A deftly written family saga that explores—and challenges—the contemporary American dream and the meaning of home and family.
The Brighton family—biracial Chinese American owners of the chic, globally sourced clothing empire Kaleidoscope—may look enviable, but they are far from being as perfect, and as glamorous, as they seem.
Riley Brighton grows up in the shadow of her older sister, Morgan. Two years her senior, Morgan is the popular, artistically talented counterpart to Riley's shy, studious self. In the early 2000s, the inseparable duo grow up at their parents’ Oregon health foods store until a fateful trip to India leads the family to shift into selling imported apparel and accessories at their new venture, Kaleidoscope. The brand launches to enormous success, and when both daughters enroll in college in New York City, their parents tag along, purchasing a massive Upper West Side townhouse as the new Brighton headquarters despite Riley’s desire for independence. When Riley’s high school crush, James, visits the townhouse to profile the Brightons for a magazine, worlds intersect and continue to collide when Riley spots James at her favorite under-the-radar downtown noodle joint. Told in beautiful detail with quippy dialogue and visceral New York details, the first half of the book ends with a tragedy that threatens to break apart the family and their business. Riley finds it hard to cope, and she and James eventually jet off to India, traveling the globe while questioning everything they once knew and learning more about the people they love than they ever wanted to know. Told from various perspectives, skipping backward and forward through time, the kaleidoscopic narrative allows readers to form their own opinions about the Brightons and their decisions, getting a glimpse of the way people behave on the worst days of their lives and thereafter.
A deftly written family saga that explores—and challenges—the contemporary American dream and the meaning of home and family.Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-18445-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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