Second in the projected Pendragon Quartet, this flabby adventure owes nothing to Camelot but the name. Previously, jock Bobby Pendragon, 14, discovered that he’s a Traveler, responsible for preventing chaos across the dimensions. Now, with his mentor, Uncle Press, Bobby travels to the water world of Cloral in pursuit of interdimensional baddie Saint Dane. Teaming up with the devil-may-care Vo Spader, they discover that the food supply has been poisoned, threatening to destroy Cloral’s utopian society. Their only hope is to locate the mythical city of Faar (think Atlantis), source of Cloral’s civilization, sunk long ago beneath the endless sea. Meanwhile, back on Second Earth, Bobby’s friends Courtney and Mark run into their own spot of trouble when the school bully blackmails Mark into turning over the journals in which Bobby recounts his adventures. MacHale (The Merchant of Death, not reviewed) displays a flair for action-packed pacing, and the final cliffhanger would be an effective hook into the next title—if not for the unrelieved flatness of both characters and setting. MacHale’s world-building is devoid of either logic or wonder, and he substitutes irritating invented slang (“tum-tigger,” “natty-do,” “hobey-ho”) for developing Spader’s personality. Bobby’s own voice also grates unconvincing, describing every new experience as either “bizarro” or “cool.” Bobby’s constant puzzlement over why he was chosen to be a Traveler is likely to be shared by readers, who will see little of the likable charm or grand destiny to which the other characters constantly allude. Hobey-hum. (Science fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7434-3732-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.
Broken people, complicated families, magic, and Faerie politics: Black’s back.
After the tumultuous ending to the last volume (marriage, exile, and the seeming collapse of all her plots), Jude finds herself in the human world, which lacks appeal despite a childhood spent longing to go back. The price of her upbringing becomes clear: A human raised in the multihued, multiformed, always capricious Faerie High Court by the man who killed her parents, trained for intrigue and combat, recruited to a spy organization, and ultimately the power behind the coup and the latest High King, Jude no longer understands how to exist happily in a world that isn’t full of magic and danger. A plea from her estranged twin sends her secretly back to Faerie, where things immediately come to a boil with Cardan (king, nemesis, love interest) and all the many political strands Jude has tugged on for the past two volumes. New readers will need to go back to The Cruel Prince (2018) to follow the complexities—political and personal side plots abound—but the legions of established fans will love every minute of this lushly described, tightly plotted trilogy closer. Jude might be traumatized and emotionally unhealthy, but she’s an antihero worth cheering on. There are few physical descriptions of humans and some queer representation.
Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-31042-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
Unequivocally hilarious and delightful.
Valentine’s Day is the new Groundhog Day in Painter’s latest teen romance.
According to Emilie Hornby, “love is for planners,” and she is confident that Josh is the perfect boyfriend: He is well liked, academically gifted, and extremely handsome. So after dating him for three months, she adds “Say ‘I love you’ to Josh!!!!!!!!!!!” to her Valentine’s Day to-do list. But Fate has other plans for Emilie, and she ends up crashing her car into her surly chemistry lab partner Nick’s truck, losing a journalism fellowship due to a clerical error, and catching Josh kissing his beautiful ex in his car. After sleeping over at her grandma’s, Emilie wakes up in her own bedroom and discovers that it is Feb. 14 again. Trapped in a time loop where she repeatedly relives the day’s heartbreaking events, she tries to manipulate things in order to free herself. But tomorrow never seems to come, and she keeps finding her way back to Nick, who is not only annoyingly handsome, but surprisingly charming. Painter plucks readers’ every heartstring, from writing a sweet love story between two teens with very different views on romance to honestly depicting how Emilie’s parents’ messy divorce has impacted her feelings of self-worth. Italicized confessions at the beginnings of various chapters prove there is a playful side to Emilie that is further brought out by Nick, whose constant teasing leads to flirty banter. Main characters are cued as White.
Unequivocally hilarious and delightful. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-7886-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
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