Devised by the minds behind 24 and Homeland, can a TV series be far behind? A sequel isn’t.
Can Kevin, Nick and Cass survive apart in a robot-controlled world?
Fresh from an unsuccessful attempt to free their parents from the robot-controlled City (Revolution 19, 2013), 13-year-old technology expert Kevin, his adopted older sister, Cass, and his older brother, Nick, set out to find a robot-free Freepost like the one where they grew up, as well as their liberated City friends, Lexi and Farryn. After a disagreement, Kevin is abducted by robots who seem friendly. Chasing them, Cass suffers an accident that brings her to the brink of death. Nick can only watch as City robots take her away. Still trying desperately to find Kevin, Nick accepts the help of enigmatic Erica, but bots dog their every step. Kevin discovers an enclave where robots and humans work together; Cass is brainwashed and returned to her birth family; and Nick joins the rebels as he continues his search for his siblings. Will the trio be able to reunite and find their friends? Picking up where the first left off, Rosenblum’s second could stand alone, but it’s best read as a sequel. There’s no great character development or innovative plotting, but good action sequences and an interesting future milieu make this fine pleasure reading.
Devised by the minds behind 24 and Homeland, can a TV series be far behind? A sequel isn’t. (Science fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-212597-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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