A fantastical world to get lost in.
A girl carves out her own destiny in this retelling of a classic Korean folktale.
In hopes of satisfying the Sea God and averting devastating floods and storms, villages sacrifice a fair maiden every year. People believe that when the true bride of the Sea God is found, all disasters and sacrifices will forever cease. Sixteen-year-old Mina’s focus is on saving her brother Joon, who breaks protocol to follow his love, this year’s sacrificial bride, out to sea. Joon plans to fight the Sea God’s dragon servant, but Mina stows away on the boat and throws herself into the water instead. After Mina wakes up in the Spirit Realm, she finds a ribbon—the Red String of Fate—wound around her palm and connecting her to a handsome young Sea God who seems caught in an enchantment. Suddenly nobleman Lord Shin and his cohorts appear, severing the ribbon and thereby taking Mina’s soul. Shin argues this is necessary for the safety of the Sea God and peace within the realm. Soulless and now also voiceless, Mina must navigate the politics and warring gods of the Spirit Realm to retrieve her soul and break the Sea God’s enchantment in order to bring peace to both human and spirit worlds. Oh weaves an intricate and engaging tale. At times, the packed plot interrupts the flow of Mina’s quest, but captivated readers will long to be pulled deeper into the story.
A fantastical world to get lost in. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-78086-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell...
Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.
The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK TO SCREEN
A romance born from danger with a fantastic buildup.
Secrets of the past and familial tensions abound in this sequel that teases forbidden romance.
Quell’s connection to her toushana, or dark magic, poses such a great threat to the magical Order of grand Houses, haughty debutantes, and high-stakes bureaucracy that the powerful Dragun brotherhood has determined she must die. Jordan, a former lover still hurt by Quell’s decision to bind to her toushana, is leading the charge—and unbeknownst to them both, Yagrin, his brother who has long hated the Order, has sided with Quell under false pretenses. The narration alternates among the voices of Quell, Jordan, and Nore, who wants a simpler life than her role as heir to the House of Ambrose can afford her; she’s dedicated to resolving this problem by any means necessary. The racially diverse cast of characters is large and at times unwieldy, but as Quell decides to leave the safe houses that have kept her hidden and reenter the world of lavish magical balls to find her long-lost mother, reminders of the earlier volume—beautiful gowns, cattiness, fish-out-of-water awkwardness—bring all the threads together, allowing for continued worldbuilding and a fuller story. Ultimately, Quell and Jordan’s tension boils over into the passionate romance it was always meant to be as the two partner with Yagrin and Nore to reveal the Order’s biggest secrets and potentially change the future of magic forever.
A romance born from danger with a fantastic buildup. (author’s note, histories of the houses, map, lexicon) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593527733
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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