An energetic tale injects a teenager embracing her unconventionality into a fast-paced fantasy plot.
A twist on the fantasy genre turns this debut thriller into a story about a girl discovering her unusual strengths.
From a young age, Preda Torrance was told to be quiet. And not just because she screamed or whined all the time—it turns out her voice could maim and even kill. Now 17, she has changed schools so often— after expulsions for her voluntary muteness—that she has given up on having friends or even a nice family: her father, a cruel, sadistic man, mistreats Preda both physically and emotionally. One day, however, a former employee murders her father in front of her. When the culprit threatens Preda, she kills him with her scream. The next day, when a mysterious man who seems to be a detective pulls her from the classroom, Preda figures that she’s headed for prison or a mental institution. To her surprise, she learns that not only is her father not her father, but she is not even human. Her new caretakers explain that their race is at war with the Soundless (“Fanatics devoted to the extermination of spoken words and the manipulations they can produce”). Preda, though still young, needs to begin training to join the fight. With teenagers Jim Acres and Will Stall, two industrious agents dispatched to keep an eye on Preda, she will have to learn to use her gifts in the greatest conflict of her life. Accompanied by a cat with one ear, she begins a dangerous journey that will eventually take her to Buenos Aires and an island off the coast of Antarctica. Gross raises the teenager-discovers-hidden-powers trope to a metaphorical level, suggesting that one’s voice—a symbol for confidence and action—can affect the outcomes of immense struggles. The dynamic novel shows rather than tells details about Preda’s character while skillfully capturing the internal voice of the teenage girl: “The last thing Preda remembered thinking before losing consciousness was how disappointed Foxy and Al were going to be that she had already gotten herself killed—in an airport bathroom, no less.” Although the narrative exploits some overly familiar elements (for example, a momentous war between nonhumans that humans don’t know about), the distinctive powers of the main characters make for a refreshing read.
An energetic tale injects a teenager embracing her unconventionality into a fast-paced fantasy plot.Pub Date: July 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5118-7425-0
Page Count: 356
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A very full mixed bag.
In the sequel to Furyborn (2018), Rielle and Eliana struggle across time with their powers and prophesied destinies.
Giving readers only brief recaps, this book throws them right into complicated storylines in this large, lovingly detailed fantasy world filled with multiple countries, two different time periods, and hostile angels. Newly ordained Rielle contends with villainous Corien’s interest in her, the weakening gate that holds the angels at bay, and distrust from those who don’t believe her to be the Sun Queen. A thousand years in the future, Eliana chafes under her unwanted destiny and finds her fear of losing herself to her powers (like the Blood Queen) warring with her need to save those close to her. The rigid alternation between time-separated storylines initially feels overstuffed, undermining tension, but once more characters get point-of-view chapters and parallels start paying off, the pace picks up. The multiethnic cast (human versus angelic is the only divide with weight) includes characters of many sexual orientations, and their romantic storylines include love triangles, casual dalliances, steady couples, and couples willing to invite in a third. While many of the physically intimate scenes are loving, some are rougher, including ones that cross lines of clear consent and introduce a level of violence that many young readers will not be ready for. The ending brings heartbreaking twists to prime readers for the trilogy’s conclusion.
A very full mixed bag. (map, list of elements) (Fantasy. 17-adult)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5665-4
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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