An unevenly paced romantic fantasy adventure that feels too young for its intended audience.
A bid to save his ailing mother turns into a literal date with destiny for a young teahouse owner.
For as long as he can remember, 25-year-old Sai has been able to see the red threads of fate, ties that link people to their Fated Ones or soulmates. Sai’s own limp gray thread is unlike any others he’s seen, but he has no time for romance, anyway. Not with his mother in such a frail state. After an illegal substance—powdered dragon scales—restores her health for a time, Sai makes it his mission to find more. Unfortunately for the young man and his mother, the emperor himself catches wind of the miracle cure and demands that Sai find the dragon who shed those scales and bring it to him. Accompanied by a huntress named Feng, who procured the original scales for his family doctor, Sai crosses the border into enemy territory in search of his mother’s salvation. Color him surprised when he discovers his thread of fate is tied to that very dragon—who is not at all pleased to see him. Kwan crafts a fascinating world in which the figures of Chinese myth and legend are real, breathing people. There is plenty to like here, along with a few disappointing details. The decision to make same-sex partnerships a normal part of Sai’s world is admirable, and Sai himself does not seem to care what gender his Fated One turns out to be. But the flagging middle portion, in which the stakes seem to vanish entirely, turns this cozy, low-fantasy story into a slog. Gentle Sai’s gradual transformation into a fierce fighter may appeal to fantasy readers, but the novel’s focus on his journey toward coming into his own makes it feel more suited to a teenage audience. Feng, who may be the most compelling character of the lot, disappears early and returns late, nearly forgotten as Sai continues his adventure with his dragon love.
An unevenly paced romantic fantasy adventure that feels too young for its intended audience.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051238
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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