A solid YA sequel that offers a wider worldview and deeper themes of responsibility.
Dan Hillman and friends are back in this YA fantasy-adventure sequel.
In Rosegrant’s debut, Gatemoodle (2013), Dan discovered that another world called Inland exists alongside our own. There, with the help of a guide named Billy Portman, Dan encountered mermaids and goblins and fairies, and found out that his crush-turned-girlfriend Maggie had actually been a supernatural being all along. Now, back in the real world, Dan can’t shake thoughts of Inland, and he’ll do anything to be reunited with Maggie, who went off to find the Moss Maidens, whom she believes are her ancestors. Luckily, Dan gets a chance to return to Inland while on a trip to Palenque in Mexico. Accompanied by his best friend, Josh, and new friend, Graciela, the daughter of a shaman, he enters a portal and finds himself back in the fantasy land. The first book focused on a fairy world based on English and Irish tales, but this one starts off in Mexico, which gives Inland another flavor altogether: Dan meets Quetzalcoatl and Mexican water spirits, cousins of Gatemoodle’s Nellie, a mermaid-type creature. This adds an intriguing layer to this series’ world; if each area of Inland represents the myths and legends and dreams of the portal’s location, the possibilities for adventure are almost limitless. After a surprisingly short time, Dan locates Billy Portman, as well as Maggie, who has certainly changed—she speaks with a different cadence, and has learned the ways of the Moss Maidens. Although she has no desire to return home, she still misses certain Outlanders, and feels like she doesn’t quite belong in Inland. Together, she and Dan set out to find the “First Changing Beast,” a creature who can help them pass between Inland and Outland more easily, whenever they desire. Rosegrant doesn’t provide readers with much information about the First Changing Beast—such as why its ability hasn’t been used before, though the creation of portals does seem to be a major issue. However, even without such explanation, the story is slowly growing into its unique setting. Dan continues to be a likable character, and readers will likely be interested to see how he develops in future books. That said, the story also touches upon darker themes, including rape, which may be jarring for some, as the overall tone is light and humorous.
A solid YA sequel that offers a wider worldview and deeper themes of responsibility.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-1500523848
Page Count: 310
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
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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