A skillfully crafted tale of survival and the power of hope and connection.
A teenage girl and her friend find new companions and encounter unexpected dangers in Taylor’s YA SF sequel.
Charlotte and her friend Anna, Nova Scotian teenagers who lost family members in the ENO.9 worldwide pandemic, are seeking shelter and safety. After Charlotte’s father Glen and older brother Samuel disappeared while on a supply-gathering trip, a man named Dave Steveston appeared at Charlotte’s family homestead. Steveston threatened their lives; the girls escaped from the homestead and began a search for new lodgings and supplies. They find another homestead which appears to be abandoned; however, they soon locate the bodies of 13 people, all victims of the virus. Despite the grim discovery, the girls decide to stay on the property. When a teenage boy named Luke returns to the homestead to discover he’s lost his entire family, the girls find an unlikely but steadfast ally, and Charlotte experiences her first crush. Despite the respite from the dangers caused by the virus, concerns about Charlotte’s father and brother linger for both girls, and Anna decides to return to Charlotte’s homestead to see if they have returned. The simple plan soon becomes a fight for survival when a natural disaster and severe injury put Charlotte and Luke in grave danger. The second installment of Taylor’s The After series improves upon its predecessor by expanding the worldbuilding and deepening the friendship of its main characters. The author moves the primary setting from Charlotte’s homestead to Luke’s, giving Charlotte (and readers) insight into the ways the virus has affected other families. The expanded setting comes with the introduction of an intriguing new character: Luke, a 17-year-old whose tentative romance with Charlotte provides some of the novel’s most poignant moments and demonstrates how love can engender a sense of hope even in the midst of tragedy. The friendship between Anna and Charlotte forms the emotional center of the narrative as a relationship that began as transactional (“I needed you and what you had much more than you needed me, Char”) becomes a sisterly bond.
A skillfully crafted tale of survival and the power of hope and connection.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781038329721
Page Count: 198
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A spectacular return to a magical world.
Following the events of Impossible Creatures (2024), a devoted Guardian teams up with a brave princess to fight her power-hungry uncle and save the Archipelago’s dragons from a strange new threat.
Jacques the dragon summons Christopher Forrester back to the Archipelago from the human world: Dragons are dying, and no one knows why. Meanwhile, on the island of Dousha, Princess Anya’s grandfather, King Halam, has been murdered, and her father accused—though she knows he’s innocent. When Christopher and Anya take refuge on the islet of Glimt, the Berserker Nighthand helps them see how their twin missions to save the dragons and free Anya’s father are connected. They work together to create an antidote for the poison that’s killing the dragons and to keep Anya and her father safe from her murderous uncle. Meanwhile, Nighthand and Irian, the part-nereid ocean scholar, pursue their own important secret mission. Divided into three parts—“Castle,” “Dragons,” and “Revenge”—and containing elements of fairy tales, fantasy, and Shakespeare, this story continues the storyline established in the series opener, yet because it introduces new characters and obstacles, it could also stand alone. Dark-blond Anya (“five feet tall and all of it claws”) is a match for white-presenting Christopher, who, though he still misses Mal, finds that “it made a difference to have someone to move through the world with again. A friend changed the feel of the universe.” Mackenzie’s delicate, otherworldly art adorns the text.
A spectacular return to a magical world. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593809907
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
