Skip the lukewarm romance to get to the eventful ending.
Skylar’s floundering after the deceptions and betrayals uncovered in Unplugged (2016).
She feels responsible for the evils unleashed upon society by her sister, Jude, and by the man who’s possibly her father—and she’s determined to save her best friend, one of the many slated to have the physical body sold off and to live exclusively in the digital world. But Skylar and Rain are on the rocks, and she feels distant from the resistance. Doing reconnaissance at the Body Market, Skylar’s abducted by a hot bounty hunter named Kit. Trapped with him during a blizzard, she quickly learns his angst-y back story, and the two begin to fall for each other. Instead of turning Skylar over to Jude, Kit releases her. Back with the resistance, Skylar and Zeera pass out antique tablets for communication purposes, with hand-wave–y references to “the Wi-Fi” that connects them. In earnest expository dialogue, Skylar recollects history lessons about the devices “and all the division they caused between families and loved ones, all the anger and hurt feelings, all the obsession.” Cue a heavy-handed, instant tech obsession among the devices’ new users. Betrayals and twists enliven the ending to reel readers back in for the next installment. Though the lead is brown-skinned and the virtual world defaults to Caucasian 4.0, racial issues are not addressed.
Skip the lukewarm romance to get to the eventful ending. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-211863-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With a refreshingly original concept, this substantial fantasy, the first in a duology, is an undeniable page-turner
In Tiny Pretty Things co-author Clayton’s solo debut, beauty comes at a price.
On their joint 16th birthday, Camellia and her five sisters are sent out to restore beauty to Orléans, where everybody is born gray and ugly. They’ve been training for this their whole lives. As Belles, the sisters can use their magic to transform the citizens of Orléans from their original states. For the right price, Belles can grant any desired look. When Camellia secures the coveted spot of Her Majesty’s favorite, it seems as if her dreams have come true. As the most powerful, sought-out Belle, she is in charge of the royal family’s looks. However, the princess is insatiable in her quest for beauty and will do anything to get it—even if it means endangering the Belles and the kingdom—and Camellia may be the only one who can stop her. Not only that, but Camellia finds herself slowly uncovering the secrets of the Belles’ origin, and it’s not as pretty as she was taught. With wonderfully descriptive language, Clayton builds a grand and lavish world, carefully chipping away at the veneer to reveal its dark, sinister interior. In a world where anyone can change their skin color as often as they can change their hair color, race is fluid. Camellia is brown, and her sisters are various shades of brown and pale.
With a refreshingly original concept, this substantial fantasy, the first in a duology, is an undeniable page-turner (. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2849-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Freeform/Disney
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
SEEN & HEARD
Enjoyably atmospheric.
Sixteen-year-old Cara Tang has been able to see ghosts since she was a child, but her power is more a burden than a blessing.
Raised by Laolao, her late grandmother, who is both a ghost and a powerful ghost speaker, and her anxious, protective single mother, who has repressed her own ability to see ghosts, Chinese American Cara feels caught between the two women, unable to fully embrace or reject her ghost-speaking inheritance. When she stumbles across the snake-bitten corpse of Zach Coleson, a handsome, wealthy, and irritating white boy who’s been her rival since childhood, she turns to Laolao for help. Her grandmother informs Cara of the existence of the Signet Snake, a harbinger of destruction whose lethal bite can be undone within seven days using antivenom from the snake’s counterpart residing in the liminal world. Zach’s ghost agrees to Cara’s bargain—$12,000 and a college recommendation letter from his influential dad in return for his resurrection—and the two set off on a dangerous journey across magical landscapes. Cara’s also contending with a growing awareness that her feelings for Zach—an unexpectedly resourceful and protective adventuring partner—might burn hotter than mere annoyance. Aside from a sprinkling of Chinese lore and original mythology, this ornately written debut focuses on themes of legacy and self-acceptance through Cara’s internal struggle with being a ghost speaker. The romantic tension running throughout is palpable but needs a little more substance to make the leads’ attraction feel completely convincing.
Enjoyably atmospheric. (Paranormal. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780063252769
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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