A meandering story lacking momentum.
In 1965 San Francisco, high school senior Blake Estancia is plagued by cryptic visions.
Magic runs in Blake’s family, but it has barely manifested in her. Unlike her telekinetic maternal grandmother, Zora, introduced in Dhonielle Clayton’s Shattered Midnight (2022), or her healer abuela, the teen’s power is relatively unimpressive: She receives abstract impressions when touching an object. Resigned to this, Blake focuses on becoming a professional artist, but it’s not easy for a young woman to break into the male-dominated art world. When startling visions begin appearing—first in her dreams and then in her waking hours—Blake turns to the aunt and uncle who raised her after her parents’ deaths for answers. She learns the truth about a family curse and a lost magic heirloom: her grandfather Phillip’s mirror. Blaming the curse for the many tragedies in her family’s history, Blake decides to break it by following the clues in her visions to find the mirror. She’s accompanied by her best friend, Olivia, and a British boy named Ian whose immediate connection with Blake seems fated. The book’s inherent suspense and initial forward motion are stalled by Blake’s unfamiliarity with her family history. When she begins her investigation into the curse, she finds fragments of answers, random breadcrumbs lacking in context that lead to a sudden and not quite conclusive ending. Blake’s mother was biracial (Black and White), and her father was Mexican.
A meandering story lacking momentum. (Historical fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04640-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic.
An 18-year-old’s encounter with the pale, mysterious, golden-eyed Starmaker transforms her from hamlet girl to magical apprentice.
Aurora Finch discovers she possesses the rare ability to channel sunlight—magic essential to the survival of snow-covered Reverie, her mountain village, “with peaks so high the Sun [cannot] rise above them.” Now she faces a harsh choice: Leave everything behind to train at the Starmaker’s enchanted castle or die as the untapped magic destroys her from within. Griffin excels at worldbuilding; the story is filled with elements and characters that feel both whimsical and real, from Tilly, a living snow angel who’s searching for herself, to Constance, an immortal rabbit. As the antagonism between Aurora and the cold, centuries-old Starmaker melts, their love story, which forms the heart of this tale, crackles with tension. Aurora emerges as a compelling hero—stubborn and brave—who refuses to be diminished by the overwhelming responsibilities thrust upon her. The romantic storyline proves both strong and emotionally involving as the author brings fresh twists to familiar elements, exploring the power of stories and how they shape our understanding of the world. White-presenting Aurora faces a devastating truth that creates urgency and heightens the emotional stakes that drive the story to its conclusion. This satisfying, sparkling fantasy will capture hearts with its well-developed setting and captivating love story.
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781728256184
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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