When a magical curse leaves Ekata’s family as good as dead, she is forced to take up the mantle of Grand Duke of Kylma Above.
Ekata is days from leaving her violent, scheming family for university when disaster strikes. Someone has put the grand duke and all his heirs, except for her, into a deathlike sleep. The intrigue begins unfolding immediately and draws readers through to the last page, as they and Ekata both try to figure out who can be trusted. Ekata begins her reign as a puppet of the prime minister but shocks everyone by marrying the foreign princess Inkar instead of the arrogant king Sigis. In response, Sigis decides to take the duchy by force, adding yet another headache for Ekata as she confronts internal and external threats to the duchy. The story of the princess who would rather read books than marry a prince is standard fare by now, yet Bartlett (We Rule the Night, 2019) makes her version feel largely fresh and filled with magic and personality as Ekata learns to be a strong leader by doing what must be done. She and Inkar begin to fall in love after their abrupt marriage, yet their romance is gentle and believable. All the principal characters in this pseudo-Nordic ice kingdom are white, with one secondary character, Ekata’s supportive teacher Farhod, having dark skin.
An enchanting queer fairy tale. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-41734-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
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After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.
Eden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. You know that. No one. Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. For the remainder of Eden’s freshman year, she withdraws from her family and becomes increasingly full of hatred for Kevin and the world she feels failed to protect her. But when a friend mentions that she’s “reinventing” herself, Eden embarks on a hopeful plan to do the same. She begins her sophomore year with new clothes and friendly smiles for her fellow students, which attract the romantic attentions of a kind senior athlete. But, bizarrely, Kevin’s younger sister goes on a smear campaign to label Eden a “totally slutty disgusting whore,” which sends Eden back toward self-destruction. Eden narrates in a tightly focused present tense how she withdraws again from nearly everyone and attempts to find comfort (or at least oblivion) through a series of nearly anonymous sexual encounters. This self-centeredness makes her relationships with other characters feel underdeveloped and even puzzling at times. Absent ethnic and cultural markers, Eden and her family and classmates are likely default white.
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4935-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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