Tithe

I read this novel because the second book in the series Valiant was a 2006 Locus YA Nominated Book. I like to read the first book in any series and not jump in mid-plot if I can help it.

Just because a novel is written for the "Young Adult" audience does not have to mean that it is a simplistic novel. Many extremely well written stories blur the line between YA and Adult fiction and are wonderful reads for anyone. Unfortunately Tithe by Holly Black does not fall into this category.

The storyline is simple to the point of nonexistence. It revolves around Kaye, a 16 year old high school dropout who is finds out that she is actually a fairy changeling. And then we meet some fairies. Even trying to write the plot is boring because I sat here asking myself what was the plot to this book. The scenes in this novel have mature themes involving sex and sadomasochism that would best be handled by an older teen, but the writing style is so simplistic, as to only be challenging to a middle school age child. Teens are not stupid, they need scenes and characters that challenge and engage them.

This brings me to my next problem with this novel. The characters are both shallow in character and substance. I did not care that Janet, Kaye's supposed best friend, was killed because she was less than one dimensional as a character. The same goes for when Corny is kidnapped, I did not care because I did not know enough about him as a character to have even a drop of emotional investment in the characters.

Unfortunately I will be reading the next novel in this series Valiant, as it was a 2006 Locus YA Nominated book and I am working on this award list right now, but I wish I had just skipped this first novel. Just do yourself a favor and skip this novel all together, because sometimes the hype is just that!