A welcome addition to the genre of folklore retold.
Four familiar fairy-tale characters decide to be their own heroes in Shinn’s YA debut.
Retellings of fairy tales for teenage readers abound, with most adding some sort of twist to the stories. Shinn’s entry offers an ensemble of princesses who just say no to the idea of being damsels in distress. The story begins with Princess Briony waking up in her castle bedroom to find the walls now overgrown with thorns. A curse that the faerie Willa Knightshade placed on her during the celebration of her birth seems to have come true. But there’s also an additional problem: no “true love” has kissed her awake, and everyone else in the city of Sturrybucque is still sleeping. Briony decides to search for the true love who was supposed to come find her. As she hacks her way past the thorny hedge, she encounters a bandit known as the Gingerbread Man (because he always smells of cookies); he later turns out to be Hansel of the well-known brother-and-sister duo. A playful flirtation immediately arises between them, even as Briony holds her own against him in combat. While on the road, Briony teams up with Ella, who’s hiding from her evil stepmother; Rapunzel, who’s stuck up in her tower; and the mermaid Fortunata, who’s imprisoned in a circus sideshow. Dubbing themselves the “Coalition of Self-Rescuing Princesses,” the girls set off to confront Willa Knightshade. Along the way, they discover their unique talents and strengths and a more realistic kind of love. Overall, this fun adventure moves along quickly, with Shinn injecting a lot of humor, as well as some positive feminism, into the story along the way. Briony, resourceful and feisty, is the kind of heroine who would make a great best friend in real life, and her blossoming romance with Hansel is sweet but still grounded. Due to some mild cursing and slightly suggestive language, this story may best suit older teens seeking fairy tales with a modern sensibility.
A welcome addition to the genre of folklore retold.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4609-4495-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A very full mixed bag.
In the sequel to Furyborn (2018), Rielle and Eliana struggle across time with their powers and prophesied destinies.
Giving readers only brief recaps, this book throws them right into complicated storylines in this large, lovingly detailed fantasy world filled with multiple countries, two different time periods, and hostile angels. Newly ordained Rielle contends with villainous Corien’s interest in her, the weakening gate that holds the angels at bay, and distrust from those who don’t believe her to be the Sun Queen. A thousand years in the future, Eliana chafes under her unwanted destiny and finds her fear of losing herself to her powers (like the Blood Queen) warring with her need to save those close to her. The rigid alternation between time-separated storylines initially feels overstuffed, undermining tension, but once more characters get point-of-view chapters and parallels start paying off, the pace picks up. The multiethnic cast (human versus angelic is the only divide with weight) includes characters of many sexual orientations, and their romantic storylines include love triangles, casual dalliances, steady couples, and couples willing to invite in a third. While many of the physically intimate scenes are loving, some are rougher, including ones that cross lines of clear consent and introduce a level of violence that many young readers will not be ready for. The ending brings heartbreaking twists to prime readers for the trilogy’s conclusion.
A very full mixed bag. (map, list of elements) (Fantasy. 17-adult)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5665-4
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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