Tithe & Ironside by Holly Black Book Review

Tithe by Holly Black
(Simon Pulse, Paperback)
Rating:

Don't we all just love a good fairy tale? How about a twisted, dark one with a wonderfully flawed heroine? This isn't a watered down fairy tale where the princess is beautiful and the evil witch is easily vanquished. Kaye is a realistically flawed heroine who skips school and attracts the wrong kind of guys. When she accidentally binds a faery to her by learning his real name, Kaye finds herself in the middle of a faery war that threatens to take her life. My favorite part about this book was Kaye herself. The heroines in most books are always perfect...perfect clothes, perfect looks, and perfect families. Kaye's mom is in a not-very-good rock band and so Kaye has spent her life traveling around, skipping school and taking care of her mom. I also really liked Kaye's friend, Corny. Which brings me to my review of Ironside, the sequel to Tithe...

Ironside by Holly Black
(Margaret K. McElderry, Hardcover)
Rating:

I have to say that I enjoyed Tithe more than I enjoyed Ironside and it was mostly because Roiben, the faery who tells Kaye his name, doesn't have as big a role. (I totally had a crush on Roiben after reading Tithe). Instead, the focus was a little more on Kaye's friend Corny. Corny is a great character because he's also troubled...he's gay and, as a result, had some bad experiences with faeries in Tithe. But in Ironside, he's trying to face his fear (and fascination) of faeries and loyally helps Kaye on her quest to save her faery friends. This book is definitely worth reading if you like Tithe...and you should also try Holly Black's other novel, Valiant, which has a cameo appearance by some of the characters in Tithe.