"Tithe" by Holly Black
May. 8th, 2009 01:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skysailorJust finished "Tithe" by Holly Black.
I shall try to not be spoilery, but no guarantees.
Okay, first I have to say that I really loved this book and will definitely be picking up the sequel... even though the sequel follows a different character. Huh. Well, the third one goes back to first-book MC, except the plot basis doesn't make any sense at all with the first book and...
*coughs* Right. Book. Loved. The world building was amazical, I loved how there was no "good" side and everything you think should be "good" isn't, it's beautifully gritty and the main character is wonderfully well-developed. Author did a great job on everyone from the normal world she interacted with...
...but not on her love interest. Okay, he's hot. And it's obvious he does have this big backstory thing. And for most stories, his level of characterization would be fine. But in a story where so much is deeply delved into and messed with and drawn out in harsh and bitterly realistic lines, his characterization seemed almost shallow. It perhaps wouldn't have been, but then we had to deal with that horrible thing that plagues way too much fiction, throughout time forever and ever...
Insta-romance.
Insta-romance is like instant coffee. It's what you drink when you have no other option, but let's be honest, there's no quality and it just kind of sucks. Good romance needs to slowly brew, so that when the characters are finally drowning in that doki-doki high, it makes the remotest amount of sense.
Insta-romance was a problem here. The lead pairing meet maybe two or three times, barely talk, and yet suddenly he's so in love with her and it's so obvious that he's never felt this way before except for that one manipulative bitch and now he'll do anything for her.
Because, you know, in that two or three times they met, she totally outbraved everyone he'd ever seen. Except where she totally didn't. Don't get me wrong, I like the main character - but at the very least, can we have them stuck in a room together for 24 hours or something so they can actually get to know each other before they're terribly in love?
Anyway, good book, go read. Shoo.
I shall try to not be spoilery, but no guarantees.
Okay, first I have to say that I really loved this book and will definitely be picking up the sequel... even though the sequel follows a different character. Huh. Well, the third one goes back to first-book MC, except the plot basis doesn't make any sense at all with the first book and...
*coughs* Right. Book. Loved. The world building was amazical, I loved how there was no "good" side and everything you think should be "good" isn't, it's beautifully gritty and the main character is wonderfully well-developed. Author did a great job on everyone from the normal world she interacted with...
...but not on her love interest. Okay, he's hot. And it's obvious he does have this big backstory thing. And for most stories, his level of characterization would be fine. But in a story where so much is deeply delved into and messed with and drawn out in harsh and bitterly realistic lines, his characterization seemed almost shallow. It perhaps wouldn't have been, but then we had to deal with that horrible thing that plagues way too much fiction, throughout time forever and ever...
Insta-romance.
Insta-romance is like instant coffee. It's what you drink when you have no other option, but let's be honest, there's no quality and it just kind of sucks. Good romance needs to slowly brew, so that when the characters are finally drowning in that doki-doki high, it makes the remotest amount of sense.
Insta-romance was a problem here. The lead pairing meet maybe two or three times, barely talk, and yet suddenly he's so in love with her and it's so obvious that he's never felt this way before except for that one manipulative bitch and now he'll do anything for her.
Because, you know, in that two or three times they met, she totally outbraved everyone he'd ever seen. Except where she totally didn't. Don't get me wrong, I like the main character - but at the very least, can we have them stuck in a room together for 24 hours or something so they can actually get to know each other before they're terribly in love?
Anyway, good book, go read. Shoo.
