Does a fine job depicting an intriguing era in an adventure that’s peopled with heartwarming characters.
Seventeen-year-old Rosa Cellini returns to Florence after six years away, hoping to dismantle the powerful Medici family, which now includes Pope Leo X.
Rosa hasn’t entered Florence since the death of her mother and the fall of the Republic. But now she’s teaming up with Florence’s best thieves—childhood friend Sarra the Tinkerer, Tunisian enforcer Khalid, con man Giacomo, and apothecary Agata. Rosa plans to steal the fortune the Medicis have amassed from selling indulgences. To pull off the biggest heist of their careers, they’ll have to infiltrate the Medici family guard, traverse the rooftops of Florence, disarm Leonardo da Vinci’s traps, and enlist the help of Michelangelo. Rosa taps into Michelangelo’s discomfort about the Medicis’ rule and his longing for the days of the Republic to enlist him as uneasy accomplice in the plot against his patrons, using his status to gain access to the Medici palace. The crew’s dynamics greatly enhance the core of heist narratives; in this case, the bond between the central group develops too late in the story to develop a strong chemistry. Earlier on, the characters are often isolated, dealing with personal challenges that don’t require team effort. Despite these shortcomings, the relationships that eventually form between them are endearing and compelling. Debut author Schneiderhan transports readers to Renaissance Florence, creating a rich historical backdrop filled with personal dramas and political upheaval.
Does a fine job depicting an intriguing era in an adventure that’s peopled with heartwarming characters. (Historical thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250907189
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
A gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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