A fun YA sci-fi story with a compelling cast of characters.
A rebellious teenager discovers a family secret that involves hopping between dimensions and confronts a dangerous killer in Accardo’s (Embraced, 2015, etc.) latest novel, the first in a series.
“Promise me that you’ll live your life in vivid color,” said Kori’s mom on her deathbed, and the teenage girl tries to live up to that request—in her own fashion. When readers first meet her, for example, she’s memorializing her mom with illegal graffiti in public displays of grief. After all, she can’t talk to her emotionally distant father, an army general who’s busy with his secret government work. It’s not unusual for soldiers to “babysit” her when her dad goes away; it is strange, though, when she’s attacked by a stranger named Dylan who claims to know her and who tells her, “In the end, though, you have to die. You always have to die.” He’s also looking for a very special girl named Ava, who may or may not exist. Kori soon learns that Dylan; her “babysitters,” Cade and Noah; and even her father are connected to a secret government project called Infinity that involves travel to other dimensions. Now, Kori isn’t just tasked with living her life in vivid color, but with simply surviving. Accardo delivers a lot of plot exposition in one big bundle, which momentarily slows the pace of the story. But aside from this minor bump, the book is an entertaining thrill ride with engaging characters. It also tackles some bigger themes, including the connections between family members (parents and children, brothers and sisters), grief, and the nature of the self, asking what remains constant about a person in multiple dimensions. Kori’s deep empathy and slight snarkiness add nice flavors to her point of view.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63375-497-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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