by J.P. Romney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
A confident debut that is at once ominous and laugh-out-loud funny.
A high school student in modern-day Japan must defeat vengeful mountain demons using powers he never knew he had in this uproariously offbeat debut novel.
Koda Okita is not a typical 15-year-old Japanese high school student. The son of aging shiitake farmers, he dreams of being a pilot despite suffering from narcolepsy, a condition that requires him to wear a watermelon-sized helmet while riding his bike. Koda lives in the small island town of Kusaka, situated in the middle of nowhere between two mountain ranges. The isolated setting heightens the tension that builds as students and faculty of Kusaka High School begin to die in a series of apparent suicides under inexplicable circumstances. Their deaths coincide with the appearance of Moya, a mysterious new girl who is convinced that Koda holds the key to unraveling the tragic events unfolding in Kusaka. As Koda gradually realizes that his narcoleptic episodes are actually supernatural experiences that allow him to "steal" the traumatic memories of others, he takes this knowledge in stride, along with the existence of tengu, the supernatural creatures who are the culprits behind the town's misfortunes. Romney's tale of modern-day Japan crossed with Japanese folklore is suffused with abundant humor, as his wisecracking teens navigate situations fraught with dark and dramatic irony.
A confident debut that is at once ominous and laugh-out-loud funny. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-31654-9
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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by Rebecca Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2023
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
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New York Times Bestseller
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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by Rebecca Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2023
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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