Sonorous motifs and resonant archetypes form the backbone of this series conclusion, which shows Maerad and Hem traveling long distances on foot as they toil toward their cryptic task. Edil-Amarandh’s war between the Dark and the Light has wrenched the orphaned siblings apart after their brief acquaintance. Each sibling holds half of the ancient Treesong, which Maerad needs to sing to make it “whole” again, though nobody knows how or what that will mean. Actual battles are few in this installment—which is as sweetly Tolkien-colored as the previous ones—but vast armies of the Dark march through the land and a monstrous doom threatens. Croggon splinters the narrative perspective for the first time here, creating a sense of unease as the climax builds. Her prose is aesthetically romantic without romanticizing anything; scars of sadness are shown unflinchingly, but when Maerad registers a celebratory evening at the end as “rich and vivid and luminous with joy snatched back from the dark,” she could be describing this series. Start with the First Book (The Naming, 2002). (map, appendices) (Fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3665-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009
A popcorn read with a good balance of criminal profiling, magick, and romance.
A new city means a new serial killer for Catrin and Simon to chase.
Following the events of Blood and Moonlight (2022), Cat and Simon escape Collis, traveling to Londunium on the island of Brinsulli. Cat wants to take advantage of her half-Selenae heritage and blood magick by training as a physician at the Selenae’s akademium. Their first day in the city, the pair find and help capture a predator, in the process befriending Martin, a young reeve, or lawman, who, impressed by Simon’s powers of deduction, ends up letting them in on a series of deaths he thinks are connected. The Selenae accept Cat on the strength of her magick but disapprove of her relationship with outsider Simon (the two pretended to be married for ease of travel, a ruse that they find hard to drop). Cat learns more about how magick works and is drawn into a conflict between two higher-ups at the akademium. The serial killer storyline starts off strong with substantial obstacles, but it’s marred by a plot twist that’s very similar to one in the first novel and a solution that feels obvious. The Selenae intrigue is also a little too easy to see through. The central relationship is superb, though, maintaining tension without undermining what’s already been established and culminating in tasteful, fade-to-black moments. The fast pace keeps things fun. Characters in this fantasy Britain read white.
A popcorn read with a good balance of criminal profiling, magick, and romance. (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781250755841
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
A striking testament to the bonds of family and a perceptive study in how events can echo throughout generations.
Two young women from a Black Hollywood dynasty navigate the choppy waters of 21st-century celebrity while grieving the death of their famous great-grandmother.
Through decades of commitment to her craft and resilience in the face of discrimination, Blossom “Bebe” Blackwood cemented her legacy as an award-winning Black actor and trailblazer. When Blossom passes away at the age of 96, her family celebrates their beloved matriarch and feels adrift without her guidance. This is especially true for 17-year-old cousins Ardith and Hollis Blackwood, who sometimes struggle with the challenges of being born into a highly visible family. Bebe was best friend to Ardith, a devout churchgoer and rising actor. For Hollis, a grounded high schooler content to remain on the outskirts of the Hollywood elite, Bebe represented the beauty of triumph over adversity. As the teens adjust to their new normal, a long-buried secret comes to light, forever changing their perceptions of the great-grandmother they all thought they knew. Colbert’s sprawling novel is a deeply felt love letter to Black Hollywood’s groundbreaking forebears and a tribute to the transformative power of maternal love. Chapters alternate between the voices of the teens in the present day and Blossom’s heartbreaking journey to stardom, providing rich emotional insights layered with thoughtful explorations of the intersectionalities around race, class, and gender.
A striking testament to the bonds of family and a perceptive study in how events can echo throughout generations. (family tree, author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063091597
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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