. Finding herself in the middle of a chaotic faerie turf war and questioning her own murky origins, she embarks on an otherworldly quest that straddles light and dark.
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