Formulaic, anachronistic, undemanding.
Cass and Luca return to Venice to clear their names and put an end to the Order of the Eternal Rose once and for all in this trilogy closer.
On their heels are the apparently immortal Belladonna and her evil doctor. Also converging in Venice are the Order leader who has the Venetian Senate in the palm of his hand and Luca’s illegitimate, psychotic half brother. There is danger aplenty, and plucky Cass soon finds herself in the thick of it. Having kicked one leg of the obligatory love triangle away in Belladonna (2013), Paul wedges it back in place by placing Falco and Cass in a fervent colloquy that Luca witnesses, leading to the also-obligatory estrangement of Cass from her betrothed. Much wringing of hands ensues over this, as well as the deaths of friends and servants incurred during her quest. Cass and the plot lurch from peril to peril with far too much telling and not enough showing; villainous dialogue is often helpfully interpreted in a sort of narrative play by play. Short chapters that end in minicliffhangers keep the pages turning, though, helping readers speed past the frequently purple prose. The rather interesting acceptance of prostitution as a legitimate career choice for young women in the late Renaissance goes largely unexamined, as does the relationship of Venice’s Jews to the larger population, sparked by an irresponsibly throwaway scene.
Formulaic, anachronistic, undemanding. (Historical mystery. 14 & up)Pub Date: March 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25727-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A crackerjack thriller done in by its own dopey protagonist.
A blended family seeks a fresh start in a new home.
Tom’s mother believes that the family may have finally found happiness. After years of dating losers, she’s finally settled down with a nice guy—and that nice guy, Jay, happens to have a daughter, Nia, who is just a little older than Tom. The new family has moved into a nice new house, but Tom can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. They discover a strange message written on the wall when they are stripping the old wallpaper, and there’s clear evidence that the previous owners had installed locks on the exteriors of the bedroom doors. Those previous owners happen to live a little farther down the street, and Tom quickly becomes obsessed with their teenage daughter, Amy, and the secrets she’s hiding. This obsession unfortunately becomes a repetitive slog involving many pages of Tom’s brooding and sulking over the same bits of information while everyone tells him to move on. Readers will be on everyone’s side. But then, a blessed breath of fresh air: The perspective shifts to Amy, and readers learn in spectacularly propulsive fashion exactly what she’s hiding. Regret and intrigue blend perfectly as Amy divulges her secrets. Alas, we return to navel-gazing Tom for the book’s final pages, and everything ends with a shrug. Main characters default to White.
A crackerjack thriller done in by its own dopey protagonist. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72823-189-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
A promising setup let down by lackluster personalities and a disappointing plot.
The case of a missing New Orleans girl reveals buried secrets.
April Whitman, Vivian Atkins, and Piper Johnson are debutantes in the annual Les Masques ball for high school girls. Chosen as Maids for senior Lily LeBlanc, who’s been crowned Queen, they’re considered to be Mardi Gras royalty. But following Lily’s grand entrance at Les Masques, the lights go out. Suddenly images of Margot Landry, the previous Queen, who was found dead from an overdose the day after last year’s ball, are projected in the ballroom—and, in a scene out of Carrie, one of the masked Jesters throws red paint over Lily before running off. Ominously, Lily never returns home. The Maids—Lily’s best friend, Vivian, her boyfriend’s twin sister, Piper, and her friend April (who also had ties to Margot)—receive texts from Lily asking them to meet her at the Deus Den, a warehouse where Mardi Gras floats are stored. After they arrive, Piper gets a cryptic email from Lily that leads them to find her signature diamond necklace, sparking a police investigation. The atmospheric, well-described New Orleans setting brings much-needed personality to the story, since the main characters are largely unremarkable. The flat characterization, coupled with an unsatisfying resolution, together make the journey feel unfulfilling. The debutante tradition’s racist, classist, and sexist origins are brought up but not fleshed out enough to make an impact. Main characters are cued white.
A promising setup let down by lackluster personalities and a disappointing plot. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250881465
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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