Imagination stifled by inexperience.
This new take on shapeshifters, people who can morph into animals, suffocates under an avalanche of unskillful prose in a heartfelt story that screams for better editing.
Julia doesn’t know she’s a supernatural being until her dad, Lancer, tells her that she’s royalty in a paranormal land. Worse, rebels led by Julia’s own mother want to kill her. Whisked to the family castle for safety, Julia enters school there to learn how to turn into a werecat at will. There she makes both friends and enemies and falls in love. Events lead to a final showdown between the factions with Julia caught in the middle of the fight. Clearly, Ostler loves her story, but, sadly, her writing lacks any hint of polish. Declarative sentences dominate the prose and nearly all dialogue, giving every character the same voice. Little description or character development and few transitions leave her writing stilted, with some extremely awkward phrasing (“She… searched for the culprit of the noise”). Grammatical errors abound, many serious, especially involving pronouns, adverbs and prepositions (“Me and you aren’t so different”; “he did terrible”). The firmly amateurish writing seriously interferes with the flow of the story throughout, especially at the climax.
Imagination stifled by inexperience. (Fantasy. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4621-1033-9
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
