Fast and intense, both in action and emotions—readers who liked Entangledwill love its sequel.
Following Entangled (2013), rock star–turned–would-be savior Cade makes a stand to save humanity from the Unmakers.
Using her psychic musical abilities, Cade discovers the location of her mother and, with her plucky band of friends, crewmates and living spaceship, succeeds in reaching her—though her mother’s badly afflicted by the crippling catatonia of spacesick. The mother-daughter reunion is interrupted by an Unmakers’ attack. Cade and company rescue as many as they can before learning just how devastating the attack really was. Prompted by the need to take care of the survivors, Cade decides the time is right to unite the fragments of humanity scattered across the universe and sets off to find them. While Cade pulls together her fleet and defends it, she uncovers crucial information about her musically entangled connection to the universe, spacesick, the nature of Unmakers and her own friends. Cade and Rennik’s attraction to each other wars with their priorities, creating believable romantic tension. The action consistently builds: in stakes, in tension and especially in personal costs to characters. While unanswered worldbuilding questions occasionally stress suspension of disbelief, complicated twists and swift pacing keep readers moving forward. The ending completes the major story arc while still leaving a few (mostly logistical) questions about what’s next for the remainders of humanity.
Fast and intense, both in action and emotions—readers who liked Entangledwill love its sequel. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-08737-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)
In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.
Eden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. You know that. No one. Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. For the remainder of Eden’s freshman year, she withdraws from her family and becomes increasingly full of hatred for Kevin and the world she feels failed to protect her. But when a friend mentions that she’s “reinventing” herself, Eden embarks on a hopeful plan to do the same. She begins her sophomore year with new clothes and friendly smiles for her fellow students, which attract the romantic attentions of a kind senior athlete. But, bizarrely, Kevin’s younger sister goes on a smear campaign to label Eden a “totally slutty disgusting whore,” which sends Eden back toward self-destruction. Eden narrates in a tightly focused present tense how she withdraws again from nearly everyone and attempts to find comfort (or at least oblivion) through a series of nearly anonymous sexual encounters. This self-centeredness makes her relationships with other characters feel underdeveloped and even puzzling at times. Absent ethnic and cultural markers, Eden and her family and classmates are likely default white.
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4935-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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