Simply stunning.
This stand-alone companion to Tucholke’s The Boneless Mercies (2018) reimagines the legend of King Arthur—with a twist.
Eighteen-year-old narrator Torvi and her 14-year-old sister, Morgunn, are the only survivors of the devastating plague that swept through their steading. Torvi especially aches for her mother and Viggo, the shepherd who captured her heart. The arrival of a druid named Gyda shatters their quiet existence: She claims to be on a quest for a magical sword and that Uther, the fearsome wolf-queen of the feral wolf-priests, can lead her to it. The sisters jump at the chance to join her. Torvi’s mother always told her that she was too softhearted and not destined for greatness, but Viggo insisted that she smelled of “dark forests, of gloomy caves, of exotic spices, of danger, of battle, of sacrifice, of hard-won victory.” When Morgunn is kidnapped by Uther and her pack, Torvi vows to rescue her. Joined by a band of wandering, knife-wielding artisans, they set out for the long journey, picking up new quests and allies along the way. Tucholke delivers exquisite worldbuilding and imaginative characters, and Torvi’s tale is packed with peril and no small amount of sacrifice—even a touch of romance. Her story also speaks to the joy found in spending time with loyal friends as well as the power and magic of storytelling. Readers won’t want this one to end. All characters seem to be white.
Simply stunning. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30709-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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