Action and adventure with a fearless heroine at the helm.
The alternate-history thrill ride continues in this sequel to Ink, Iron, and Glass (2018).
It’s been one month since Leo’s betrayal, when he stole the editbook and defected to his father’s cause. Fierce, trouser-sporting, revolver-toting, polymathic pazzerellone Elsa has been trying to find a way to reclaim the book, created by her mother and designed to protect Elsa’s scribed world of Veldana from European threats. However, it also has the power to edit the real world, making it the most powerful object in existence. Leo’s tyrannical father, to whom the ends justify the horrific means, will do anything to unify the four states of Italy, and the editbook will help him do just that. Elsa must convince Leo’s father that she wants to join his revolution. The author is a master of character development. The third-person narration, which creates spot-on dramatic irony, alternates between several characters, each with their own struggles. Feelings of guilt, challenges to their personal belief systems, shifting loyalties, and navigation of worlds on the brink of change are complicated but never feel contrived or convoluted. Leo’s foster sister, Porzia, is especially compelling, questioning the future she’s taken for granted as a member of the privileged class and steward of her family’s legacy. People of Veldana, Elsa included, have brown skin, as does alchemy pazzerellone Faraz (also cued as Muslim); assume whiteness for others.
Action and adventure with a fearless heroine at the helm. (Fantasy. 12-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-11278-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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