Spectacular worldbuilding, breathtaking action, and plenty of mischief.
Every year the twin cities of San-Er hold a set of games, a fight to the death with the promise of unimaginable riches for the victor. This time, there's an unlikely competitor—Princess Calla Tuoleimi, who’s presumed dead, has entered the contest in disguise.
For five years, Princess Calla has been living in hiding from the absolute monarch, King Kasa, ever since, in a defiant and ruthless massacre, she killed the leaders of Er—her own parents. Her plan has always been to free the people of San-Er from the oppressive monarchy, and she won’t stop until the palace falls and she has the king’s head. It’s finally time for her to finish what she started, and the only way to get close enough to him is by besting the other 87 players and winning the competition. Lucky for her, the king’s heir, August, would also like to see King Kasa dead and a new era for San-Er begun. With their aligned endgame of regicide and shared willingness to break some rules, August can assure Calla’s safety until the final battle of the games. But this book isn’t The Hunger Games—it’s an epic fantasy. So the wrinkle? There are people in San-Er with the ability to jump between bodies, and the best jumpers are the most confident and deadly competitors in the games. Gong packs her story with thrilling fight sequences in which each player’s distinct and recognizable pugilist style shines through even when they wear different physical forms. Eventually, Calla faces her toughest competitor, Anton Makusa, an exiled noble fighting to win the prize to pay off the medical debts of his beloved, who’s in a coma. From the moment their weapons meet, Anton has Calla questioning her single-minded purpose. In a power play dripping with blood and lust, the two become allies, though they know there can be only one winner. Calla and Anton are as charming as they are deceitful. No matter whom you're rooting for, there’s a lot on the line. When the book ends on a well-earned cliffhanger, readers will be clamoring for the next volume of this planned trilogy.
Spectacular worldbuilding, breathtaking action, and plenty of mischief.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781668000229
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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