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SEASONS OF FLESH AND FLAME

Sadly, there’s little magic here.

Twin sisters navigate life after a magical adventure in 2022’s Shades of Rust and Ruin.

Lark, previously believed dead, has returned to Astoria, Oregon, to pick up her life, although to do so she must impersonate her twin sister, Nix. Meanwhile, alternate chapters follow Nix, who’s now the Architect and savior of Mystiquiel, the faerie land where Lark lived, loved, and broke everything. Neither sister is entirely sympathetic, particularly angry, embittered Lark, who seems intent upon blaming others, especially Nix, for the consequences of her own choices. Meanwhile, in Mystiquiel, Nix negotiates her longing for Clarey, who was once Lark’s boyfriend and is now Nix’s love. She learns that Lark betrayed her, even as she revels in exploring her creativity as she remakes the faerie world according to her artistic vision. Things are complicated. The rivalry between Goblin King Perish and Scourge, his wicked brother, adds an active plotline to the largely emotional, often-internal happenings. Overwrought similes, word choices that sometimes obscure meaning, and largely indistinguishable character voices do nothing to elevate this lavishly described but thinly plotted tale. Readers who persevered through the first volume will appreciate the neatly resolved conclusion that hurdles seemingly insurmountable odds thanks to love and magic. Of the human characters, Lark and Nix are cued white, while Clarey presents Black.

Sadly, there’s little magic here. (Fantasy. 12-16)

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024

ISBN: 9781547608126

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024

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LEGENDARY

From the Caraval series , Vol. 2

Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.

Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.

Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.

Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)

Pub Date: May 29, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018

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THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

From the Girl of Fire and Thorns series , Vol. 1

Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...

Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.

Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.

Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011

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