A beautiful romance for readers who appreciate a character-driven novel.
High school senior MacKenzie Rivers has been avoiding twins Jaden and Danielle Hunter ever since their parents died in a car crash the August before junior year.
Four years ago, Kenzie and her parents lost her baby sister, Grace, and her parents were irrevocably changed by their grief. She could not imagine that Jaden and Danielle—her crush and former friend, respectively—would be the same after their loss and could not bear to see them broken. Unable to cope and unsure how to behave around them, she managed to avoid them for a year—but after Kenzie runs into Dani in a Dairy Queen, the three begin to hang out again. Kenzie and Jaden start dating, and Dani finally seems to be on the road to healing. But Kenzie learns a terrible secret about the night the Hunters died, and she has to decide what she’s going to do next. Maskame (Did I Mention I Miss You?, 2016, etc.) creates well-rounded characters with believable flaws. Readers watch them struggle as they try to make the best decisions they can; character development is at the heart of the story. Refreshingly, the teenage romantic relationship portrayed here is actually a healthy one, avoiding many common tropes and showing that vulnerability and honesty are everything. All characters are presumed white, and one secondary character is gay.
A beautiful romance for readers who appreciate a character-driven novel. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7031-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Don’t look over sea or under stone, this is the fantasy novel for all once and future fans of suspense-filled storytelling.
Sixteen-year-old Black whiz kid Bree Matthews battles grief and demonic forces on her college campus.
After her mother dies in an accident, Bree begins a residential program for enterprising teens at her mother’s alma mater and, soon after her arrival, witnesses a magical attack that triggers hidden memories about the evening her mother was killed. Haunted by the fact that their final conversation was an argument, Bree begins a redemptive quest to uncover the connection between her mother’s death and the university’s secret society, the Order of the Round Table, joining their ranks as an initiate and unwittingly stumbling into a centuries-old supernatural war. While competing in the tournament that determines entry to the society, Bree discovers the truth about her heretofore unknown magical abilities, unwinding a complex history that showcases the horrors chattel slavery in the American South perpetuates on the descendants of all involved. Push through clunky expositions and choppy transitions that interrupt the cohesion of the text to discover solid character development that brings forward contemporary, thoughtful engagement with the representation, or lack thereof, of race in canonical Arthurian lore and mythologies. Representation of actualized, strong queer characters is organic, not forced, and so are textual conversations around emotional wellness and intergenerational trauma. Well-crafted allusions to established legends and other literary works are delightful easter eggs.
Don’t look over sea or under stone, this is the fantasy novel for all once and future fans of suspense-filled storytelling. (author's note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4160-6
Page Count: 512
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Will appeal to fans of fast-moving fantasy adventures.
Pledged to each other since childhood, Adraa and Jatin navigate the complex politics of their respective kingdoms.
Adraa is the heir to Belwar, and while powerful in most types of magic, she has yet to take the royal ceremony to prove her competency in all nine forms and, with it, her right to someday rule. With half its population Untouched by the Gods—unable to use magic—Belwar struggles with inequities between the Touched and Untouched, reminiscent of societal class divisions. Adraa’s strong sense of duty to her people leads her to fight against the corruption within her kingdom. Jatin, heir to their more magical neighbor Naupure, has spent years polishing his nine colors of magic at the academy, away from the realities of ruling. He and Adraa compare their magical prowess and progress through letters. When Jatin finally leaves the academy, a series of mishaps results in both of them hiding their true identities even as they grow closer in their fight against a ruthless gang. This intricate world with magic-fueled, action-packed fight scenes and snarky, colloquial banter is loosely infused with Asian Indian cultural references. The story also discusses questions of gender inequality, freedom, self-worth, and identity. Adraa and Jatin both have black hair; in contrast to the cover image, the text makes clear that Adraa is very dark-skinned while Jatin has lighter brown skin.
Will appeal to fans of fast-moving fantasy adventures. (deities and their powers, author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12421-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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