Lively feminist conceits dressed in too-familiar vampire garb.
Teenage love must overcome immortal evil in DeKelb-Rittenhouse’s (Faerie Rings: The Book of Forests, 2009) young-adult vampire novel.
Teenager Lauren Whitfield has a lot on her plate—getting good grades, working on her creative writing, and hiding her crush on her best friend, Kayla Price. Her life becomes much more complicated, and much more dangerous, when she and Kayla begin working at the too-good-to-be-true vintage clothing store Deja Nous. The amazing clothing in the store pales in comparison to the gorgeous owner, Elizabeth Valiant, and both Lauren and Kayla become enthralled with their beautiful boss. Yet just as Lauren begins to bloom as a young woman under Elizabeth’s tutelage, she and Kayla also begin to wither. The girls are constantly exhausted, plagued by bad dreams, and have trouble eating anything but rare meat. Lauren is horrified when she finally learns the cause of her ailments: Elizabeth is a centuries-old vampire, and she is grooming Lauren and Kayla to become her next immortal lovers. Lauren must find a way to free herself from Elizabeth’s thrall and thwart her intentions before it’s too late. It’s encouraging to have lesbian main characters as well as positive portrayals of bisexuality in YA fiction. The implicit and explicit feminist calls to arms and defenses of the “inconvenient” women of history and fiction are also refreshing. As a vampire tale, however, the novel does almost nothing new. Elizabeth is the lesbian vampire vixen, a stereotypical role as old as Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1871 novella, Carmilla, which Dekelb-Rittenhouse references in the novel. The conventional signs of a vampire attack and seduction are portrayed with almost mechanical efficiency: animal transformation, alluring characters who only appear at night, mesmerism, neck wounds, exhaustion, dreamlike visions, increased sensuality, cravings for blood and raw meat, etc. Finally, Lauren’s confrontation with Elizabeth and the conclusion itself feel rushed.
Lively feminist conceits dressed in too-familiar vampire garb.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-0984531844
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Tiny Satchel Press
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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