All in all, a flawed but quick read with a strong narrator and a weaker supporting cast.
When 17-year-old Annabeth’s father’s college friends start dying, she is determined to find out who (or what) is taking their lives.
Nearly four years after Annabeth’s mother’s death, horror strikes again when her parents’ friends, her honorary aunt and uncle Malcolm and Sarah Bradford, die in a boating accident. At Bradford Manor, Annabeth learns more about a group called the Magellans, a college club focused on myths and legends, and the reason that Malcolm, Sarah, and her parents became friends. In the process she stumbles upon a deadly secret that makes her wonder whether the Bradfords’ deaths were, in fact, accidental—not to mention a romance that threatens to break her heart. Cashman’s (The Exceptionals, 2012) narratorial voice deftly balances Annabeth’s strength and fragility, and her pacing keeps the reader entertained. However, the supporting characters are less developed, and certain plot points feel contradictory. For example, Annabeth uses the reasoning skills her father taught her to figure out the mysteries connected to Malcolm’s and Sarah’s deaths, even though her father was unable to do so himself. Camila, who is Cuban and plays an insubstantial role, is the only character of color. Ultimately, the secret at the heart of the book feels anticlimactic, lowering the stakes of an otherwise gripping conflict.
All in all, a flawed but quick read with a strong narrator and a weaker supporting cast. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62414-593-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come.
A heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction swirls together in the sequel to The Cruel Prince (2018).
Five months after engineering a coup, human teen Jude is starting to feel the strain of secretly controlling King Cardan and running his Faerie kingdom. Jude’s self-loathing and anger at the traumatic events of her childhood (her Faerie “dad” killed her parents, and Faerie is not a particularly easy place even for the best-adjusted human) drive her ambition, which is tempered by her desire to make the world she loves and hates a little fairer. Much of the story revolves around plotting (the Queen of the Undersea wants the throne; Jude’s Faerie father wants power; Jude’s twin, Taryn, wants her Faerie betrothed by her side), but the underlying tension—sexual and political—between Jude and Cardan also takes some unexpected twists. Black’s writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable. Faerie is a strange place where immortal, multihued, multiformed denizens can’t lie but can twist everything; Jude—who can lie—is an outlier, and her first-person, present-tense narration reveals more than she would choose. With curly dark brown hair, Jude and Taryn are never identified by race in human terms.
A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-31035-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
For fans, a finale that satisfies.
Picking up just after the end of Legendary (2018), Garber continues to build the world of Caraval with a final installment, this time focusing equally on both Dragna sisters’ perspectives.
After they released their long-missing mother from the Deck of Destiny, Scarlett and Donatella hoped to rebuild their relationship and gain a new sense of family. However, Legend also released the rest of the Fates, and, much to their dismay, the Fallen Star—essentially the ur-Fate—is only gaining in power. As the Fates begin to throw Valenda into chaos and disarray, the sisters must decide whom him to trust, whom to love, and how to set themselves free. Scar’s and Tella’s passionate will-they-or-won’t-they relationships with love interests are still (at times, inexplicably) compelling, taking up a good half of the plot and balancing out the large-scale power games with more domestic ones. Much like the previous two, this third book in the series is overwritten, with overly convenient worldbuilding that struggles nearly as much as the overwrought prose and convoluted plot. While those who aren’t Garber’s fans are unlikely to pick up this volume, new (or forgetful) readers will find the text repetitious enough to be able to follow along.
For fans, a finale that satisfies. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-15766-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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