The emotional depth, hard-won hope, and absorbing storytelling will grip readers.
Hitomi is on the run again in this third installment of the Sunbolt Chronicles quartet.
Marked by binding magic that restricts her power, she journeys across the desert toward the mythical Burnt Lands to fulfill a long-standing debt to the phoenix—a powerful, enigmatic being who has saved her life more than once. Hitomi’s rare gift—the ability to unravel spells—may be the only hope for healing a landscape torn apart by ancient curses. But she’s on more than a mission of repayment; she deepens her bond with the phoenix and immerses herself in the culture of the desert people. With Huda and her siblings, Hitomi finds kinship, trust, and the stirrings of a sense of home, though not yet fully belonging. She’s still being sought by the High Council and rogue hunters, and the desert offers a rare and fragile safety—a place where she begins to claim her history even as new attachments threaten her freedom. Khanani’s seamless integration of new characters, ideas, and adventures attests to her skillful storytelling. The balancing of Hitomi’s desire for family and belonging with the need to protect herself from getting hurt makes her struggles and triumphs easily relatable. The narrative builds on the series’ legacy with sharpened urgency, textured worldbuilding, and a pace that never loses its footing. Rosero’s elegant chapter headings and the Tahir sisters’ full-page illustrations add to the sense of place.
The emotional depth, hard-won hope, and absorbing storytelling will grip readers. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781958051467
Page Count: 382
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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
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