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THE EXENE CHRONICLES

Name: THE EXENE CHRONICLES
Author: Camille A. Collins
ISBN: 978-1-948559-05-8

by Camille A. Collins ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2018

A potentially fascinating coming-of-age story that sadly misses its mark.

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When her best friend, Ryan, goes missing, 14-year-old Lia struggles to figure out who she is without her other half.

In a tiny California town, Lia and Ryan are outcasts: Ryan was one of the first girls in their class to go through puberty, and Lia is one of a handful of black kids. In middle school, the two bonded over their mutual love of Exene, a powerful female punk rocker. For years, they have been inseparable—until Ryan falls in love with 19-year-old Neil and disappears, leaving Lia in a sexist, racist town that she’s not sure she can survive alone. Despite the promising premise, the treatment of oppression lacks subtlety, focusing on shocking incidents and ignoring the myriad ways racism, sexism, and classism affect everyday lives. Debut novelist Collins frequently reduces complex motivations to single, unconvincing incidents: Ryan’s brother, for example, becomes a white supremacist after a black boy humiliates him in a fistfight rather than because of his family’s declining class status, which would have been a fascinating (and highly relevant) motivation to explore. This is particularly disappointing since the text does have glimmers of poetry and real insight—as, for example, when Lia’s father hopes that the person responsible for his daughter’s friend’s disappearance is not black. In addition, the prose is clunky and verbose, making the pace feel slower than it is.

A potentially fascinating coming-of-age story that sadly misses its mark. (Fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-948559-05-8

Page Count: 262

Publisher: Brain Mill Press

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT GENERAL TEEN

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EMMIE AND THE TUDOR KING

From the Hearts and Crowns series , Vol. 1

by Natalie Murray ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019

Any potential the story had is let down by the execution.

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Time travel enables a seemingly impossible romance.

Emmie’s mind is on creating a piece of jewelry that will get her into a prestigious London design school, not on her friends or the end of high school. When she spots an unusual blue ring at a yard sale, she buys it—not realizing that when she falls asleep wearing it, she will be transported 400 years into the past, to the time of Nicholas the Ironheart, the last Tudor monarch of England, adding alternate history to time travel in this soft sci-fi. To Emmie’s surprise, Nick isn’t just the bloodthirsty maniac of history books; he’s handsome and dotes on his sister, Kit. But Emmie knows it’s Kit’s murder that will set Nick on his notorious historical path. As she falls in love with Nick, Emmie tries to protect Kit and to figure out whether she can give up the freedoms of the 21st century for love in the 16th. Even before the constant crisscrossing trips across time and the lies to cover up her absences, Emmie is a wishy-washy, reactive character. The alternate history angle isn’t fleshed out sufficiently, and the time travel is overused. Worst of all, the romance is hard to stomach, especially with Nick’s jealous temper.

Any potential the story had is let down by the execution. (Romance. 14-18)

Pub Date: June 11, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-9984484-7-3

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Literary Crush Publishing

Review Posted Online: April 6, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT GENERAL TEEN

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BURSTS OF FIRE

From the Addicted to Heaven series , Vol. 1

by Susan Forest ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 2019

Lacking in thrills and suspense; readers can hope for more in future installments.

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Three sisters fight in exile, using magic to restore their land.

After King Artem invades the Orumon Kingdom in the name of the One God, Meg, Janat, and Rennika Falkyn seek new roles in a chaotic Shangril. The Falkyn sisters, royals and powerful magiels with time-shifting skin, become entwined in the commoner-led resistance. With their ability to manipulate time, the sisters are seemingly eager to be used as powerful tools rather than forging their own paths. Meg, the eldest, tries to protect her sisters, but as the girls’ romantic interests develop, the story likewise becomes muddied. Prince Huwen strives to feel worthy as King Artem’s heir while struggling with the legitimacy of his father’s war and his brother Eamon’s deep depression. Themes of religious and democratic freedoms; magic-based time travel’s addictive, almost hallucinogenic, qualities; and Shangril’s dependence on the Gods for death tokens could have set this fantasy apart, but instead it feels disjointed and not fully delivered. The European-influenced naming conventions and a lowborn tongue with Scots and Yorkshire overtones imply white as the default, with only body types and shifting magiel or steady skin used as descriptors. Very much an introduction to the main cast, the novel’s chronology and pacing weaken character development and limit interest in their fate.

Lacking in thrills and suspense; readers can hope for more in future installments. (map, reader’s group guide, mental health information and resources) (Fiction. 14-18)