this is not the first time i've read this, but a few things now really stand out to me about this book: this is not holly black's first published work, but this story in particular seems to really exemplify her writing style in a big way. you'll see this formula established in this novel of a 17 to 18 year old weird quirky girl with some strange relationship to her personhood being introduced to a new sense of independence, or maybe with a history of being wildly independent, with a complex relationship to her mother, repeated in multiple other stories by holly black. it becomes redundant, yes, but the part of these books that shines the brightest for me is the clarity with which the author writes about fairy myth. she has such a firm grip on the tropes and trappings of european fairy mythology that even when i don't find myself fully engaged by her characters, i am still delighted by the fae folk and lands that feature in the story. the other part of this story that feels particularly good to me is the nostalgic edginess of the main character and the interesting way that poverty is addressed. the edginess is not going to be to everyone's taste, but it scratched an itch in my brain that rarely sees the light of day. holly black's understanding of poverty is also very realistic, and also satisfies me in a deep way.
the first time i read tithe, the part that stuck with me the most was the side character cornelius. he is also the first in a line of characters that i view as holly black classics, which is the gay side character who is always some kind of unfortunate and awkward young man who gets along very well with the quirky female main character. i love corny. he is one of the best of all time. he is also the reason why i ended up rereading tithe recently, because i remembered his storyline in the book with more clarity than any other part of the story. if you want to read about a fucked up gay character who has a great character arc, i highly recommend this story. hes responsible for the fourth star in my rating of this book.