Another strong dose of supernatural drama, with a pleasantly diverse cast.
In this second volume of a YA fantasy series, two heroines return to the Faery Realm to confront both personal and Court-threatening demons.
High school seniors Alexis Dearborn and Molly Connolly have recently returned from the Faery Realm. Alexis is now dating Keir, prince of the Dark Court, while Molly has broken up with Dax, an obsessive incubus. As Halloween rolls around, the girls attend a party at their friend Cassi’s house. Molly hopes to move past her previous abusive relationship by joining her biology classmate Dave at the party. But Dax won’t be forgotten. He starts leaving presents for Molly in intrusive ways, like pastries on her doorstep and a musical figurine in her room. He even accosts her in her dreams. Meanwhile, in the Faery Realm, the Solitaries—rogue fae who have renounced their Court affiliations and become feral—are a growing menace. The Courts plan to convene and decide how to handle the Solitaries, and Queen Tynan, Keir’s mother, has summoned Alexis to a private audience. Later, when Dax magically robs Dave of his personality, Molly is determined to face her emotionally manipulative ex-boyfriend and restore her classmate. Yet the girls may not be prepared for all the secrets they’re still to uncover in the Faery Realm. In this expansive sequel, Ridge (Between Worlds, 2017, etc.) delivers broader dangers and a more inclusive cast. She depicts the Solitaries as a horde of furred, scaled mutations. A more refined fright comes from those of the Unseelie Court, who dress in gothic flair and pierce themselves with iron jewelry. Most noteworthy is Ridge’s introduction of Lark, a nonbinary elf who uses them/their/they pronouns. Lark proves integral to the plot, which contrasts the elf with another character, who comes out of the closet only to stand on the sidelines. Ridge injects humor whenever possible, like Alexis’ Tinker Bell Halloween costume, balancing the severity of Molly and Dax’s storyline. His role as the controlling boyfriend is exceptionally rendered, effectively popping out of the fantasy backdrop. This second volume also successfully establishes a major villain to battle in the third installment.
Another strong dose of supernatural drama, with a pleasantly diverse cast.Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-387-40321-9
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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