A richly creative magical adventure about challenging an unfair status quo.
In Dantessa, where people’s Great Game rankings determine their status, Pia accepts a deadly challenge to save her grandfather.
Three hundred years ago, the prince of Dantessa challenged Death to a game and won. Now, magically arbitrated gaming drives the island’s culture, and 12-year-old Pia Paro is finally old enough to participate. Then her grandfather loses his status, and an arbiter of the game’s magical constructs disappears him to labor as a pawn. Desperate for the money that can save Gramps, Pia joins the Seafoxes, a team comprising four other impoverished players who are attempting the deadly game of noctis. The Seafoxes’ chances against wealthy teams (who can buy magical “boons” and cheat) are slim, though. Even harder is competing against a team that includes Renzo, Pia’s former best friend, whose actions lost Gramps his job and home. Perhaps the Seafoxes’ only chance is to change the rules. Dantessa’s Venetian-inspired world of canals and palazzos is intricately built, lush with sensory detail, and a vividly imagined magical gaming culture. Pia is a resilient, brave, and empathetic character. Struggling with the Great Game’s innate unfairness and Renzo’s inexplicable betrayal, she wants to follow her grandfather’s advice to play safe but risks it all for a chance at greater change. Both the lead and supporting characters are distinct and intriguing, and the action is expertly paced. Diversity in skin tone and sexuality is casually woven into the story.
A richly creative magical adventure about challenging an unfair status quo. (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781665930192
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A smart sequel that’s filled with surprises and heart.
In this follow-up to The Rhythm of Time (2023), young time-traveling adventurers face their biggest challenge yet, forcing them to question themselves and one another.
Rahim looks forward to starting eighth grade with best friend Kasia even though he anticipates a tough transition after homeschooling. Kasia makes friends as seamlessly as she makes the cool beats that Rahim skillfully raps over. Although Rahim, who’s a target for bullies, feels a bit left behind, the duo still has their music and a rather unusual extracurricular: on-demand time-travel adventures at the behest of their future selves and the mysterious Aevum Organization. Rahim’s parents place a lot of pressure on him and dismiss his hip-hop dreams as impractical. Adult Rahim and Adult Kasia present the pair with a mission to 1978 Honolulu, where temporal anomalies have been detected. They’ll be facing Chrononauts, time travelers who are trying to change the world to suit their own selfish ends. This entry markedly raises the stakes in ways that challenge even Kasia’s genius. Rahim’s intuition and emotional development are thoughtfully plotted as the kids leave their parents in the dark and take big risks. This nuanced story centering on Black middle schoolers explores trust and care, putting friendship to the test even as the Hawaiian setting offers a provocative allegory for being thoughtful about our global (and interdimensional) impact. Final art not seen.
A smart sequel that’s filled with surprises and heart. (Science fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393175
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
