A Sapphic fantasy romance series-opener brimming with blood and longing.
In Adams’ YA fantasy novel, a teenage queen and a princess on opposite sides of a war collide in a fatal quest for revenge.
Princess Kalei Maristela of the island nation Marama has the power that will win the war her parents are hiding from her. Kalei is known as the “Princess of Death”; during the full moon, she has the ability to bring the dead back to life. Additionally, she can use her long, moon-white hair as an extra limb, among other powers she discovers on her eventual journey. Queen Evhen Lockes of Vodaeard, the other point-of-view character, became queen when immediately before the start of the novel’s action, Chief Mikala, Kalei’s father, murdered her parents, Vodaeard’s sitting king and queen. Evhen and her brother, Alekey, sail to Marama for revenge, along with the king’s advisor, Talen, and Evhen’s trainer, Icana. When Evhen appears to exact her revenge on Mikala by murdering Kalei, the princess convinces her to instead kidnap her to use as collateral, allowing her to discover the truth behind her parents’ schemes. Evhen, Kalei, Talen, Icana, and Alekey travel across the continent, racing back to Vodaeard in hopes of stopping the war. Along the way, romance blossoms between the leads, despite the mistrust they share. The point of view alternates each chapter between Kalei and Evhen. Oddly, the alternating points of view continue until the final chapter, which is a flashback from Alekey’s point of view. Despite this abrupt transition, and some editorial issues, the narrative is fully engrossing. Throughout the novel, the sensual descriptors lend realism to the fantasy plot (“Moon dust sparkled in the marble beneath my bare feet. Gold veins ran in rivulets through the floor, streaming up the walls to the vaulted ceiling, spilling into the hundred-candle chandelier dangling from a glass dome”). The gore is heavy throughout, especially when Kalei raises the dead—Kalei’s resurrections are not healing, leaving the resurrected with the wounds that caused their deaths, adding a level of body horror to this fantasy.
A Sapphic fantasy romance series-opener brimming with blood and longing.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781958607091
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Emerge Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
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