A serious tale of attempting reinvention at the cost of rending reality.
An exploration of the multiverse and mourning.
Sixteen-year-old Winnie Schulde knows that her life could be different, for she can see splinters, or divergences from her current timeline. Winnie is able to see what could happen, and wonders if she could change what did happen, since her curse manifested upon—or maybe caused—her mother’s death 8 years ago. Exploited and experimented upon by her abrasive, emotionally abusive father and afraid to confide in her only friend, rich girl Dora, or her dad’s handsome lab assistant, Scott, Winnie worries that her powers could be misused or misunderstood. Being a German immigrant amid the tensions of World War II and openly interested in science and especially physics, Winnie fears attracting unwanted scrutiny. Soon, she’s swept up in a mystery, entangled in the not-so-secret Manhattan Project, and confronted with the existence of another universe. Given the chance to be popular, pretty, and loved, Winnie must decide if her happiness is worth world-shaking, physics-bending side effects. Lacking the levity that often accompanies time-travel tales and heavy on the theoretical science and historical stakes, Winnie’s story grapples with deep personal and philosophical dilemmas. Interpersonal dynamics prove just as explosive as interdimensional ones in Norris’ debut novel. All characters read as White.
A serious tale of attempting reinvention at the cost of rending reality. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20303-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
A dark and gripping feminist tale.
A young woman faces her past to discover the truth about one of her nation’s heroes.
When Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at her university in Llyr, wins the competition to design Hiraeth Manor for the estate of the late Emrys Myrddin, national literary figure and her favorite author, it is the perfect opportunity to leave behind a recent trauma. She arrives to find the cliffside estate is literally crumbling into the ocean, and she quickly realizes things may not be as they seem. Preston, an arrogant literature student, is also working at the estate, gathering materials for the university’s archives and questioning everything Effy knows about Myrddin. When Preston offers to include her name on his thesis—which may allow her to pursue the dream of studying literature that was frustrated by the university’s refusal to admit women literature students—Effy agrees to help him. He’s on a quest for answers about the source of Myrddin’s most famous work, Angharad, a romance about a cruel Fairy King who marries a mortal woman. Meanwhile, Myrddin’s son has secrets of his own. Preston and Effy start to suspect that Myrddin’s fairy tales may hold more truth than they realize. The Welsh-inspired setting is impressively atmospheric, and while some of the mythology ends up feeling extraneous, the worldbuilding is immersive and thoughtfully addresses misogyny and its effects on how history is written. Main characters are cued white.
A dark and gripping feminist tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780063211506
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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