Steamy, suspenseful, and sensuous.
In an extravagantly gothic follow-up to House of Salt and Sorrows (2019), Verity, 17, is snared in both a romantic dilemma and a hideous research project.
Prompted by a commission to paint the portrait of 19-year-old Alexander, scion of the refined ducal house of Bloem, Verity defiantly escapes the cloistered life forced on her by overprotective big sister Camille—only to find herself caught up in a web of secrets and lies complicated by the tried-and-true conflict of having to choose between kind, gentle, Alexander, who uses a wheelchair, and a dangerous but excitingly hot rival for her interest. Along with providing a lavishly decorated country house stocked with lush floral gardens, secret passages and stairways, and a hidden library of erotica for a setting, Craig lavishes her doorstopper with lurid elements, including references to a curse, madness, and feelings of dread; mysterious screams in the night; and encounters with ghostly apparitions. More disturbing still are eventual revelations that Alexander’s seemingly rational botanist father’s research hasn’t entirely been confined to the greenhouse. Overall, the tale well serves both readers who thrill to bloody, onstage murders and visions of body parts in jars as well as those left breathless by watching relationships heat up. Alexander’s mother has brown skin, and his father is White; Verity reads White.
Steamy, suspenseful, and sensuous. (Gothic fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593482544
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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