A lively divine hero headlines a keen and rewarding epic tale.
A Valkyrie in human-teen form vows to save the boy she loves—as well as the universe from annihilation—in this collected YA fantasy-romance trilogy.
Valerie Frigg, though she outwardly looks like a 16-year-old mortal, is actually an immortal Valkyrie from another planet. She feigns a typical human life in Tennessee as she gets close to schoolmate Will Johnson—the first soul she’ll reap. Will is cursed with darkness by the Norn, former Valkyries who feed on suffering. Valerie, however, suspects that reaping Will’s soul and putting him in the “service of the gods” isn’t the best course of action. She’s fallen in love with him, and she vows to save him by breaking the curse, a reputedly impossible feat. Valerie has indisputably broken Valkyrie laws, including the first law by falling in love, and incites the wrath of new and old enemies. As her fragmented Valkyrie memories, at odds with her implanted human recollections, slowly return, Valerie feels herself torn between Will and fellow Immortal and best friend, Tyler. Although each book in Flowers’ collection has its own arc, all three connect seamlessly. The author deftly weaves Norse mythology into the story, from recognizable elements, such as Asgard and Ragnarök, as well as characters or creatures readers may not know as well. Valerie, who narrates, is a resilient, sympathetic protagonist—one of the only Immortals who cares about human lives. She’s still mastering her Valkyrie powers on Earth, leading to superb visuals, as she sees others’ colorful auras (his aura glimmered around him like a fuzzy backdrop, fluttering blues, greens, and purples through the air like tiny sparks of lightning”) and, sometimes inadvertently, manipulates space and time. There’s ample mystery in Book 1: Valkyrie Landing, with Valerie’s missing memories and neither her older sister nor Tyler filling in the gaps. This carries over to Book 2: Valkyrie Rebellion, which likewise builds to the trilogy’s fraught conclusion, Valkyrie Uprising, as Valerie fights to save people she loves while impeding the universe’s destruction.
A lively divine hero headlines a keen and rewarding epic tale.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781953393067
Page Count: 652
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Somberly beautiful.
A girl goes in search of her missing sister and discovers a strange hidden world of dreams.
Corin, who’s 18 and dark-skinned, strives to protect her 12-year-old sister, Elly. But life as a thief is full of struggle, poverty, and loss, even without Corin’s avoidance of other relationships. Elly clings to the promise of fairy tales, like the one that says a princess lies sleeping in an underground castle after pricking her finger on a spindle. After the sisters fight and Elly runs off, Corin searches for her in Gyldan’s old network of tunnels—and finds the tale is true: Cursed Princess Amelia, golden-haired, with eyes like “sea glass” and porcelain skin, lies asleep, surrounded by flowers. Corin enters the princess’ dreamworld—the place “where your subconscious desires come to life.” She meets Briar Rose, Amelia’s alter ego, who experienced her share of sadness and wanted to fall asleep. Also in the dreamworld is green-skinned Malicine, the nonbinary demon who, despite having placed the curse of eternal slumber on Amelia, is mostly friendly. All three are running from things they can’t face, though the dreamworld may not give them a choice. Pham’s debut, a Sapphic reimagining of “Sleeping Beauty,” explores mental health and asks a lot of readers as it seesaws between emotional confrontations, time jumps, and scenes where one character inhabits the memories of another, all of which demand intense engagement. Still, the ending is earned as well as positive.
Somberly beautiful. (content note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798217113026
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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
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