This enthralling, sensational tale further bolsters a series about love and superpowers.
This seventh installment of an urban fantasy series finds lovers with supernatural powers surprisingly helpless when mysterious abductors grab one of them.
Quentin d’Arcy may finally be able to work through some things. Long-buried memories of his father’s unimaginable abuse have resurfaced and plagued him with nightmares. But now, Quentin, a wealthy British earl, is back at his San Diego home with his beloved American lover, Laurence Riley. He’s seeing therapists, hoping he can be honest about his psychokinesis. But while Quentin has faced the likes of dark creatures and fiendish sociopaths, he may now be up against his greatest threat—a meddlesome YouTuber. Cameron Delaney believes incidents Quentin has been involved in prove the spirit of the earl’s mother has been haunting him. This internet ghost hunter even stirs up a horde of paranormal fanatics who crowd around Quentin and Laurence’s La Jolla mansion like paparazzi. Surely Delaney will be the first person Laurence suspects when kidnappers get their hands on Quentin. But Laurence should be able to see psychically where his lover is—so why can’t he? Quentin, too, has been having trouble controlling his psychokinesis, which he now can’t access at all. While Quentin tries throwing light on his captors’ motives, Laurence’s search becomes desperate, as most of his friends’ special gifts are useless. He has no choice but to turn to a relative stranger, who may be wielding dark magic, and an enemy whom Laurence probably shouldn’t trust. Answers to the kidnapping plot along with a possible escape may lie in Quentin’s sordid past.
This ostensibly simple caper follows Rites of Winter (2019), which explored the land of the dead. While it seems as if Faulkner has taken a lighthearted detour, this book aptly delves into dark themes that shroud the entire series. Quentin, for example, is a prisoner of familial ties, and Laurence has long represented his freedom. This installment is likewise a prime example of how strongly the author links each volume. There are endless references to past events and characters, from a question in Book 6 that’s still lingering to the name-dropping of an antagonist from the very first novel. Readers will best enjoy this series from the beginning and in sequential order, as they may otherwise find themselves lost. Elsewhere, Faulkner takes a satirical stab at amateur newshounds. Delaney’s desire to inflate his million subscribers on YouTube propels him to frightening lengths and to forgo common sense and decency. At the same time, it’s a welcome sight when characters display skills outside the supernatural. Rodger, one of the superpowered teens that Quentin and Laurence mentor, excels at some old-fashioned detective work that uses his computer expertise, which, rather hilariously, bewilders Laurence. The cast shines, including despicable Delaney; a villain who pops up halfway through the story; and a bevy of returning characters. While the protagonists are, as always, an indelible, series-worthy couple, others stand out as well, such as Laurence’s familiar, Windsor, a charming raven with whom he often communicates telepathically. The ending hints at an evil that the heroes may not have encountered yet.
This enthralling, sensational tale further bolsters a series about love and superpowers.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-912349-17-3
Page Count: 390
Publisher: Ravensword Press
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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