Carey’s sequel to The Beast of Noor (2006) returns to the linked worlds of Noor (pre-industrial, mostly realistic) and Oth (traditional fantasyland) and brings teen siblings Hanna and Miles back for more adventures. The link between the worlds is being destroyed, their younger brother and other children have disappeared and Hanna is the savior the dragons have been waiting for. Oth and Noor feel a bit like the clichéd fantasy worlds so often ridiculed (see Diana Wynne Jones’s Tough Guide to Fantasyland, 2006), with excerpts from magic books, songs and prophecies as chapter heads, distracting imaginary language and magic that exists in service to the plot. But despite flaws and the occasionally preachy feel (there is very little gray and lots of earnest do-gooding), young teens with a burgeoning taste for high fantasy should be satisfied, and they might even sympathize with Hanna and Miles’s struggles (she must accept responsibility, he must master his anger). The first blushes of romance provide an added potential appeal but are minor enough not to impede much on the adventure. OK, despite the occasionally saccharine flavor. (glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60684-035-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Egmont USA
Review Posted Online: Dec. 27, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
A striking and heartfelt debut.
Fifteen-year-old Marjan Dastani discovers hidden family secrets and assumes new responsibilities after her father dies.
Until his murder, Marjan’s Iranian immigrant father was a veterinarian who ran West Berkeley Animal Clinic. Now, the high school sophomore, whose Norwegian American mother died of cancer years earlier, is left trying to run the business. Francesca Wix, her African American neighbor, is now her legal guardian. As Marjan attempts to keep her father’s veterinary practice afloat, she ruminates on her resentment of the demands it made on her father’s time—and is startled to learn that she is part of an ancient lineage tasked with healing mythological creatures. The layers of complex emotional and identity issues Marjan tackles give her character great depth; moments when she reflects on her connection to Persian culture feel natural and raw. The more readers learn about how she helps fantastical animals, the more is revealed about her father and the mystery surrounding his death. Marjan also deals with emotional triggers that do not allow her to bury her feelings, and the exploration of grief will affect readers deeply. The detailed visual descriptions clearly conjure up the enchanting world Monsef has created, one populated by expressive, surreal beings, each of which has its own backstory.
A striking and heartfelt debut. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781665928502
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Gaea is raising an army of giants to defeat the gods, and Juno has switched heroes Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason...
After spinning his wheels in series opener The Lost Hero (2010), Riordan regains his traction with book two of The Heroes of Olympus.
Gaea is raising an army of giants to defeat the gods, and Juno has switched heroes Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason Grace (son of Jupiter) in order to unite Greek and Roman gods and demigods in battle against her. His memory wiped, Percy knows only that he has another life and a girlfriend, Annabeth; he needs to focus now on winning the trust of the Roman demigods. As per usual, he has two appealing companions with intriguing back stories, Hazel Levesque (daughter of Pluto) and Frank Zhang (son of…?). The three undertake a quest to Alaska to defeat the giant Alcyoneus and free Thanatos, "the border patrol" of the Underworld, assisted and opposed along the way by a pleasing variety of magical beings. Riordan achieves freshness within his formula by giving characters and readers a new environment—Camp Jupiter, similar only in broad concept to Camp Half-Blood—to discover, and his pell-mell pacing has returned. As with all of Riordan's mythological tales, the details that bring the legends into the 21st century delight: The camp's augur reads the entrails of Beanie Babies; tiny, malignant grain spirits dissolve into Chex Mix; the Amazons' headquarters are in Seattle at, well, you guessed it.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4231-4059-7
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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