It's always nice to see fantasylands outside the usual Western Europe–inspired model, and this dulogy’s faux-China is no exception (despite the white girl on the U.S. edition's cover). Eona the Dragoneye must save the world by controlling her spirit dragon, resisting evil impulses and making sure she doesn't fall for the wrong guy. Eona, now openly living as a girl, has joined the rebellion to put the rightful emperor on the throne. In Eon (2008), ten of the twelve Dragoneyes were killed, leaving only Eon and evil Lord Ido controlling spirit dragons that protect the empire. Now Eona must learn to manage her own dragon, and she can't do it without help from power-mad Ido. Her friends are troubled, from warrior Ryko’s fear that Eona can now control his mind to Lady Dela’s anguish that the needs of the rebellion are forcing her to travel disguised as a man, growing a beard in her hated male body. Eona, meanwhile, is torn between lustful feelings for both the Emperor and Ido, between the desire for power and her loyalty to the empire. Not as richly flavored a world as Cindy Pon’s Silver Phoenix (2009), but a steamy page turner nonetheless, tension slowly building from slow start to a climactic battle packed with large-scale combat, mystical battles and sexual tension. One of those rare and welcome fantasies that complicate black-and-white morality. (Fantasy. 12 & up)
Pub Date: April 19, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-670-06311-6
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
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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 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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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. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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