A plucky orphan, dimensional gates, and snake-people cops mix in this surprisingly straightforward story.
in Jacomet’s YA SF series opener, an adolescent girl living on the streets stumbles into a team of police investigators from another dimension on the trail of a conspiracy.
In Columbus, Ohio, unhoused orphan Kes Gatner fell through cracks of social services after her foster family gave her up and moved away. Now she lives rough and resourcefully on the streets. When Kes tries to pick the pocket of Jack Boundang, a tall, strange man, he turns out to be a detective—and not just any detective, but one who works for the police force of Jheer, a smallish world in another dimension (not a parallel universe, Jack emphasizes). Superior Jheer technology has long made clandestine teleports back and forth between Jheer and Earth a possibility. Interactions between humans and Jheer folk (who include a race of single-sex reptilian humanoids called thimps) are in a legal gray area—the Jheer are not always good about obeying rules. Twenty-seven years ago, a ruinous class-tinged civil war on Jheer concluded with the rebels defeated. Now an upstart gang, the Nekov Syndicate, has dispatched its operatives, led by disaffected dimensional scientist Edward Thoxx, to Columbus, where they systematically case houses constructed 27 years earlier by a Jheer front company. What can they be seeking? And in which world does the homeless Kes rightfully belong? Twists and turns are minimal in this caper, which emphasizes characterization over story gimmicks (even putative villain Thoxx begs for compassionate understanding) and establishes ground rules and characters for presumed future installments. One compelling but undercooked idea is the conceit that Jheer people innately have varied superpowers—but in “about one in ten million” instances, an unlucky “insipid” is born mundane, with no paranormal talents. Glib, fast-thinking Jack is such an unfortunate, but he refuses to let that hinder him. Jheer (thimps notwithstanding) does not seem particularly exotic; it’s the notion of Columbus, Ohio, as a nexus of SF weirdness that’s the novelty. Jacomet writes in a solid, non-condescending YA voice and, at least here, eschews any contrived romantic angle.
A plucky orphan, dimensional gates, and snake-people cops mix in this surprisingly straightforward story. (science fiction)Pub Date: May 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798990699427
Page Count: 384
Publisher: The Thinking Press
Review Posted Online: July 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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