A bright, vividly told tale that will bring readers closer to the natural world.
This middle-grade adventure sees a girl take up a fantastic quest alongside an alien companion.
One day, sixth grader Katie Noriega stares outside during class. She notices an oak tree and hears a voice ask, “Will you listen to me?” She does and learns that the tree doesn’t want its branches cut. When she passes this on to Mr. Pinksi, her teacher, the class ridicules her. Her best friend, Amy Scott, tells her that pretending to talk to nature is embarrassing. Even more discouraging, Katie’s parents have been fighting and may get divorced. After school, her cat, Sasha, says, “Earth.” Katie is unsure of the message—until the ground shakes and she falls into the family’s basement. There, she meets Za, a young gnomelike alien from the planet Stella. He has purple skin and a bright orb that reveals they’re actually in a cave. They follow a stream through this place that’s “stuck between” and encounter a woman named Dania, who leads them to her forest dwelling. Za’s guardian arrives and gives them gifts, a charm bracelet and a journey song, to help the kids in their search for the Winged Ones and a way back to their respective worlds. Meanwhile, a battle with the all-consuming Poison One lurks ahead. Davidson shares her passion for fantasy and the environment in this vibrant novel. Katie’s character is grounded by the threat of her parents’ divorce. She also bonds, despite the bickering, with Za, whose parents live on different planets. Younger readers will recognize familiar fantasy components, including Kira, a lion; elemental dragons; and Seidon, the lord of the waterways. Love for nature shines as the author’s overarching message; for example, Seidon says, “Although I continue to sense the other waters...Many are now polluted, and I can’t reach them.” An excellent scene showing the connection between trees and fungi gives adventure fans a topic for further study. Also noteworthy is that Katie and Za could not look more different, but they win by embracing their similarities. A winged horse named Wind stays with Katie in the end, hinting at further escapades.
A bright, vividly told tale that will bring readers closer to the natural world.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-64388-718-0
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Luminare Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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