Readers looking for an escape will probably tolerate the story’s weaknesses, but there is little here to lift this beyond...
An old forest encloses mysteries both fantastical and personal.
When Elizabeth was small, she cried out in loneliness and a unicorn came to protect her through the dark night. From then on, she has had a special ability for finding the creatures and an affinity for the forest in which they live. Having been abandoned by her father, Elizabeth and her mother take to scavenging for naturally shed unicorn horns, using them to make a miraculous medicine they sell to support themselves. A unicorn brings Elizabeth a sickly foal to raise, and she names her Sida. When Sida wanders too far into the forest on her own, Elizabeth, now 17, follows and accidentally discovers a small community of people who speak a different language and harbor a surprise discovery. In this fantasy world, there are wild beasts, blooming romance, an uncanny doppelgänger, disjointed time, and a culture where women are expected to be domestic. Characters seem to default to white. The story subtly morphs halfway through, once Elizabeth becomes lost in the forest, and, unfortunately, after that point feels a bit scattered; later elements don’t always flow naturally from earlier ones and the tale becomes somewhat disjointed with an unresolved ending.
Readers looking for an escape will probably tolerate the story’s weaknesses, but there is little here to lift this beyond run-of-the-mill fantasy. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: July 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-927855-97-3-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Great Plains Publications
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
Predictability and muddled language make this a mystery not worth solving.
Mysteries and ghosts abound when Tessa Kelling is named heir to her late uncle’s remote estate.
Seventeen-year-old Tessa remembers being saved from falling out of a tree as a child by Andre, a strange, handsome man who disappears after introducing himself. Now, Andre becomes her ghostly roommate (and maybe something more) when Tessa inherits her uncle’s house and moves to Ama, Oklahoma. But the house is nothing like she imagined—in fact, it harbors secrets that Tessa’s uncle leaves her clues about and which lead to multiple break-ins peppered throughout the story, without much substance in between. The mystery plotline is introduced early on but then forgotten about until the end of the narrative, where it finally shows up to give readers a speedy and transparent climax. Tessa shows keen insight about what’s going on in her new house and is the most well-developed character; the rest of the cast is unfortunately one-dimensional. The only part of the novel that evokes real emotion involves a very difficult experience Tessa endures without her mother’s support, although her trauma is never quite dealt with. All characters are assumed white.
Predictability and muddled language make this a mystery not worth solving. (Mystery. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7327713-9-0
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Doodle and Peck Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
A gothic page-turner.
An English girl with a mysterious past discovers her future.
Mia has had a tough life. Her mother died in a car accident, her older brother left to figure out some things, and her father became an abusive monster. The one bit of luck Mia’s had recently is her father’s untimely murder at the claws of a great big furry beast. Now she is newly alone in the world, Mia’s mysterious uncle Sebastian arrives to bring her to Hood Academy, a small private school in Nottingham that trains werewolf hunters. Indeed, werewolves are real and deadly, and Mia’s past is full of them. Secrets are revealed, allegiances are tested, romance blooms, and friendships are forged in this tome that packs plenty of plot and pairs it with lycanthropic mythology and some good old-fashioned star-crossed romance. The enterprise is competently crafted, chugging along and tearing through plot twists and developments that will keep readers engaged. The emotions don’t run deep, but the action sequences are well rendered. All the werewolf-versus-hunter action gives the novel a charming throwback vibe—back to the early 2000s when Twilight was all the rage and the market was flooded with weird creatures that lusted for teen girls. Two secondary characters are repeatedly described as having dark skin in a way that emphasizes the white default for everyone else.
A gothic page-turner. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64397-009-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: BHC Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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