A heartfelt fantasy tale with a spirited plot.
Magic and suspense abound in this moving debut fantasy novel about how far a witch will go to help a friend.
Aven Dovenelle is new to Salem, Massachusetts, where she sets up a shop for potions and charms. Although most of Salem’s other witches resent her, she’s found a true friend in Josephine “Jo” Riddle and her daughter, Sylvia. Jo is a fellow witch who does vision walks, and Aven opens up to her, revealing for the first time that she’s been cursed to live one life after another, with no relief. A mysterious white raven often appears in her peripheral vision, but never long enough for her to find out why. With Jo’s help, she discovers the reasons why she was cursed and why the raven has been following her. The weight of the witchcraft in this story is tempered by the introduction of handsome Cal Jacobs, a down-to-earth plumber who ends up on a date with Aven. He may not initially believe that she’s a witch, but he soon has no choice, as a series of dramatic events unfold, each one testing Aven’s abilities further. It will take an intense amount of “magick” to help her—and possibly the ultimate sacrifice. Aven is a delightful protagonist who’s as funny as she is powerful (at one point, for example, she describes her personal style as “the Garage Sale Queen look”), and her wit keeps the story moving. Miller’s novel also showcases its flawless worldbuilding; it explains Aven’s many lives in compelling terms and offers beautiful sensory details, such as the smells of lemongrass and clove in the shop. The white raven’s occasional chapters of narration are opaque, but otherwise, each character brings the right amount of heart (and plot) to the story. The best part of the novel, however, is Aven and Jo’s friendship, as they often seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company; they’re characters that fantasy fans won’t soon forget.
A heartfelt fantasy tale with a spirited plot.Pub Date: April 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-947024-01-4
Page Count: 412
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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