A clever and charming time-travel adventure.
With help from a mysterious professor, three intrepid children travel back in time and then must figure out how to get home.
In this first installment of the Snipesville Chronicles, Laing (Look Ahead, Look Back, 2012) introduces three plucky children who accidentally stumble across the ability to travel back in time. Hannah Dias and her brother, Alex, have just moved from San Francisco to the sleepy town of Snipesville, Georgia, and Hannah especially is bored by her new surroundings. On their first day at a new summer camp, they meet Brandon, a young, nerdy African-American kid interested in World War II history. When the three encounter a mysterious professor, they suddenly find themselves in WWII–era London during the Blitz. With occasional help from the professor, who appears to guide them, Hannah, Alex, and Brandon must find a lost boy named George Braithwaite before they can return home; in the meantime, they must quickly adjust to their new surroundings. Laing, herself a history professor, crafts an endearing, clever story that remains coherent despite the perils of a time-travel plot. Her keen eye for historical detail of the period and the struggles the kids face (particularly Brandon) helps bring her setting vividly to life. Moreover, the lessons they learn and the dangers they face ring true as the kids slowly get a sense of life’s difficulties in the era. There are a few instances where dialogue and characterization fall a bit flat; for instance, sulky teenage Hannah has a few too many lines like “Why don’t you mind your own stupid business?” that feel a little canned. Nevertheless, the story’s charms will draw readers in and keep them engrossed until the very end, and the tightly structured narrative ensures that the pieces of the mystery come together well and that each twist feels plausible. This being the first of a series, let’s hope the next installments continue to infuse historical fiction with the same sense of joy and wonder.
A clever and charming time-travel adventure.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2007
ISBN: 978-0979476945
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Confusion Press
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.
What do you do when the voice in your head is real?
Lore, Bastian, and Gabe are all still alive following the events in The Foxglove King (2023), despite a ritual meant to take Lore’s life and usher in a new age for the god Apollius. But Lore, determined to live despite—or perhaps because of—her deep and unyielding connection to the magical death force Mortem, is unwilling to be used as a tool. Now that Bastian is no longer prince but Sainted King, Gabe is Priest Exalted, and Lore is the king’s deathwitch, her safety should be secure. The court, however, distrusts Lore and her uncanny powers, and even more dangerous are the gods, leaning ever closer and perhaps not so separate from the world as a thwarted ritual might imply. Bastian has been changing, able to control Spiritum, Mortem’s mirror image, in new and powerful ways, but also acting more erratic and strange. Meanwhile, the voice in Lore’s head is growing louder. To make matters worse, Gabe and Bastian can hardly look at each other, while Lore feels torn between the two of them and in need of both. In the second volume of the Nightshade Crown series, things go from bad to much worse, while a familiar gothic atmosphere looms oppressively around the characters. As Lore strives to keep as many people as safe as possible, others scheme with sinister forces and powerful magic. In a tense and atmospheric installment, Lore moves quickly between heart-pounding romantic encounters and adrenaline-filled moments facing danger and death.
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780316435291
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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