A hackneyed tale that gets further scuttled by its own main character.
Mysterious neighbors appear in Gravesend.
Not much time has gone by since Devin and his cousin Tommy saved the town of Gravesend from the dastardly Cuddle Bunnies (Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, 2017), and not much has changed. The only big development is the peculiar coffin Devin saw moved into the empty house on his street. The new family is rumored to be actors that collect movie memorabilia, and Devin is more than happy to let things lie and admire Lily, the new neighbors’ enchanting daughter. Of course, Tommy thinks Lily and her family are vampires, and it isn’t long before the evidence stacks up in his favor. The author wrings some good gags out of the stale premise, but the novel’s big problem is its protagonist. Readers know that Lily is a vampire, and Tommy points out again and again how she is one, but Devin digs in his heels and refuses to engage with his own narrative. A reluctant protagonist works for a few pages, but not over nearly 100. If the story’s own protagonist can’t bother to engage with it, why should readers? The result is a grating experience, rubbing readers the wrong way as the story presses on without real intrigue and the lead characters (all evidently white) bicker repeatedly with no variance or modulation.
A hackneyed tale that gets further scuttled by its own main character. (Horror. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5107-3409-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat,...
Full-blown middle-volume-itis leaves this continuation of the tale of a teenage elf who has been genetically modified for so-far undisclosed purposes dead in the water.
As the page count burgeons, significant plot developments slow to a trickle. Thirteen-year-old Sophie manifests yet more magical powers while going head-to-head with hostile members of the Lost Cities Council and her own adoptive elvin father, Grady, over whether the clandestine Black Swan cabal, her apparent creators and (in the previous episode) kidnappers, are allies or enemies. Messenger tries to lighten the tone by dressing Sophie and her classmates at the Hogwarts-ian Foxfire Academy as mastodons for a silly opening ceremony and by having her care for an alicorn—a winged unicorn so magnificent that even its poop sparkles. It’s not enough; two sad memorial services, a trip to a dreary underground prison, a rash of adult characters succumbing to mental breakdowns and a frequently weepy protagonist who is increasingly shunned as “the girl who was taken” give the tale a soggy texture. Also, despite several cryptic clues and a late attack by hooded figures, neither the identity nor the agenda of the Black Swan comes closer to being revealed.
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat, much less under way. (Fantasy 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4596-3
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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