Oh, but I will admit - I fucking love Roiben. And not in a delicious way - in a way that’s really annoying because she keeps fucking up and the narrative doesn’t notice or criticize it. I found that she was one of those early YA protagonists who’s written just generic enough that she’s easy to make into a self insert. I don’t mean that she’s flawed – though she is – I mean, I actively didn’t like her at all, and I love unlikable lady leads. Kaye, though, is a really unlikable lead. She is a member of the fairy world of the human world and she can’t figure out which one is which. There is no easy fix for Kaye’s life no box to easily fit into. Every time I dive into one of her books, I find myself both terrified and enamored with her fairy world, and I am so okay with that.Īnd more importantly, this is a very thematically strong book! There’s the fantastic meta-narrative about growing up, and learning to live with how others perceive you. The way Holly Black draws her fairy worlds and fairy characters is genuinely so imaginative, gorgeous, and… creepy. So first of all, on the good side… the fairies. And some of how Kaye’s being biracial is introduced… rubbed me the wrong way? I can’t really figure out why. Everything that happens with Corny kind of pisses me off a lot. I mean, this text has a bunch of homophobia and racism in there for “realism,” and yet somehow it still managed to sound like How No Teen Talks Ever. Let’s get the complaining out of the way: god, I fucking hate 2004 YA.

This… was so fun, and a four star book for me, and also it bugged the shit out of me to the point where I texted someone to bitch about it. This is one of those rare few books that really shows me why we need a 3 1/2 star rating, and I don’t like to give 1/2 stars. If curiosity killed the cat, it was satisfaction that brought it back.

Holly black tithe series order