A witty and pleasing series entry with a welcome new character.
A London bookstore owner struggles to keep her shop’s wondrous secrets in Andersen’s fantasy romance sequel.
Aurelia Lyndham is on the cusp of major changes in her life. She’s the owner of On the Square Books, and she’s in the process of editing her latest novel and planning her wedding to Oliver Pearce, a book editor. Despite her happiness, she’s afraid to reveal to her betrothed that, each night, she interacts with characters from the books on the store’s Recommended Reads table; she fears that he won’t forgive her for having kept these supernatural occurrences a secret. As the wedding date approaches, Aurelia’s 14-year-old niece, Julia, arrives from Paris to spend several weeks with them. Julia is unaware of the bookstore’s remarkable history, but Aurelia soon discovers that her niece can see the same people she can; the teen soon befriends denizens of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. As Julia’s connections with the characters deepen, Aurelia begins to believe that they’re appearing to her niece for a specific reason that the pair must uncover. In this third installment of Andersen’s Midnights on the Square series, the focus shifts away from the concept of Aurelia writing new endings for the books’ characters to introduce a new generation—and a future shop owner—to those who reside in the Recommended Reads. This approach keeps the series from becoming formulaic while retaining the lively engagement with classic literature that’s become its hallmark. Julia’s enthusiasm for meeting the various figures sparkles throughout the narrative, especially in the scenes in which she discusses cinematic adaptations of Pride and Prejudice with the character of Kitty Bennet. The relationship between Aurelia and Oliver is still a central focus, and their chemistry remains playful, with lots of witty banter: “You’re too good at coming up with ways to torment people with literature,” Oliver comments at one point. As Andersen pursues elements from the previous novel, including Aurelia’s book about art forgery, she also lays the foundation for future installments.
A witty and pleasing series entry with a welcome new character.Pub Date: July 13, 2026
ISBN: 9798998747748
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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