A winding tale of jewelry-based intrigue darkened by an uncomfortably unhealthy romance.
A gem cutter’s daughter hopes to avoid execution by telling the story of stealing the Sun King’s diamond.
When Juliette Pitau is brought before King Louis XIV, accused of stealing his Tavernier Violet, a blue diamond from India, she knows that explaining her motivation offers her only chance. She’s thrown in the Bastille and given a clerk to take her dictation—René, her one-time paramour. Because René believes her to be as immoral and ambitious as the king does, Juliette crafts her tale to win back his love as well as her life. Juliette’s story begins with her father’s appointment as royal gem cutter and the impossible task he was set involving a blue diamond. This, plus family deaths pushed him into alcoholism. Juliette sought out a Jewish master gem cutter; associating with Jews is listed among her crimes. The novel’s slow pace belies the urgency of Juliette’s impending doom, although the detailed descriptions of jewels and dresses compensate. Juliette emerges as a realistically flawed heroine, but René’s bursts of violent anger, jealousy, and oft-repeated insistence that she scapegoat the Jewish gem cutters to secure her own acquittal show him to be far more toxic than her besotted narration acknowledges. The ethnically Jewish characters are conversos, or Christian converts, portrayed as simply virtuous and inexplicably generous with the Christian French characters who use their knowledge for their own gain. All characters are white.
A winding tale of jewelry-based intrigue darkened by an uncomfortably unhealthy romance. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3741-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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