A futuristic, adventurous adventure with engaging characters and action.
Government agent Aurelia “Auri” Peri botches her first mission and uncovers a disturbing conspiracy in Layne’s YA SF thriller series starter.
By the year 3319, humanity has settled in the Ancora Galaxy. The people of the Federation are descended from the crews of long-ago military missions sent there by the United States and Japan; the General-in-Chief is the supreme leader, aided by military agents of an organization called the DISC. The GIC’s adopted 18-year-old daughter, Auri, has just completed the first of two mandatory years of military service. Freshly enlisted in the taskforce, she and her canine partner, Birdie, take over a mission after another agent is injured. After a heated chase ends in a death, Auri discovers that everything she’s been told about the Federation may be a lie. Auri is a cyborg with mostly artificial organs; she also has a blue robotic eye (“a little too light, the pupil not quite matching, the sensors in the iris almost transparent”). According to her father, she received these enhancements after she was injured by a wild animal at age 6. She has no memory of the attack or of her family before the GIC and his son, Tyson Peri, took her in; she’s harbored an unrequited crush on Ty for years, while he’s always resented their father for the attention he lavishes on Auri, even though in Federation society, cyborgs are hated and feared. Despite the complexity of the world, the plot doesn’t get bogged down because the various elements of the story are added seamlessly and gradually. The story picks up when Auri and Birdie must investigate a potential conspiracy, far away from the center of the Federation. There, she encounters a ragtag group of renegades reminiscent of the crew from the former Fox TV show Firefly, who seem interested in her investigation. As they investigate, Auri begins to find companionship in a way she’s never felt before, effectively strengthening a theme of the importance of found families. This raises the stakes of the exciting action sequences, which are well balanced with strong characterization.
A futuristic, adventurous adventure with engaging characters and action.Pub Date: March 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781958109120
Page Count: 303
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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