The writer who so intensely re-imagined Rapunzel in Zel (1996) and the Sirens in Sirena (1998) provides a sensual and brilliant imagining of the backstory of the Beast in this exotic tale. Orasmyn is a 17-year-old Persian prince, beloved of his parents, secure, even self-satisfied, with his studies and his rose gardens. But he makes a fatal error in judgment and angers a pari, a fairy, who curses him to take the form of a lion, to be freed only if a woman loves him. Orasmyn’s awakening to his new form is both terrible and funny, but the danger is real—his father has called a lion hunt and the prince must flee the world he knows. First he travels to India, learning his new life while trying to retain his humanity in prayer and in language. When he realizes (“I am Lion,” he repeats) that no pride will accept him, he travels to France, hides himself in an abandoned castle, and sketches his demands in the dirt when Belle’s father steals the rose. How he prepares the castle for her, how they reach first a truce, then understanding, and then devotion, is built up with a rich accretion of concrete detail, sound and scents described precisely. There are few metaphors for adolescence, and for the mastery of desire by the self, as deep as that of the Beast, and Napoli rings dark changes on those with the sure hand of a sorceress. Compelling, relentless, erotic. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-83589-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
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Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Belial, Prince of Hell, makes his move on London in this trilogy closer.
With 11 ensemble characters (not counting the odd Greater Demon) to juggle, Clare uses up most of her chunky page count untangling the romantic snarls of the first two volumes—plus chucking in occasional attacks by lesser demons or raving maniac Tatiana Blackthorn to give her demon-slaying Edwardian-era Nephilim something to do besides steamily tonguing one another, lengthily weltering in secret longing and self-loathing, or (at last!) explicitly consummating their ardor. The angular figures posing stiffly in Curte’s randomly scattered tableaux do little to either raise or turn down the heat of a narrative that runs to lines like: “He was about to crush his lips to Alastair’s…when a scream split the air. The scream of someone in anguished pain.” Eventually Belial does get around to launching his evil scheme to take over London and then the world despite already bleeding from two wounds previously dealt by legendary magic sword Cortana. The love matches among the tight circle of friends are notably diverse, involving couples whose various members include some who are part Indian or Persian, those who are gay or straight, and even the formerly undead. The book closes with a tidying-up epilogue and even a bonus story, “Aught but Death,” which focuses on Cordelia and Lucie.
Fiendishly romantic from start to (eventual) finish. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781481431934
Page Count: 800
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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