Standard-issue corporate dystopia gives way to more compelling xenomorphic action and horror.
A loyal corporate citizen teams up with the prisoners she guards at a space station jail for superpowered criminal teens.
Corporate citizenship carries greater entitlements and privilege than government citizenship, and the top corporation is Omnistellar Concepts. Raised by her intensely loyal Omnistellar family, teen junior guard Kenzie is eager to earn her own future in the company. She works with her parents on Sanctuary, a space station prison for juvenile anomalies—superpowered people who started appearing after mysterious alien probes arrived on Earth. When the skeleton crew is further reduced, Kenzie is taken hostage in a prison break attempt. The leader of her captors is an incredibly attractive, charismatic, and good-hearted Chinese teen nicknamed “Cage.” Through talking with him—and while grappling with whether or not her mother will follow protocol and sacrifice her own daughter—Kenzie comes to question everything about the system she’s been benefitting from. Luckily, that somewhat overplayed storyline is freshened with the arrival of a monstrous alien threat, which motivates Kenzie to work with the prisoners in order to survive a cat-and-mouse sequence of action and escapes. The high body count includes some unexpected fatalities, and the ending points to a sequel. Main characters are white, and aside from Cage and his sister, other people of color are represented among secondary characters.
Standard-issue corporate dystopia gives way to more compelling xenomorphic action and horror. (Science fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0533-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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