Solid and intriguing.
Fourteen-year-old Padmé Naberrie becomes Naboo’s latest elected monarch, and Capt. Quarsh Panaka of the Royal Security Forces prepares for a peaceful transition of power.
Much work awaits the young leader, who hopes to guide her homeworld beyond the isolationist policy of her predecessor. But first, Padmé and Panaka must assemble the queen's handmaidens, a group of five girls who will act as advisers, guards, and decoys for the queen. Against Panaka’s wishes, Padmé tightens the bonds between herself and her handmaidens, particularly with her dearest Saché, to craft a cunning, bold group loyal to Queen Amidala, Padmé’s regal alter ego. As Queen Amidala navigates Naboo’s political sphere, she organizes a summit with neighboring planets to foster and restore alliances. Meanwhile, the villainous Darth Sidious hastens his plans to acquire more power, inciting a brutal invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation. A prequel to the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace as well as Johnston’s Queen’s Shadow (2019), this look into Padmé’s ascent both honors its source material and colors in its scope. Johnston builds Padmé into an icon worthy of her reputation while underscoring her strong camaraderie with the handmaidens. Remarkably, readers receive a glimpse of Naboo’s politics as the narrative inevitably unfolds into the events chronicled in the film, though here there are glimpses of the more urgent struggles lurking beneath the latter’s grand heroics. There is diversity in race and sexual orientation.
Solid and intriguing. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-05714-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
A dark and gripping feminist tale.
A young woman faces her past to discover the truth about one of her nation’s heroes.
When Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at her university in Llyr, wins the competition to design Hiraeth Manor for the estate of the late Emrys Myrddin, national literary figure and her favorite author, it is the perfect opportunity to leave behind a recent trauma. She arrives to find the cliffside estate is literally crumbling into the ocean, and she quickly realizes things may not be as they seem. Preston, an arrogant literature student, is also working at the estate, gathering materials for the university’s archives and questioning everything Effy knows about Myrddin. When Preston offers to include her name on his thesis—which may allow her to pursue the dream of studying literature that was frustrated by the university’s refusal to admit women literature students—Effy agrees to help him. He’s on a quest for answers about the source of Myrddin’s most famous work, Angharad, a romance about a cruel Fairy King who marries a mortal woman. Meanwhile, Myrddin’s son has secrets of his own. Preston and Effy start to suspect that Myrddin’s fairy tales may hold more truth than they realize. The Welsh-inspired setting is impressively atmospheric, and while some of the mythology ends up feeling extraneous, the worldbuilding is immersive and thoughtfully addresses misogyny and its effects on how history is written. Main characters are cued white.
A dark and gripping feminist tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780063211506
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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