TITHE: A Modern Faerie Tale

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

It's always fantastic to read one awesome book after another without finding a dud. And that's exactly what's been happening to me lately. Wow! I've had TITHE on my TBR pile for several years. Now, for one reason or another - mostly no reason at all - it kept getting pushed back to the back of the pile. Like I said, no good reason at all. :/

A few weeks back, I relocated most of my books into my daughter's room. I've got them just about everywhere, but it's going to stay that way until we paint, get new carpet, and buy new shelves for our bedroom. Could take months. But I pulled out this book in particular because I didn't want to wait too much longer to finally read it.

I'm so glad that I did. It was fantastic! I liked Kaye instantly. For all her hard exterior and quirky weirdness - not to mention her string of bad habits - she was a lovely girl. So it was easy to follow her on this journey of self-discovery.

When her mother gets attacked by her latest boyfriend, she and Kaye move back to the New Jersey shore. It's where Kaye grew up and used to go to school. It's also where she met her imaginary friends. Except, they're very real and she gets herself entangled into a mess going on between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

All I've got left to say is: awesome! I loved the dark edge in this story. The gritty, ugly and very real side of life mixed in with the magic and bizarre creatures. Oh, and I have to mention Roiben. Of course. Another very likeable character in spite of his actions. I also liked Corny.

This was such a fantastic read that I've already ordered VALIANT and IRONSIDE. Lol. It seems to be happening a lot lately. ;)