Weak, formulaic romantic and supernatural plots are offset by rich, setting-driven subplots.
Following Ink (2013), Katie and Tomohiro, a Kami (descendant of a Japanese god), cope with the danger he poses to her.
Katie and Tomo’s hopes that they can finally be together are dashed when the ink he holds mastery over dramatically malfunctions. Tomo’s powerful, moving, living sketches are dangerous (especially for Katie), so for the sake of their relationship and her safety, they struggle to learn how to control them. Katie researches both Tomo’s struggles and her own connection to the ink by secretly meeting former adversary Jun; Tomo disapproves of their friendship and cannot know. The plot delivers Katie’s answers easily, deploying just a few twists at the end. More interestingly, since Jun and Ishikawa ended up in the hospital at the end of Ink, police suspect the two kendo adepts have fallen afoul of a Yakuza gambling plot and so have their eye on fellow kendouka Tomo; the heroes must keep the true supernatural explanations secret. The least magical plot is perhaps the strongest—Katie’s determined to learn kanji in order to avoid transfer to an English-speaking school, all the while coping with her outsider status. The lovingly drawn depiction of Japan will make readers want to visit. The conclusion, rushed compared to the otherwise leisurely pacing, sets up the sequel.
Weak, formulaic romantic and supernatural plots are offset by rich, setting-driven subplots. (Japanese glossary, acknowledgments) (Paranormal romance. 12-17)Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-373-21111-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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