YA Fresh

A Dark, Edgy Modern Faerie Tale...

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (Simon & Schuster, 2003) by Holly Black, the first book in her Modern Faerie Tale series, is a dark and edgy YA fantasy.

The heroine Kaye is unique in her survival abilities and living an unsteady lifestyle with her mother who is a musician. But when an attack is made on her mother's life, they return to Kaye's grandmother's home where she spent time growing up with her "imaginary" friends.

As Kaye tries to hang out with her old best friend, she starts to experience strange occurrences, and discovers her imaginary friends are not as fictitious as she thought.

One night she helps save someone's life...a faerie knight...and that is when Kaye's life begins to ultimately change forever. Her past is not what she had believed and she is not who she always believed.

Though the story is not too graphic, it has all the dark elements of a faerie fantasy with the Seelie and Unseelie court, and the gritty struggle between kingdoms that seem to have no boundries. This story keeps you enthralled with the unique world-building and romantic fantasy. I recommend this book for the older YA reader.

Tithe is a enthralling, dark fantasy to keep you up well into the night. :)