An interesting premise unevenly executed.
Eighteen-year-old Venus Stoneheart is a witcher with a pain-filled past and an uncertain future.
In an alternate version of the greater Washington, D.C., metro area, Venus’ mother, the formidable Clarissa Stoneheart, used to be the Love Witcher. She broke her pledge to only brew love potions, lost her magic as a consequence, and then turned her attention to teaching Venus, the new Love Witcher, “her 3-B philosophy…Get your bag, brew, and bounce.” When Clarissa is murdered, Venus is tested to her limits as she fights external forces by using her calling (her magical ability to brew) for political gain while also struggling to quiet the deviation (or trauma-inflicted corruption of her calling) that infects her. The deviation, which she calls It, can give Venus access to immense power, but she’s still haunted, in more ways than she realizes, by the first time it was uncaged, when she was 15. The buildup to action takes some time, and the plot can be confusing to follow, given the digressions to explain the worldbuilding. Characters are alternately centered, pushed to the periphery, and then brought into focus again, seemingly in service of filling plot gaps but without necessarily moving the story forward. Patient readers will eventually encounter unexpected twists and turns that provide an exciting and satisfying ending. Recipes for potions readers can brew themselves deepen the pull into this witchery world.
An interesting premise unevenly executed. (content warning, author’s note, glossary) (Fantasy. 15-18)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728251950
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Only marginally intriguing.
In a remote part of Utah, in a “temple of excellence,” the best of the best are recruited to nurture their talents.
Redemption Preparatory is a cross between the Vatican and a top-secret research facility: The school is rooted in Christian ideology (but very few students are Christian), Mass is compulsory, cameras capture everything, and “maintenance” workers carry Tasers. When talented poet Emma disappears, three students, distrusting of the school administration, launch their own investigation. Brilliant chemist Neesha believes Emma has run away to avoid taking the heat for the duo’s illegal drug enterprise. Her boyfriend, an athlete called Aiden, naturally wants to find her. Evan, a chess prodigy who relies on patterns and has difficulty processing social signals, believes he knows Emma better than anyone. While the school is an insidious character on its own and the big reveal is slightly psychologically disturbing, Evan’s positioning as a tragic hero with an uncertain fate—which is connected to his stalking of Emma (even before her disappearance)—is far more unsettling. The ’90s setting provides the backdrop for tongue-in-cheek technological references but doesn’t do anything for the plot. Student testimonials and voice-to-text transcripts punctuate the three-way third-person narration that alternates among Neesha, Evan, and Aiden. Emma, Aiden, and Evan are assumed to be white; Neesha is Indian. Students are from all over the world, including Asia and the Middle East.
Only marginally intriguing. (Mystery. 15-18)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-266203-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gruesomely violent with a disheartening take on the future.
A troubled teen in a zombie-infested landscape finds energy and purpose in killing.
Sixteen-year-old Quinn Wallace, surrendered by her adoptive parents at age 6 after just four years with them, is marking the time until she turns 18 and can leave the Pegasus Center, a residential treatment facility in Peoria, Illinois. She cynically chases the compliance points given for good behavior. Manipulative and in love with control, Quinn, who has ADHD (and, possibly, antisocial personality disorder), experiences “emotions differently than most people” and has had to learn to interpret others’ emotions; she gleans information about her fellow residents by secretly reading their charts. Reports of riots in Chicago feel remote until one day the chaos reaches their locked ward: A custodian reanimates following a violent death—she’s a carrier, someone infected with a “new and terrifying virus.” Quinn, 17-year-old Keisha, and a ragtag band from Pegasus flee the facility and head south. People underestimate petite, blond, pale-skinned, and sweet-faced Quinn, who’s protective of her Black-presenting crush, Keisha, who taught her how to turn on the charm and play people. First-person narrator Quinn feels “the warmth of excitement” when she kills. Many of her victims are one-note secondary characters whom she views as disposable. Salazar’s series opener, which was originally self-published in 2024 as The Dead Weight, explores mental health issues and neurodivergence in ways that unfortunately feel one-dimensional and offers little redemption for its protagonist.
Gruesomely violent with a disheartening take on the future. (Horror. 15-18)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464299292
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
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