A well constructed YA fantasy, though the characters’ emotions deserve more exploration.
This opening volume of a YA fantasy series finds a teen searching for his true parents while torn between two potential lovers.
Eighteen-year-old Jasper Alazon is a member of the magical community of Lyteshaed. He’s in the woods performing the Ritual of Protection for his clan, the Zephyra, when he hears screaming. He returns to find the Zephyra castle ablaze and his father, Kato, battling a “shrouded figure.” An angelic woman in white appears and says, “Hurry, and save them all.” Jasper learns that the attack is an illusion, a warning of what may happen if he’s unprepared. Kato, who took Jasper in as a child after his parents died, knows that the Lady in White’s presence means that “It has begun.” This refers to the unblocking of Jasper’s memories of his true identity and magical skills. To protect the community and begin his training, the teen moves in with Kato’s friend Zara. Her son, Luca, is Jasper’s age, and they get along swimmingly—that is until Jasper’s acquaintance from the beach, Freya, starts hanging out with them. Freya herself is from another magical community; she can bring small creatures back to life. Together, the trio will learn about Jasper’s past and about their feelings for one another. Brown’s novel presents a smoothly paced, uncluttered fantasy that’s ideal for those new to the genre. Dreams, protective sigils, and special stones color the narrative. However, watching the characters carve their own paths is much more engaging than Jasper’s performing magic and saying, “It just came to me.” Jasper’s and Luca’s romantic feelings for each other remain oddly subterranean for most of the story. When Jasper wonders why Luca has become cold in Freya’s presence, Luca says it’s “Just something I have to deal with on my own.” Friction comes not from communal judgments of the pair but emotional misunderstanding. This is refreshingly inclusive but makes for facile plotting. Likewise the villain, Camille, justifies her actions with, “I’m evil. What did you expect?” A motive beyond Evil 101 may come in the next installment.
A well constructed YA fantasy, though the characters’ emotions deserve more exploration.Pub Date: April 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73482-150-5
Page Count: 219
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Disappointing.
Unlikely friends fight their growing feelings for each other while placing bets on other people’s love lives.
Bailey met Charlie while flying from Alaska, where she grew up, to Nebraska, where she and her mom would be living after her parents’ divorce. Although they briefly bonded over their parents’ divorces, Charlie’s cynicism grated on the rule-following Bailey, and she was thankful to part ways with him. Three years later, to Bailey’s dismay, she runs into Charlie when they both land jobs at Planet Funnn, a mega-hotel that’s “like a giant landlocked cruise ship.” This time around, Bailey and Charlie begin to get along better. To entertain themselves during their long shifts, they observe and make bets about the hotel guests. But they risk taking it too far when they bet on whether their co-worker Theo will end up with Nekesa, Bailey’s best friend, who’s in “a perfect relationship with the perfect guy.” The book explores Bailey’s conflicted feelings toward her mom’s new relationship with Scott (who doesn’t “do anything wrong” but whose presence changes “the vibe” at home), but it does so in a way that diminishes a primary source of conflict. Bailey's and Charlie’s feelings become even more complicated when Charlie helps Bailey with a fake-dating scheme intended to scare Scott off. Some of the banter between the leads, who are coded white, feels more aggressive than playful, detracting from their intimacy, and the circuitous plot may fail to sustain readers’ interest.
Disappointing. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781665921237
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
A disappointing delivery on a potentially gripping second volume.
Evangeline faces new dangers in her quest for happiness in this follow-up to 2021’s Once Upon a Broken Heart.
As Evangeline Fox seeks a cure for her poisoned husband, Prince Apollo, the enticing and infuriating Fate Jacks reappears, offering to save Apollo if she unlocks the Valory Arch. Remembering the long list of ills brought upon her by the Fate, Evangeline refuses. When the new heir arrives and Apollo wakes with a new curse and glowing red eyes, she is forced to delve into the mysteries of the Valors and find the arch’s four missing magical stones whose powers are luck, truth, mirth, and youth. The inclusion of expanded Valor lore alongside the preexisting blend of fairy-tale and paranormal creatures is intriguing and fits the overarching theme of storytelling as history. The ongoing use of emotions as a scale for displaying and determining one’s humanity, especially by Fates, is equally interesting. Unfortunately, the impact of Evangeline’s often amusing narration and numerous surprising plot twists is diluted by the meandering pacing, convoluted sensory descriptions, and close focus on Evangeline’s fluctuating attraction toward her potential love interests. Despite the positive emphasis on hope and happily-ever-afters, Evangeline’s romantic relationship with Jacks borders on manipulative and toxic. Evangeline reads White; side characters are fantasy diverse.
A disappointing delivery on a potentially gripping second volume. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-26842-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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