A dynamic YA series entry that continues to combine realistic adolescent issues with imaginative, magic-based fantasy.
A young wizard faces magical repercussions after he heroically helps some witches in this YA fantasy sequel.
In the first book of this lively series, fledgling wizard Wilf Gilvary, a soccer-playing teenager in Hong Kong, used newfound powers to cure witches of a magic-killing virus. Unfortunately, the magical Veil, a spell separating the witch and wizard domains, was corrupted in the process. Now, the Council of Wizards expects its witchy counterparts, newly headquartered in the Hong Kong store formerly owned by Wilf’s father, to turn Wilf over to them to undo the damage. The wild ride that ensues in the crumbling Magical Realms encompasses the protagonist’s changing relationship with young witch Katryna Wakefield; his eerie, seemingly impossible connection with the Guardian of the Veil; his fugitive stepsister, Myra Picton; and chilling experiments by Katryna’s wizard father and his assistant, Malik, to create an alternative to the Veil in the “normal” world. Lyall skillfully juggles each fantastical plot point while shifting perspectives between Wilf and Myra. Along the way, the author never loses sight of the grounding, real-world dilemmas faced by her characters, including addiction, betrayal, gender conflicts, and, significantly, the issue of consent when Malik forces Myra to bond with him using a magic bracelet. Throughout, Wilf continues to struggle with his identity as a wizard, which he’d never sought for himself: “He had never thought of magic as surrounding him before….He had thought he could escape, walk through a door, and exit this life. But that wasn’t true. His every breath was touched with magic.” The novel ends with a suspenseful teaser of what’s to come in the next installment.
A dynamic YA series entry that continues to combine realistic adolescent issues with imaginative, magic-based fantasy.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73600-272-8
Page Count: 201
Publisher: Hazel Publishing Company, LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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