A strong beginning for a promising fantasy series.
A teenage girl faces an awakening ancient god in Dawson’s YA fantasy novel.
Once upon a time, evil god Evercry and its magic corrupted the world until it was defeated by the Fair Lady, a goddesslike guardian figure. For a thousand years since, the warrior sisters of the Fair Lady’s order in the medieval-like city of Lathore have protected the world from the lingering tendrils of the Evercry’s essence by slaying those who fall under its spell. Larissa is about to be tested by the Fair Lady, and once she passes her trial, she will one day—like her mother and countless women in their family before her—hear the call to slay her enemy. But when Larissa fails her Empirical (a sort of final graduation test), she is placed within the secretive caste of the darkkins, the only ones within their order who are allowed to study and even wield magic to face the Evercry (“They studied magic, the tool of the Evercry, to better understand and defend against their foe. Sisters warned all acolytes to steer clear of them; they bore taint for their meddling with magic”). When she is called to go on an unexpected mission, she and her friends Jyan and Valare, who are knights, embark on a dangerous journey that may change everything. The story brilliantly juxtaposes Larissa’s friends’ prowess in fighting in exciting action sequences with Larissa’s more scholarly nature. Her studies as a darkkin unveil the truth about her heritage, the history of her world, and her role in it, as she learns, “The world is not a stagnant history book. It changes all the time, with every passing day, and many of us are never aware.” Satisfying character arcs, a deeply felt sense of sisterhood between Larissa and her friends, and a bit of romance are the cherries on top.
A strong beginning for a promising fantasy series.Pub Date: July 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781956615159
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Literary Wanderlust
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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