A trope-packed queer romance with a satisfyingly happy ending.
A failed mage who’s been dumped by his boyfriend must find a magical cure-all.
In the last six months, 17-year-old Kieran Pelumbra has broken his family curse, moved in with his sister and her girlfriend, and begun dating a handsome apprentice librarian named Ash Bartelle. Everything should be coming up roses—but for some reason, Ash is avoiding him. When Ash asks for some space, Kieran writes some deeply angsty poetry, in the process accidentally afflicting his erstwhile love with a curse. Now, in a manifestation of his feelings, Kieran is literally invisible to Ash. Aghast (and terrified of the Witches’ Council), Kieran and friends travel by aeroship on a quest for a panacea to break Ash’s curse. Once Kieran acquires the cure, Ash will love him again, right? With the help of Sebastian Feng, a gorgeous, bisexual 18-year-old, Kieran races against an evil CEO who’ll happily kill them all if he gets to the panacea first. Gloomy and businesslike, Sebastian is like catnip to Kieran, a talkative boy who wears ruffles and sweater vests. With so much going on—constant attempted murder, lustful efforts at curse alleviation, lots of side quests—it’s impressive that Kieran has time to discover his magical talent. Kieran is cued white, Ash has “warm brown skin” and “tight curls,” and Sebastian is from a fantasy analogue to East Asia.
A trope-packed queer romance with a satisfyingly happy ending. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593814017
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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