Frothy romance with dashes of intrigue and magic.
An unlikely duo tackles power plays both political and magical.
Alchemist Blue hides her magic (illegal since Balavata suffered a blood wraith) and devotes herself to discovering how to turn lead into gold to help her city’s impoverished orphan population. Although good friends with the princess, Nessa (who cannot speak and communicates with sign language), Blue can’t stand Nessa’s rakish brother, Kellan; the feeling’s mutual, as Kellan regards her as a killjoy. Crown Prince Kellan has only weeks to select a bride from among the nine head families before his 19th birthday. Dinah Chauveau offers an occasional third viewpoint: well-positioned to match her daughter with the prince only to find her schemes crumbling with her husband’s murder as his gambling debts bring her family to the verge of ruin. After Blue’s father is murdered, Dinah sweeps in with shady paperwork to claim Blue and all of her possessions, hoping to use her alchemy to save her standing. Blue finds surprising solace from Kellan as she comes to understand how high the stakes are for his outwardly frivolous political gamesmanship; the expected romance is slow burning and satisfying, with some fun fairy-tale twists as the danger crescendos. Despite certain predictable plot points, the charming leads carry the day. Most characters have varying shades of brown skin, with occasional white people, and race isn’t given weight.
Frothy romance with dashes of intrigue and magic. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-265301-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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
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