A dark, haunting fantasy in which magic binds hearts as tightly as it binds fates.
In a brutal land shaped by myth, two unlikely companions set out on a perilous journey.
While helping his ironsmith father collect swords from a pile of corpses as part of a burial ritual, pale-skinned, blue-eyed, golden-haired village boy Siggi finds Hrafn, a manacled witch-boy with midnight-black hair and skin “darker than anyone’s in Midfjördur.” Hrafn, it turns out, is alive—and when Siggi saves his life, they become bound by Hrafn’s skin magic. Siggi asks for help finding his brother, Arnes, who vanished while seeking answers about the mystery surrounding their late mother, rumored to have been killed by a witch. The duo soon uncover a clue connected to Arnes, and they set off, navigating treacherous mountains and shadowy underground passages where they encounter figures from folklore: huldu, druids, darkwolves, and even a massive, whalelike lyngbakr. Their initially reluctant companionship kindles into a tender, slow-burn romance, offering them rare warmth amid the hardships. Inspired by Icelandic culture and written with dark lyricism, Wallace and Thomas’ collaboration introduces readers to a grim yet entrancing world in which beauty and terror coexist. Though the pacing occasionally drags under the richly textured worldbuilding and mythological exposition, readers drawn to folklore-laced fantasy and hard-won romance with sharp banter will find much to savor here.
A dark, haunting fantasy in which magic binds hearts as tightly as it binds fates. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781915585318
Page Count: 318
Publisher: Tiny Ghost Press
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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