An often rousing personal quest that will have audiences looking forward to the next book.
Holman’s second romantasy series installment has warrior mermaid Jelly learning how to take care of herself during another adventure with her new mate and family.
Jelly has been having premonitory dreams, including one involving her fated mate Mako’s long-lost brother, Leif. Years ago, Leif disappeared into the Hellhole, a dimension where only fully Fae people may go, and he never came back. His devastated family had all but given up hope of ever finding him again, but Jelly’s new magic strands—acquired when they last saved the world—have allowed them to contact Leif, and they’re determined to rescue him. But doing so will require Jelly to get her new magic under control by regaining part of her soul that went missing after their last escapade. Jelly must undergo the trial of visiting the Soul Seeker Sundidarta and finding her “yellow,” although she doesn’t know what that term means at first. All their friends gather to assist in the mission, including her best friend, Mori, who, it turns out, has her own self-discoveries to make. The intricate details and personal growth of major and minor characters make for a welcome continuation of this saga. Holman’s new story can stand on its own, but it will likely compel newcomers to seek out the first volume in the series. That said, the fast-paced action can complicate readers’ efforts to keep all the characters and their backgrounds straight. Jelly’s realizations aren’t always insightful, but they effectively move the story forward: “I may only be one person, but when we act as a collective, we are mighty.” The detailed depth of the fantasy world will delight those who enjoy all-consuming magical realms that integrate cleanly with contemporary, nonmagical locales. Additionally, the nested narratives pertaining to bees are informative, if a bit preachy at times.
An often rousing personal quest that will have audiences looking forward to the next book.Pub Date: March 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780998426471
Page Count: 418
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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