An Australian swimming sensation and her graphic artist boyfriend are entwined by fate.
Clayton Sandalford is 17 when a riptide sweeps him out to sea; he panics but is saved by an athletic girl named Ash. The story jumps ahead—at the start of an important swim meet, Clay, now Ash’s boyfriend, gives Ash a ring etched with a figure of a Scottish water lover, a mythical creature who dissolves when exposed to sun and air. While Ash sets a world record in the meet, Clay draws a mysterious picture of Ash and a giant wave, one that is completely different from his usual style. A later drawing by Clay seemingly foretells a tragedy that befalls Ash. The co-authors unfortunately fail to maintain consistency in narration, telling the story mostly through Clay’s perspective, with random lapses into omniscient as well as the points-of-view of Ash, her stereotypically manically-driven mother, her stereotypically Bible-quoting father, and other secondary characters. Ash’s characterization seems primarily limited to her physical attributes—broad shoulders, long hair, and a strange affinity for water. The teens are sexually active, but their relationship never quite feels real, and the semimythical ending is neither surprising nor believable. The book adheres to a white default.
Of limited interest. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1513-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Categories: TEEN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEEN LITERARY FICTION | TEEN ROMANCE
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Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.
The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Categories: TEEN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEEN MYSTERY & THRILLER
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Powerful, captivating, and raw—Adeyemi is a talent to watch. Exceptional
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Seventeen-year-old Zélie and companions journey to a mythic island seeking a chance to bring back magic to the land of Orïsha, in a fantasy world infused with the textures of West Africa.
Dark-skinned Zélie is a divîner—someone with latent magical abilities indicated by the distinctive white hair that sets them apart from their countrymen. She saves Princess Amari, who is on the run from her father, King Saran, after stealing the scroll that can transform divîners into magic-wielding maji, and the two flee along with Zélie’s brother. The scroll vanished 11 years ago during the king’s maji genocide, and Prince Inan, Amari’s brother, is sent in hot pursuit. When the trio learns that the impending solstice offers the only chance of restoring magic through a connection to Nana Baruku, the maternal creator deity, they race against time—and Inan—to obtain the final artifact needed for their ritual. Over the course of the book allegiances shift and characters grow, change, and confront traumas culminating in a cliffhanger ending that will leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment. Well-drawn characters, an intense plot, and deft writing make this a strong story. That it is also a timely study on race, colorism, power, and injustice makes it great.
Powerful, captivating, and raw—Adeyemi is a talent to watch. Exceptional . (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-17097-2
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Categories: TEEN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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