Fairy fruit this ain’t.
Steampunk goblins, family secrets, and the lure of forbidden fruit.
This modern (think: a vinyl dress, facial piercings, and Astoria, Oregon, of The Goonies fame) fairy tale straddles a line somewhere between Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market (which is cited throughout) and Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (never explicitly mentioned but visual and linguistic homages abound). Seventeen-year-old Phoenix “Nix” Loring, a White girl with partial albinism, has tortured herself ever since Lark, her identical twin, died three years ago. She’s been filled with guilt at having been a bad sister—and now feels even more guilt due to her growing feelings for Clarey, Lark’s brown-skinned boyfriend who has Waardenburg syndrome and suffers from panic attacks. This is enough material for a book all by itself but is mostly background for a Halloween adventure into Mystiquiel, a magical world Nix has drawn since Lark’s death, where cyborg faeries and goblins are ruled by the Goblin King, who is locked in a power struggle with an entity known as the Motherboard. The drawn-out adventure takes only a day in the protagonist’s world, with plenty of lush description and endless overthinking surrounding some whimsical set pieces as Nix navigates riddles and mind games. Nix holds her grief and guilt tightly until her magical adventure gives her perspective; a final twist changes the stakes and sets up at least one sequel.
Fairy fruit this ain’t. (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0808-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Inspiring and heartwarming.
The future is female: Her name is President Diffenderfer.
Best friends since kindergarten, Ava, CJ, Jordan, and Martha tackle their senior year with great aplomb in Watson’s debut. When their senior rite of passage, carving one’s name into the jungle gym at a local park, is threatened by a city council that wants to demolish the park, the girls rally to save the place where they became friends. This is far from their only problem: Though each is talented, they struggle this year with emotional, academic, social, and financial issues. Latinx artist Ava, who lives with depression, desires to find her birth mother and attend art school against her mother’s wishes; white cross-country athlete CJ, who is self-conscious about her body, can’t crack the SATs, so she strengthens her college application by volunteering with disabled children; biracial (black/white) student journalist Jordan lies about her age to interview a handsome councilman’s aide, and a mutual crush develops; STEM-focused white lesbian Martha, named for her ancestor Martha Washington, worries that her family can’t afford MIT. Over the course of the year, the friends weather obstacles and realize the power of their friendship. Their relationship prepares one of the girls to become president of the United States, and the twist ending will come as a surprise. The characters are superbly drawn; portrayed as whole people, the various elements of their identities are not the entirety of who they are.
Inspiring and heartwarming. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-45483-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poppy/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Only the most determined fantasy aficionados will see this through to the end.
A young witch searches for her true identity while battling sinister magical forces.
Liora Duval is a young mage whose distinctive glowing skin makes her a target for evil forces. She lives with her father and sisters on the outskirts of Sylvan, an old village in the magical land of Antalla; her mother was killed by a falling star. Liora knows that her magic is a liability and tries to hide it most of the time. However, she is ignorant of her true powers. After the powerful warlock Lord Darius invites Liora’s little sister, Mina, to his palace, where he uses her and other mages for his own nefarious ends, Liora becomes an apprentice to the witch Margana. She helps her weave magical tapestries that come to life when the final knot is tied. Events take a dark turn when Liora and Evran, Margana’s son and Liora’s childhood love, become trapped in a dark tapestry landscape full of scary creatures. The two must struggle to escape. The tone of the narrative is overwhelmingly threatening, at times hinting at violence. Overall, a lack of plot development and the sometimes-meandering pace of the narrative may cause readers to lose interest along the way. All characters present White.
Only the most determined fantasy aficionados will see this through to the end. (map) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-335-40565-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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