A novel premise elevates this otherwise familiar-feeling dystopian YA yarn.
In Chetwynd’s speculative YA novel, a contemporary Harvard student awakens to the startling news that he now is a clone of his former self living in the year 2090.
Will Herndon, a 19-year-old Harvard student in 2025, unexpectedly wakes up one day to a transformed planet 65 years after he went to bed. Climate change, war, and social dysfunction in the 21st century have led to a carbon-choked, resource-depleted world. Scientists are still fighting for civilization’s survival in an environment of 130-degree temperatures and crippling shortages. Human procreation has become regulated: Dwindling families can win the right to continue their lineage only via a contest called “the Crucible.” Clans that are down to their last members can re-create their best-equipped ancestors as “Organic Human Facsimiles” to engage in contests of academic, physical, and moral prowess. These “Exemplars,” resurrected from DNA taken at optimum ages, are given only highly edited microchip memories of what their lives were really like; anything negative would be a “distraction” as they compete in the contest, which is avidly followed by live audiences and those spectating from their heat-resistant dwellings. Will (the only Black competitor) is one such enhanced clone of a long-ago original. As Will studies for the Crucible, he is disturbed by strange dreams, unanswered questions, and the gaps in his knowledge. Why do some Crucible faculty react emotionally to Will Herndon’s name? Why is his aged grandfather still alive, and being very evasive? (“Will’s heart was beating fast...could it be that everyone—from his grandpa to Amy—were trying to protect others from him? He knew himself. Or he thought he knew who he was at his core.”) The dilemmas and identity questions posed by the author are compelling ones, if somewhat familiar (and yes, The Hunger Games (2008)gets name-checked). YA SF readers might also note resemblances to the Maze Runner series by James Dashner—this novel’s climax is literally a maze run—and a cold-case mystery at the hot-climate narrative’s heart is resolved off-page. But at least this cli-fi dystopian thriller wraps up in one relatively compact volume.
A novel premise elevates this otherwise familiar-feeling dystopian YA yarn.Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9798999298706
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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