A crackerjack yarn featuring a strong heroine, plenty of action, and genuinely surprising twists and turns.
A young queen fights for vengeance—and her realm’s people—as she confronts her ruthless father and uncovers shocking secrets from the past in Barrett’s fantasy novel.
This first installment in The Keepers of Imbria series introduces Orabelle, Queen of Lehar and one of the four rulers of the fantastical realm of Imbria. Able to bend water to her will as the Keeper of Water, she is still subject to the whims of her tyrannical father, Chronus, who betrothed her to Blaise, a loathsome Fire Keeper and the King of Veruca. (“The water whirled at my command and rose up in a column to touch the tip of my finger. All this power, and I still felt my own weakness like a shroud that I could not remove, the weakness of having been born a woman.”) Orabelle has been secretly carrying on an affair with her Guardian, Tal—a fact that’s soon revealed and results in an act of horrific violence. Orabelle sets out on a quest, soon learning hidden truths about Tal, her dead mother, and herself. Her departure unfortunately means leaving her beloved sister, Maialen, in the poisonous hands of their father. Meanwhile, the Fomori, a band of outsiders with “glowing eyes and sharp teeth,” threaten all four realms. But the more Orabelle learns about them, the more the Fomori seem to lead to the answers about her own past she’s been searching for. Barrett creates a strong, intelligent protagonist who is easy to root for, even as Orabelle makes some questionable decisions. With naturalistic dialogue, vivid worldbuilding, and smooth prose, the novel fully immerses its readers in a realm full of magic and treachery. The brisk pace urges the plot onward without the narrative ever feeling rushed or underdeveloped, and a truly shocking ending is certain to leave readers eagerly looking forward to the next book in this promising series.
A crackerjack yarn featuring a strong heroine, plenty of action, and genuinely surprising twists and turns.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798988889120
Page Count: 331
Publisher: Anthem in Art
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A delightful, genre-defying debut.
Historical horror? Dark fantasy? Queer romance? All of the above!
“I was hundreds of years old before I ever met him, but that day we were both young.” While visiting his Florence offices in 2013, attorney Sebastian Grave unearths a bloodstained lambskin glove that belonged to a past lover—a man he’d met in the 18th century. Nestled within this frame narrative is a tale of desire, werewolves, and the French Revolution. In telling his story, Sebastian introduces Sarmodel, the demon with whom he shares a body, and a succubus named Livia contributes chapters in which Joan of Arc, her notorious ally Gilles de Rais, and the archangel Michael all make appearances. First-time novelist Sullivan wields the tools of multiple genres deftly, but what really makes this book special is its central character. Sebastian has powerful magic at his disposal, but he’s also human enough to fall hard for a hot young nobleman. When Sebastian goes hunting for the Beast of Gévaudan, he’s not looking for adventure. The first time, it’s because he can’t resist Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne. The second time, it’s because he dreams of a reunion with his love—even though he knows this is a hopeless wish against the advice of Sarmodel. Using Sebastian as a narrator keeps things light, in part because he has a droll, contemporary voice and in part because it makes the worldbuilding feel natural. There are footnotes, but there are no infodumps. The fact that Sebastian doesn’t know exactly what he is sets the tone for storytelling that leaves a great deal unexplained while providing enough detail to keep the reader engaged. Deploying Sarmodel as a sort of alter ego and allowing Livia to offer her own perspective on Sebastian also adds both depth and charm.
A delightful, genre-defying debut.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781250362766
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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