Young adventurers headline an entertaining SF tale.
In this fourth installment of a YA series, time-traveling teens fight to preserve the American Revolution’s original outcome.
Picking up right after Kep Westguard:The Great Escape (2024), this SF novel opens with Kep and his younger brother, Max, in 18th-century Saratoga, New York. Their companions, TJ and Tela, return to the modern day via a time machine to update the covert organization Kronos on what’s happening. Here’s the situation: Just before the pair’s departure home, Kep realized that someone was planning to sabotage the Battle of Saratoga, so that the British would triumph. Additionally, he suspected that a spy was hiding among the Americans. Now, if he and Max can’t agree on who the traitor is, then they have no way of thwarting the dangerous plot (“If the outcome of this battle changed, if the Americans lost, history would change. The United States might never exist”). Maybe things will improve once the brothers reunite with TJ and Tela, who first must wait for their systems “to stabilize” before time-traveling back to 1777. With all four tackling the problem, surely they’ll dream up a viable solution. Schnabel aptly mingles historical figures with the series’ recurring cast. For example, Benedict Arnold is possibly the traitor, but his infamous betrayal occurred three years later, and, according to Max, he was the unsung hero of the eponymous battle. This book also includes periodic “mission notes,” which highlight intriguing details about the real-life Battle of Saratoga and some of the people involved. The young heroes boast distinctive personalities and prove more than capable of handling the story’s astonishing task, all while making understandable blunders (at one point, TJ, who is trying to butter up Arnold, mistakenly praises him for something he hasn’t done yet). Although the cast is strong, the ways in which this story showcases individual skill sets occasionally feels contrived, particularly TJ’s acting prowess and champion skeet shooter Tela’s expertise with a historic long rifle. Further installments will undoubtedly follow, as a series-long villain (named in Kep’s opening recap, the only part he narrates) is not integral to this diverting installment.
Young adventurers headline an entertaining SF tale.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
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. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic.
An 18-year-old’s encounter with the pale, mysterious, golden-eyed Starmaker transforms her from hamlet girl to magical apprentice.
Aurora Finch discovers she possesses the rare ability to channel sunlight—magic essential to the survival of snow-covered Reverie, her mountain village, “with peaks so high the Sun [cannot] rise above them.” Now she faces a harsh choice: Leave everything behind to train at the Starmaker’s enchanted castle or die as the untapped magic destroys her from within. Griffin excels at worldbuilding; the story is filled with elements and characters that feel both whimsical and real, from Tilly, a living snow angel who’s searching for herself, to Constance, an immortal rabbit. As the antagonism between Aurora and the cold, centuries-old Starmaker melts, their love story, which forms the heart of this tale, crackles with tension. Aurora emerges as a compelling hero—stubborn and brave—who refuses to be diminished by the overwhelming responsibilities thrust upon her. The romantic storyline proves both strong and emotionally involving as the author brings fresh twists to familiar elements, exploring the power of stories and how they shape our understanding of the world. White-presenting Aurora faces a devastating truth that creates urgency and heightens the emotional stakes that drive the story to its conclusion. This satisfying, sparkling fantasy will capture hearts with its well-developed setting and captivating love story.
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781728256184
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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