Stellar characterization puts this vampy tale a bite above the rest.
In Palmer’s supernatural novel, a woman struggling with newfound vampirism learns she’s unique.
A 20-something awakens without her memories. Friends fill her in on the basics: She’s Ember Phoenix, a college student in the Southwestern U.S. While recovering at pal Mason Pieger’s place, her days teem with hallucinations of blood and blackouts. Ember realizes Mason, who admits his romantic feelings for her, hasn’t disclosed everything. She’s a vampire, and he’s her creator who convinces her to drink human blood. Leaving the untrustworthy Mason isn’t much of an improvement—vampire hunters quickly target her. But their captive surprises them. Ember, unlike other bloodsuckers, doesn’t sizzle in the sun. Also surprising is her camaraderie with the hunters, including Cassius Steel. She joins Cassius’ team on raids against vampire nests. At the same time, Ember endlessly fights her “predatory instinct.” She doesn’t want to feed on humans, even the one team member who doesn’t like her. Perhaps worst of all, she can’t escape Mason, who can find her anywhere. Palmer wisely doesn’t dawdle on vampire lore, and the story centers instead on Ember’s identity. Her supernatural side is a mystery, and she often resembles a typical human. The desert setting gives this story a distinctive Western feel. The author, for example, memorably describes a pre-raid excursion: “The bus turned down a bumpy dirt road, leading us further into the dry desert. The sideview mirrors showed a cloud of dust trailing behind us.” Similarly, action scenes are intense. These vamps favor “ripping chunks” from skin over a “neat little puncture.” As this book is part of a series, questions linger, including twists in the final act.
Stellar characterization puts this vampy tale a bite above the rest. (dedication, acknowledgements, author bio)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Rhetoric Askew, LLC
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.
What do you do when the voice in your head is real?
Lore, Bastian, and Gabe are all still alive following the events in The Foxglove King (2023), despite a ritual meant to take Lore’s life and usher in a new age for the god Apollius. But Lore, determined to live despite—or perhaps because of—her deep and unyielding connection to the magical death force Mortem, is unwilling to be used as a tool. Now that Bastian is no longer prince but Sainted King, Gabe is Priest Exalted, and Lore is the king’s deathwitch, her safety should be secure. The court, however, distrusts Lore and her uncanny powers, and even more dangerous are the gods, leaning ever closer and perhaps not so separate from the world as a thwarted ritual might imply. Bastian has been changing, able to control Spiritum, Mortem’s mirror image, in new and powerful ways, but also acting more erratic and strange. Meanwhile, the voice in Lore’s head is growing louder. To make matters worse, Gabe and Bastian can hardly look at each other, while Lore feels torn between the two of them and in need of both. In the second volume of the Nightshade Crown series, things go from bad to much worse, while a familiar gothic atmosphere looms oppressively around the characters. As Lore strives to keep as many people as safe as possible, others scheme with sinister forces and powerful magic. In a tense and atmospheric installment, Lore moves quickly between heart-pounding romantic encounters and adrenaline-filled moments facing danger and death.
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780316435291
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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