I did not expect to actually really like this. I first read this book in 2011 or so when I basically read everything my local library had to offer and a month ago this library had a sale and they sold Tithe! For like 50 cents! So I had to get it because I like fantasy and I remember liking these book AND because Cassandra Clare basically uses Holly Black's Faerie world for her own books so I wanted to read the other version of that as well, I guess?

This is not a book I love dearly or something like that but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it was such a fun and quick read. Holly Black's style is fast-paced and not too heavy on descriptions (which I like) but the fantastic world of faeries and the Seelie and Unseelie courts still come to life in a vivid and interesting way.

The characters all seem a bit... basic... Kaye is Tough™ until she isn't, her family is fucked up, her Faerie Prince is even darker and has Secrets™ and of course, nothing is like it seems at first. But they still mangage to be fun and interesting and even though many of the relationships between the characters were quite cliché, I felt like they were fleshed out and made for a relatable story (not the "oh, you're actually green part", though)

The plot was full of twists, even though some were a bit predictable, and Tithe is definitely a darker story than I remembered. There's lots of death and cruelty.

The one thing that really made me cringe is the romance part. It's quite.... unbelievable, instalove kind of thing, but it also fits really well into this kind of book. I don't know, I can't really love it but it could have been way worse.

Someone please tell me who hurt this cover, though. At least the German version has a better font above those ugly wings.