Tithe by Holly Black

Tithe is about a girl named Kaye who can see faeries. When she was young, she had three faerie friends. When she moves back to her childhood home with her mother, she finds her faerie friends again. They tell her about a plan to help out all faeries, and they need her help. She agrees and ends up in way over her head.

This book is very odd and I found it to be pretty confusing, especially at the end. Overall, it was an interesting book, but not my favorite. I'll probably read the next book, Valiant, just because I want to know what happens in it. I liked that Kaye was portrayed as a "real" teenager, but it also teaches young adults that it's OK and normal to smoke and drink alcohol when they're under-age. Eh, I guess Holly Black is just not my favorite author.

3 out of 5 stars

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black

I read all five books of The Spiderwick Chronicles in a row. The books are about Jared Grace; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister Mallory. The siblings move into their great-aunt's old house with their mother. Not long after, strange things begin to happen that can't be explained. Jared finds a book that his great-great-uncle had written that contains information about faeries that we can't see although they live in our world. Jared soon discovers that there are faeries who want the book and they'll do anything to get it.

There are five very short books in this series. It could have been written as one larger book, though. They were a very short, easy read. I enjoyed these books even though they are written for a much younger audience. I would say that they are similar in appearance and have the same target audience as the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. I thought this was a cute series and it's great for younger kids. I'm interested in seeing the movie now to see how it compares to the books.

3 out of 5 stars