Tithe discussion

I was wondering if this book is worth not juts reading, but to buy? Also, is this book anything like the mortal instruments series by Cassandra Clare??? Besdies the book being centered on fairys?

I don't think it is worth owning. I own the whole series. I have only read it once, and I can't even bring myself to read it again. I think it is more perverse than the mortal instrument series. Plus, I find it very confusing with a lot of descriptions. So, after all that. My vote to own is a no.

I thought it was a pretty good series. I don't know about buying it though.

I was just going to ask the same questions, Rachel. I bought the last one: 'Ironside' because it was like $5. but havn't read it yet. now i have a bit more insight on it.

I read it so long ago that my opinion might not count. But, I wanted to say I remember enjoying it a lot. I don't know how old you are, but I think it's more enjoyable for an older teen/more mature kid. I just remember it containing more mature material than I was used to seeing in young adult lit.

Okay.....I heard about that....

It's a lot darker dealing with addiction, sex, rape(I think this one or it could have been a later one in the series), homelessness.
It's not really the like Mortal instruments in that there is a heroes journey and a goal that runs through the books, or at least that's how I remember it.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series. (The 2nd one not as much and the 3rd one not much at all.) If you like grungy, urban fantasy, you'll like this. But if you're in doubt, just check if your local library has it. (If not, see if they have an inter-library loan system.)

What order is the series? I have Ironside. Is that the third one?

1.Tithe,
2.Valiant,
3.Ironside

I for one really like these books, but I am in the age range for it--YA. Also Cassandra Clare has referenced theses books a few times in her Mortal Instruments series..so I suppose that means she is a fan of Holly Black or she is a friend of hers...It's not really similar to the MI series, but if you're a fan of YA urban fantasies you should enjoy it well enough.

You don't really need to worry about the order of the books; I read book 3, Ironside first and got along fine. Also, Valiant has different characters.

I haven't read Cassandra Clare, but I love Holly Black. She mixes high fantasy with low grunge for a really interesting story. They're quick, absorbing reads.

If you don't like darker material--drug use, murder, abuse, violence--you won't like these. If you're okay with them, check it out. Black sucked me in from page one.

-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive

Fallon wrote: "I read it so long ago that my opinion might not count. But, I wanted to say I remember enjoying it a lot. I don't know how old you are, but I think it's more enjoyable for an older teen/more mature..."

I read 2 of her books - I felt there was more mature material in these YA books than in many of adult fantasy books. I felt some issues were too dark & harshly dealt with, and often just gratuitous - adding no importance to the story at all. I gave the books away & will need to be convinced why, if I should attempt another of Black's books.

Oh god yes. This was the series that started me going back to reading Young Adult novels. I absolutely love some of the more adult themes she tackled here, some of which I see are listed already in comments in this thread.

If a mature take on fairies, young adult themes and, frankly, also some adult themes, seems like something you'd read more than once, I'd say go ahead and buy it and the two 'sequels'. One of the clever things about this trilogy is that the author chose to follow two completely different plot lines in the first two books and then have most of those characters meet up together in the third.

In answer to the comparison against Cassie Clare's books, the gay relationship that is secondary to the main plot shares some similarities with the same plot in The Mortal Instruments and also with Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon trilogy. Other than that, and some recurring characters between the stories that are deliberate, they are different stories.