A humorous and endearing look at the throes of predestined teenage love.
An immortal cupid-in-training falls in love with a human after she accidentally sticks herself with an arrow.
Sixteen-year-old Kalixta has been skeptical of her cupid calling since she experienced the Thunderclap, realizing, “in the end, the Fates will decide what happens, no matter what I do.” She questions the marriage of her parents, Eros and Psyche, and the millennia-old patterns the gods are stuck in. However, when she becomes spellbound to Benicio, a bass-playing Mexican-American who was her original target, Kali enrolls in a mortal high school in Arizona while trying to decipher the riddle posed by the Oracle to regain her heart. With the help of her best friend, Deya (daughter of Aphrodite and an Amazonian river god), and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt herself, Kali must find a balance between the arrow’s pull toward Ben and her friendship with her ex-boyfriend Hector (son of Apollo and Calliope). Watson (Shoot the Moon, 2018, etc.) creates a world where Greek mythological characters have Bond-worthy gadgets, can change their appearances at will, and are all-knowing when it comes to both Hellenic and contemporary pop culture. While acknowledging the existence of non-Greek gods, Watson gives the Greeks control of “most everything in the Western World” yet achieves diversity by incorporating people (and gods) of color into the story.
A humorous and endearing look at the throes of predestined teenage love. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63583-030-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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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