An engaging fantasy and romance that explores the importance of vulnerability and forgiving oneself.
Sirota’s romance-centered fantasy novel explores themes of intimacy, commitment, and coming to terms with the past.
Nineteen-year-old Estrid and her shadow-wolf familiar Rafe incapacitate a group of soldiers in an effort to protect a local village—Estrid accomplishes this with dark, powerful magic to fulfill an oath she’s taken to make up for the lives of innocents she’s claimed in the past (“a heavy debt she’s not sure will ever be repaid”). She encounters a person called Zain unconscious in the nearby wilderness and takes him in to nurse him back to health. During their time together, they discover that their combined magic has the power to resurrect the dead, which they demonstrate on a bird. They are attracted to one another, but Zain reveals he’s “Fae” and King of the Summer Court; when his companions Del and Alvey come for him, he must go with them to protect his realm from the evildoings of Rodden, the King of Nordia, who threatens his reign. Estrid helps strategize, having previously been under Rodden’s control and therefore familiar with his tactics. However, as they approach his stronghold, Estrid is captured. Zain solicits help from Del and other allies to rescue her from a dungeon. They seek help from the Shadow Court—whose King Cethin is revealed to have an intimate connection with one among the group. Sirota excels in creating dynamic characters like Estrid and Zain, with complex backstories drawn from the similarly elaborate worldbuilding. The author conveys a palpable attraction between them—their erotic scenes are treated with a deft hand and effectively convey the characters’ growing connection to each other, propelling the plot forward. However, the inception of their relationship feels a bit rushed, and some secondary characters could benefit from additional development. While Estrid’s magic is a central element, its limitations are murkily defined, which may prove frustrating for some readers. Nonetheless, this opening installment lays a strong foundation for a sequel. Fans of high fantasy and romance alike will enjoy Sirota’s tale, which successfully highlights aspects of both genres.
An engaging fantasy and romance that explores the importance of vulnerability and forgiving oneself.Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781763704701
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
For readers of the once-popular dystopian YA novels who are now all grown up.
In a distant future, after the Last War when the human population became endangered, a new society formed from the ashes, strictly to optimize procreation.
But not procreation between just anyone. This society, ruled by the Illum—a mysterious authoritarian group—assigns mates to select for the best traits and to breed out defects, to grow the Elite population living in the clouds. Protagonist Emeline is a stubborn and bored young woman, working her days away on the ground as a Minor Defect—one of the class of women waiting to be approved for mating with an Elite, and hoping to never be banished further from society. Emeline’s instincts are apparently to reject the rigid decorum of her society, but she spends years trying to follow the rules set out for her, or at least dissociates enough not to challenge her way of life, until one day an elusive and charming man, Hal, walks into her office to talk about art. The same day, she is approved for mating and matched with Collin, the youngest member of the Illum, in the sort of pairing that hasn’t happened in decades. Courtship with Collin is full of luxury—fancy dinners and balls in the clouds—but also lies and days of discovering secrets kept from her, while trying to keep the Elite’s rumors and malicious Press at bay. Caught between these two men, with their own agendas, and so many unanswered questions, Emeline must decide what she wants, if she can want anything at all. With a rebellion rising in secret and the repression of the Illum close at hand, she’ll find what she’s willing to lose for the ability to choose for herself. The dystopian worldbuilding is underdeveloped at best, so get swept up in discovering truth from lies quickly before it starts to fall apart in your hands.
For readers of the once-popular dystopian YA novels who are now all grown up.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9798217090990
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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