A not-to-be-missed sequel marked by action, mystery, lively dialogue, and steady character growth.
The sequel to Rule for Thieves (2017) finds recovering thief Alli Rosco struggling to stay on the straight and narrow as she settles into a new life with her long-lost older brother.
Just as Alli begins feeling at home with Ronan, her friend and Thieves Guild member Beck Reigler shows up with bad news. The Shadow Guild, an organization composed of Thieves Guild defectors, is plotting to overthrow their former guild’s current king. They’ve stolen the King’s Coin, a concrete symbol of the king’s authority. Beck wants Alli to help him steal back the coin and return it to the king. Almost-13-year-old Alli is hesitant. She doesn’t want to disappoint her brother or endanger her one chance at a family. The deciding factor: Her brother’s name is on the Shadows’ hit list, right under the king’s. Just one more theft, and Alli is done for good. But experience has taught her that nothing is easy; she’ll have to balance well-behaved New Alli with reckless Old Alli if she wants to survive. Narrator Alli (who is again described as “tan,” along with Ronan) is mercurial, smart-mouthed, and quick on her feet. Ronan’s girlfriend, Mari, an important secondary character, has brown skin, as does Beck. This preindustrial, minimally magical fantasy world has racial differences, but its society is not racialized; nevertheless, white is default.
A not-to-be-missed sequel marked by action, mystery, lively dialogue, and steady character growth. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7277-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike.
Even robot cats have a mind of their own.
All 12-year-old Canadian Lacey Chu’s ever wanted was to become a companioneer like her idol, Monica Chan, co-founder of the largest tech firm in North America, Moncha Corp., and mastermind behind the baku. Bakus, “robotic pets with all the features of a smartphone,” revolutionized society and how people interact with technology. As a companioneer, Lacey could work on bakus: designing, innovating, and building. When she receives a grant rejection from Profectus Academy of Science and Technology, a school that guarantees employment at Moncha Corp., she’s devastated. A happenstance salvaging of a mangled cat baku might just change the game. Suddenly, Lacey’s got an in with Profectus and is one step closer to her dream. Jinx, however, is not quite like the other bakus—he’s a wild cat that does things without commands. Together with Jinx, Lacey will have to navigate competitive classmates and unsettling corporate secrets. McCulloch effectively strikes a balance between worldbuilding and action. High-stakes baku battles demonstrate the emotional bond between (robotic) pet and owner. Readers will also connect to the relationships the Asian girl forges with her diverse classmates, including a rivalry with Carter (a white boy who’s the son of Moncha’s other co-founder, Eric Smith), a burgeoning crush on student Tobias, who’s black, and evolving friendships new and old. While some mysteries are solved, a cliffhanger ending raises even more for the next installment.
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike. (Science fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8374-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
