An ambitious but lightweight fantasy that grapples with issues of racism and identity.
Cox’s (Native Girl Rites, 2017) brief fantasy novel tells the story of a magical young woman locked in an eternal war against the forces of hate.
In New York City in 1972, 20-something African-American student Misty is attending the Girard music school, taking part in its doctoral program. But she has a unique ability that only her mother and uncle know about: When she strums her old blue guitar, she’s able to change her outward appearance from that of a black woman to a white one. This comes in handy at a school where racism remains rampant, particularly in the classroom of intolerant Professor Krinch. At night, she has dreams in which she transforms into a magical beast to do battle with a shape-shifting demon, Schizm, the incarnation of hate. In her waking life, she begins a relationship with Justin, a white student who knows her as both Misty and as her white alter ego, “Cynthia Berns”—although he doesn’t realize that they’re the same person. As Misty’s dreams become more intense, she learns that the source of her powers is her purple blood—which is also evidence that she’s a demigod. While drawing on the help of other demigods that reveal themselves to her, she must use her powers to defeat Schizm before he can enslave the world. Cox writes in an energetic style that gives scenes a sense of lively urgency. For example, at one point, Misty dreams of taking the form of a giant wolf: “Before devouring her prey, she leaped to catch the other buck who had gotten a huge head start already….Two swift leaps and she was on his tail….She reached out with her large paw and slashed him in two.” The choice to combine elements of fantasy and with the topic of American racial dynamics in the ’70s is an intriguing one, and the overall premise does hold a lot of promise. However, the novel also relies heavily on familiar genre tropes, such as Misty’s status as “the chosen one,” and convenient occurrences that may strain readers’ credulity.
An ambitious but lightweight fantasy that grapples with issues of racism and identity.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 219
Publisher: Kwill
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.
When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.
Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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