by Ellen Oh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2013
Fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling (2008) will be drawn to the despised warrior princess; fans of Cindy Pon's Silver...
In a magical ancient Korea, a demon-slaying princess defends her family and her kingdom.
Kira may be the king's own niece and Hansong's lone female warrior, but that doesn't make her popular. Her yellow eyes and demon-hunting abilities make the citizenry fear her; her male clothing and fighting skills make the nobility loathe her. At least in her role as bodyguard to the heir, her young cousin Taejo, she has a purpose in the court. Hopefully that purpose will be enough to convince her parents not to marry her off to the attractive but vicious nephew of the king's advisor, Lord Shin. Despite all her suspicions, which are aided by prophetic visions, Kira doesn't foresee treachery soon enough. Lord Shin lets Yamato soldiers into the castle—many of whom are possessed by demons only Kira can see. She flees with Taejo, and thus begins a prophecy-driven quest to take back their kingdom from the Yamato and avenge their lost. Muddling through on equal parts martial arts and stubbornness, Kira finds new allies and gains desperately needed magical skills.
Fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling (2008) will be drawn to the despised warrior princess; fans of Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix (2009) will love the setting . (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-209109-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Share your opinion of this book
More by Ellen Oh
BOOK REVIEW
by Ellen Oh
BOOK REVIEW
edited by Ellen Oh
BOOK REVIEW
by Ellen Oh
by Ashley Elston ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2019
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story.
Is an exuberant extended family the cure for a breakup? Sophie is about to find out.
When Sophie unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend, she isn’t thrilled about spending the holidays at her grandparents’ house instead of with him. And when her grandmother forms a plan to distract Sophie from her broken heart—10 blind dates, each set up by different family members—she’s even less thrilled. Everyone gets involved with the matchmaking, even forming a betting pool on the success of each date. But will Sophie really find someone to fill the space left by her ex? Will her ex get wind of Sophie’s dating spree via social media and want them to get back together? Is that what she even wants anymore? This is a fun story of finding love, getting to know yourself, and getting to know your family. The pace is quick and light, though the characters are fairly shallow and occasionally feel interchangeable, especially with so many names involved. A Christmas tale, the plot is a fast-paced series of dinners, parties, and games, relayed in both narrative form and via texts, though the humor occasionally feels stiff and overwrought. The ending is satisfying, though largely unsurprising. Most characters default to white as members of Sophie’s Italian American extended family, although one of her cousins has a Filipina mother. One uncle is gay.
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-02749-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Ashley Elston
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Kristy Acevedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2023
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale.
A reissue of the 2016 novel published as Consider.
Alexandra Lucas and her boyfriend, Dominick, are about to start their senior year of high school when 500 vertexes—each one a doorway-shaped “hole into the fabric of the universe”—appear across the world, accompanied by holographic messages communicating news of Earth’s impending doom. The only escape is a one-way trip through the portals to a parallel future Earth. As people leave through the vertexes and the extinction event draws nearer, the world becomes increasingly unfamiliar. A lot has changed in the past several years, including expectations of mental health depictions in young adult literature; Alex’s struggle with anxiety and reliance on Ativan, which she calls her “little white savior” while initially discounting therapy as an intervention, make for a trite after-school special–level treatment of a complex situation; a short stint of effective therapy does finally occur but is so limited in duration that it contributes to the oversimplification of the topic. Alex also has unresolved issues with her Gulf War veteran father (who possibly grapples with PTSD). The slow pace of the plot as it depicts a crumbling society, along with stilted writing and insubstantial secondary characterization, limits the appeal of such a small-scale, personal story. Characters are minimally described and largely racially ambiguous; Alex has golden skin and curly brown hair.
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale. (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-839-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.