A powerful commentary on colonization and the right to rebel.
A 15-year-old conscripted into an army of child soldiers investigates her mother’s disappearance.
Being born a Scion, or human who inherits the powers of Yoruba deities, is a crime in Nagea. Sloane, the powerful descendant of Shango, the god of heat and fire, has àse: blood magic that ripples under her dark skin. Not yet controlled, it makes her a literal walking inferno when she is distressed. Drafted into the army ruled by the 13 Luci bloodlines who conquered and colonized Nagea under one rotating monarchy over three centuries ago, Sloane chooses not to run away even though her Baba warns her about the risks of going to the Lucis’ island stronghold: “A Scion in Avalon is a sheep in a lion’s den.” Determined to find out what happened to her mother, Sloane will do whatever it takes, removing any obstacle—human or otherwise—in search of the answers she needs. Sloane’s internal conflicts over her necessarily kill-or-be-killed attitude once on the base are grounded and relatable even as she endures immense physical and emotional violence. The well-paced closing action of the book is tidy, providing satisfactory resolutions for enough of the main mysteries while still leaving readers wanting more. With so much conflict to engage with, however, it’s difficult to get a full sense of the worldbuilding in this intriguing duology opener set in a Nigerian mythology–inspired setting.
A powerful commentary on colonization and the right to rebel. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-295404-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
A powerful tale of found family and first love.
After a year away, Ellis returns home to confront her past.
Graduating from high school far from everything familiar was not part of Ellis Truman’s original plans, but she nevertheless ended up spending her senior year with her aunt in California. In Indiana, Ellis practically grew up with the Albrey family and their three tightknit sons, Dixon, Tucker, and Easton. Now, Tucker wants her to return home for matriarch Sandry Albrey’s 50th birthday celebration on the Fourth of July—but Ellis is dreading seeing Easton, as they haven’t talked since she left. Chapters alternate between past and present, and much of the story unravels slowly: How did she come to live with the Albreys? What caused Ellis to then end up in San Diego? What happened in her relationship with Easton? Patient readers will find the heartfelt tension pays off. With her father in and out of jail and an absent mother, socio-economic differences separating Ellis from the middle-class Albreys don’t go unnoticed, and Ellis’ down-to-earth journey shows how she unpacks her feelings about her relationship with her parents. The slow-build romance is swoonworthy, and young adult fans of Colleen Hoover seeking emotional devastation and unforgettable characters will find much to enjoy here. Characters read as White.
A powerful tale of found family and first love. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308853-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come.
A heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction swirls together in the sequel to The Cruel Prince (2018).
Five months after engineering a coup, human teen Jude is starting to feel the strain of secretly controlling King Cardan and running his Faerie kingdom. Jude’s self-loathing and anger at the traumatic events of her childhood (her Faerie “dad” killed her parents, and Faerie is not a particularly easy place even for the best-adjusted human) drive her ambition, which is tempered by her desire to make the world she loves and hates a little fairer. Much of the story revolves around plotting (the Queen of the Undersea wants the throne; Jude’s Faerie father wants power; Jude’s twin, Taryn, wants her Faerie betrothed by her side), but the underlying tension—sexual and political—between Jude and Cardan also takes some unexpected twists. Black’s writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable. Faerie is a strange place where immortal, multihued, multiformed denizens can’t lie but can twist everything; Jude—who can lie—is an outlier, and her first-person, present-tense narration reveals more than she would choose. With curly dark brown hair, Jude and Taryn are never identified by race in human terms.
A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-31035-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
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