An often appealing series continuation with a well-thought-out world and strong characters.
A teenage heiress with superpowers learns to handle her temper in this YA dystopian sequel.
In the year 2160, “prodigies”—people born with very special talents—live in wealthy city centers called Cores, and rule over “normals,” who live in poor villages of the Outlying Lands. Sixteen-year-old Willow Kent grew up in one such village, thinking herself a normal. But her life was upended when she discovered that she’s actually the daughter of a powerful Core family, the Roanokes, and betrothed to Thess Tiernam, the scion of a rival house. Willow also learned that she has powerful skills—specifically, an often angry presence that she feels in her stomach, which she calls her “tiger,” that gives her intuition, physical strength, and a heightened sense of smell, among other abilities. Willow doesn’t know the cultural rules in her new world, and although she vows to learn “to play the Core’s game,” her stubbornness and temper could cause her problems. She has some allies, such as Cmdr. Reece,with whom she shares a strong if volatile attraction, but also enemies, such as the cold, harsh Cmdr. Kristoffe. The wild card is Tobias “Toby” Cartier, a mesmerizing shape-shifter whom everyone but Willow’s tiger tells her not to trust. As Willow hones her skills and acclimates to the Core, she comes to realize that she, too, can adapt in unexpected ways. Denault (Gambit, 2015) continues to offer three-dimensional worldbuilding in this series installment, including richly detailed clothing and combat and plenty of asides that conjure up the future culture. Willow never learned to write, for example, because in villages, most paper goes to the bank, “where recordkeeping was required for taxing villagers. If supplies were low…they bleached old records to make blanks.” This lengthy sequel is entertaining and full of dramatic episodes, but it doesn’t significantly advance the plot; instead, it focuses on the tug of war between Willow and her opponents. The ending doesn’t offer a clear-cut resolution, but it will presumably arrive in a future installment.
An often appealing series continuation with a well-thought-out world and strong characters.Pub Date: March 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7344441-5-5
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A brilliant character study that examines the effects of war, genocide, and misogyny.
Thousands of years after the Light People destroyed Earth, two factions are at war in a racially diverse world: the Brightlings and the Aylish.
Elsa and Rye, residents of Northaven, a pretty coastal town in Brightland, are in love. They also share a dangerous secret as Torches, those with the ability to use songlight, a form of telepathic communication. Torches are labeled unhumans; they’re either lobotomized and made to do the most unpleasant and dangerous jobs or turned into Sirens and forced to hunt others with songlight. As terrible fates loom—Elsa will be married off to a stranger, and Rye will be shipped out to fight with other cadets—the young lovers make plans to run away. But before they can escape, Rye’s abilities are discovered, and he’s outed by Piper, Elsa’s conformist brother. Rye is sentenced to be sent to the Chrysalid House for unhumans. In her anguish, Elsa goes down to the sea: “In songlight, I roar with white, inchoate pain.” This emotional release connects her with Nightingale, a powerful fellow Torch. Meanwhile, patriotic darling Sister Swan, the Flower of Brightland, is harboring a secret with serious political implications. The multiple immersive perspectives and the anticipation this narrative will create in readers make this first installment in a planned trilogy unputdownable. In her debut novel, award-winning playwright Buffini captures the human spirit and all its messy and beautifully complex emotions.
A brilliant character study that examines the effects of war, genocide, and misogyny. (Dystopian. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780063358218
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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