"Tithe" by Holly Black (published 2002)


Holly Black’s “Tithe” introduces us to Kaye, a teenage girl who is living a rough and tumble – and very real – life in New Jersey. Her mother is an extremely laid-back rock-star… who drinks and smokes. It is typical for Kaye to comfort her mother… and while Kaye’s grandmother, who lives with them, is a little more freaked out about Kaye’s life – a life in which Kaye decides to drop out of school and hang around with her best friend Janet instead, her frustration doesn’t really go far. Kaye decides to apply for a job at the local gas station. And she has to figure things out. She has to understand things. Things not that many teenagers or anyone at all would ever understand… including her best friend.

Honestly, this book gets complicated, and it’s totally worth it to read. The title itself should suggest that this may be a world we are unfamiliar with… “tithe”… what does it mean? It's simple definition is "payment" but the best definitions are in story form. The world Kaye finds herself in is a magical one, where unexplainable things happen. Gristle and Lutie were her friends when she was a little girl, and these friends were very different than Janet. Janet lives in the trailer park with her brother Corny, a place where Kaye visits often; she loves the both of them. While on the outside it may seem like they are doing mundane things, like watching TV, shopping, or going to the diner with some guys, both of them are living lives far from mundane. For Kaye, this means the occurrence of magical things. Oh, by the way, Gristle and Lutie are fairies.

This book is romantic and sexy, without being overtly so. What would it be like to accidentally put an enchantment on your best friend’s boyfriend to make him fall in love with you? What would it feel like to fall in love with a cruel fairy? What would you learn about life and death in a world so different than ours, a world of the Seelie and Unseelie, of evil Queens, of horses that emerge from rivers? Kaye struggles to balance her human life with the magic one. But once she finds out who she really is, will she be able to face the mortal world the same way?

This short blurb does not do justice to the ethereal and melancholy nature of this book, not to mention its amazing introduction to the real truth about fairies and fantasy. Also, the descriptions of space and place are simultaneously sensory and surreal. Some of the story is reminiscent of Francesca Lia Block, in terms of aesthetic quality, but “Tithe” is a universe of its own, and there’s probably nothing out there like it. I’m SO looking forward to reading more.

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