Reviews with content warning for Racism - Tithe

The pacing of the story is quick and engaging. That said, this book was written almost 20 years ago and is a first novel, and both of those elements show. I can’t fault a book for depicting the time in which it was written, but it’s still jarring to have teens not glued to their cell phones, see them using pay phones, or mention the noise their modem makes while connecting to the internet. In terms of this being a first novel, it’s well-written and engaging. There are some tragic turns and dramatic encounters, and the pacing of the story is quick and engaging. Kaye is a great character, a little jaded and world-weary, but also in awe of the new world that opens before her. She hates the power games and brutality shown by some of the Fae, but she sees beauty in this world as well. The dynamic between Kaye and Roiben is quite fun.

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misosouplvr's review

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this book is just…not very good.

the main character, kaye, is just boring! nothing about her is new, she’s a teenage girl who has never know what a home is and her mom is described as dysfunctional, the book quite literally starts out with her (Kaye) smoking a cigarette and drinking.

as I was reading this, I got more and more confused cause the words were literally jumbled to me and nothing made sense to me cause somehow we went from one scene to something entirely different?

another thing that peeved me was the big reveal that

Kaye is actually a faerie, a pixie to be exact yet her reaction is non-existent.

i literally checked this book out from my library VIA libby and returned it on the same day.

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qwib_reads's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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halfelfschollar's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Most of the spaces I see consumed by fey and fey adjacent characters in modern stories tend to avoid actual weird fucked up fairy shit. And while the main love interest is still technically a pretty person with pointed ears, the inclusion of the other fey in the book more than made up for it. The use of real fey lore in the book was something I really enjoyed as someone who really likes folktales.

While I wouldn't call Kaye an unlikable character she certainly isn't the type of lead that is for everyones tastes. She's not the type of character I relate to but her perspective works for the story at hand and that's why she's a good pick for the story. Her questioning of the world she's now presented with and emotional outbursts make sense for the character we are introduced to, a young girl who's had to grow up far too fast.

This book is heavy on the urban fantasy, so if that's not you're genre this is not the book for you. The book also includes underage drinking and drug use with some sexual content. The age difference between Kaye and Rioben is also something I personally dislike but is also often something inherent in fey stories.

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