Fast-paced with a vivid setting and strong focus on music, Kiebel’s novel will appeal to YA readers looking for a...
In Kiebel’s debut YA novel, a talented young singer learns that her gift is part of an astonishing family lineage.
Lorelei Clark is an aspiring singer attending a prestigious conservatory. Her decision to leave her home in Colorado to study music in Maine caused a rift with her mother, Cassandra, but she’s retained the love and support of her father, Andy. Tragedy strikes Lorelei’s family when Andy is hit by a car and killed while on a trip to visit Lorelei. While her father lies dying, Lorelei is overcome with an urge to sing to him. Following her father’s funeral, she receives a letter from Helen Deleaux, a great aunt on her mother’s side of the family. Helen invites Lorelei to spend time at her home in Chatham, Massachusetts, where she meets Helen’s niece, Calliope Deleaux, and a distant cousin named Deidre Malone. The visit goes well until the night Lorelei wakes up and sees the three women emerge from a fog hovering over the sea, singing in unison. When Lorelei asks Helen to explain what she saw, Helen tells her that all three women are sirens, mythological women who sing to sailors, luring them to their deaths. As Lorelei explores her gift, she faces a challenge that puts her life in danger. Kiebel’s fantasy boasts an intriguing premise and irresistible setting bolstered by an appealing heroine and well-drawn supporting characters. The use of music is especially effective. From the pieces Lorelei sings at the conservatory to the songs the sirens sing to the dying sailors, the music helps establish a solid tone that Kiebel maintains throughout the narrative. In addition to Lorelei, the sirens are intriguing and dynamic characters, especially Calliope, whose secret past with Lorelei’s mother could affect Lorelei’s future. The settings, just as important as the music, come alive in clever ways, including an exciting chase scene through the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland.
Fast-paced with a vivid setting and strong focus on music, Kiebel’s novel will appeal to YA readers looking for a well-developed romantic fantasy.Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1940716046
Page Count: 358
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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