Engaging heroes headline a diverting fantasy that never takes itself too seriously.
Youthful interdimensional travelers scour a queendom to find their nemesis in this fourth installment of Supplee’s YA series.
Teenager Winnie, her wizard boyfriend, Kip, and her younger stepbrother, Mikey—multiversal travelers—have just returned to Earth from an alternate world. But a time guardian needs them to stop the nefarious wizard Thaddeus Krell, who’s determined to steal a Frama-scope (a device for traveling to other realms). He’s located in Frama-12, now called Boge-Landia, a place the youngsters have already traveled to. Mikey is happy to return; his soul is tied to General Takka, a toad-like “voga” prince who’s currently frozen in a block of ice there, and Mikey/Takka hopes to reunite with his Boge-Landia mother, Queen Bogen, even if he’s in his 6-year-old human “vessel.” The region’s oracle threatens to take away Kip’s magic if he keeps using it, as it interferes with her own search for Krell. But how can Winnie and Kip help track down the fiendish wizard without magic? Winnie also worries about Mikey, since he’ll no longer exist if Takka “decide[s] to reinhabit his original body.” Supplee’s breezy tale doesn’t progress with much urgency; rather than immediately hunt for Krell, the kids visit the queen first and agree to complete her task (finding Mikey/Takka’s missing prince brother). The trio’s relationships are superbly rendered; Winnie truly cares for her brother, and her romance with Kip is still relatively new—a shuffle of minor squabbles and “yummy” kisses. Readers unfamiliar with the preceding entries in the series will initially be lost as they attempt to parse such narrative elements as Mikey’s link with General Takka or the reason behind Kip’s bogus Aussie lilt. These story points eventually make sense, and the growing perils enliven the adventure (someone threatens to thaw Takka’s frozen body, and an apparent attempt to poison the queen’s sons comes to light). The travelers all get the chance to showcase their unique skills.
Engaging heroes headline a diverting fantasy that never takes itself too seriously.Pub Date: June 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781509265671
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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