With this second installment, Carter has hit her stride.
This second installment in the Blackcoat Rebellion series dives further into the book’s dystopia, rounding out the imaginative future America outlined in Pawn (2013).
Kitty Doe, born, she believes, an Extra into a nation that rigidly ranks its citizens into lifelong roles, has taken the place of Lila, the daughter of the autocratic prime minister of the United States, surgically Masked to look like her. Kitty runs afoul of the powers that be in her new palatial home and finds herself shipped to Elsewhere, the deadly, inescapable detention area for criminals and other undesirables. In constant danger, she sleeps in an overcrowded dormitory, eats terrible food and works in a highly unpleasant job that furthers the book’s dystopian theme. Now the Blackcoats intend to launch a major attack, and they want her to use her unique position to steal codes that will allow them to unlock advanced weaponry. Doing so, however, will put Kitty in extreme danger and possibly get many others killed as well. With Kitty out of the palace, Carter’s dystopia is free to focus on the dreary and precarious lives of its victims. Character development joins worldbuilding in improvement as well, especially among the Elsewhere inmates who make difficult and deadly choices to survive, which often lead to extreme violence.
With this second installment, Carter has hit her stride. (Dystopian romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-373-21128-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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