Woven of many compelling threads, the final tapestry does not live up to the sum of its parts.
In a Celtic-inspired fantasy land, a young weaver struggling for survival makes a deal with a storied spirit.
Seventeen-year-old Ella learned to weave at her father’s knee, but since his death in debtors prison, she’s braved life in the slums of Eidyn Crag alone. Interactions with Odina, a wealthy client, provide a glimpse of what life could be, and a bargain with the Bean-Nighe, a Scottish folkloric figure, brings the vision tantalizingly closer. Through Odina, Ella meets Callum, a magnetic and mysterious young man who promises her the world—for a price. What ensues is a dark tale that explores themes of poverty and power, vulnerability and exploitation. Ella, and her audience with her, learns the steep price of trust misplaced. The backdrop of mixed Scottish and Irish folkloric elements is muddy in contrast to the clarity and bite of the central themes, the worldbuilding a dilution of the rich traditions it borrows from. In contrast to the fictional Scottish setting, Odina is named as coming from a real Indigenous nation, the Mi’kmaq; Mi’kmaq culture and her experiences as a Native woman in predominantly White Eidyn Crag are not explored. Unusually for a fantasy world, birth control is raised as a concern. Troublingly, however, the efficacy of the calendar method is misleadingly overstated. Ella and Callum are cued as White.
Woven of many compelling threads, the final tapestry does not live up to the sum of its parts. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5267-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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