A fiery denouement to a metafictional fantasy tale.
In Portman’s conclusion to her YA epic-fantasy trilogy, a teenage novice fantasy writer, trapped in the world of her amateur fiction, attempts to support an uprising on a doomed planet.
In The Twin Stars (2021), the first installment of this series, 16-year-old Olive Joshi, the granddaughter of a successful Indian author, was transported into a universe she’d concocted in her own mind, featuring planets roasting in an unstable binary star system. In this place, tyrant Burnash faces opposition from his superpowered sister, Coseema—a confident, idealized version of Olive herself. However, Olive’s arrival has coincided with—or perhaps caused—a series of calamities. Coseema became corrupt in her desire to become all-powerful, and solar flares and heat storms have increased. Olive, meanwhile, is seen as the “Muse,” a goddess figure; only Coseema and some rebels know her real identity. However, when she’s separated from her reality-changing pen and notebook, she’s as helpless as any minor character. Olive tries to aid the fight against Burnash by using her knowledge of her villains, including their conflicts and motives. But, as their creator, she’s guilt-ridden over what she’s wrought: “What have I done? Everything—all of this—is my fault.” The notion of a writer trapped in a setting of their own making is hardly original; for example, Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart (2003) taps into the same idea, as does Sangu Mandanna’s Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom (2021) with drawings, rather than prose. However, Portman shows skill when it comes to pacing, executing twists, and escalating stakes, and this effectively carries this concluding story along. Olive, as an unpracticed storyteller, hasn’t thought things through entirely, so there’s justification for occasional sketchiness and derivative elements; it explains why creatures called Deimons are a little too close to the Dementors of the Harry Potter series, for instance, or why the climax seems pulled directly from the pages of Marvel or DC Comics. Still, the fact that both Portman and Olive strive to find goodness in every character—even evil ones—is praiseworthy.
A fiery denouement to a metafictional fantasy tale.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781738968701
Page Count: 322
Publisher: TITAN1STUDIOS
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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