Lyricism notwithstanding, this tale falls short of spellbinding.
In Lupo’s debut, a deadly spell connects very different girls.
Lena is an outcast. A facial birthmark brands her as a cryptling—a disabled or disfigured person banished underground to tend the bodies of deceased Ancestors. In Duke’s Forest, Ancestors are worshiped and magic is outlawed. When a mysterious storm cloud brings a plague upon the kingdom and the Duke becomes ill, his representative, the sinister Justice, orders that all mages be executed. When she is convicted of magecraft, Lena must flee to the City of Kings and tame her powers by pledging herself to one of nine gods, forsaking the Ancestors. After six years, Constance, the Duke’s daughter and a talented mage, has returned to Duke’s Forest on a mission: to find and destroy the spell’s “heart.” But without the other, neither girl can succeed. Their stories build in alternating third-person chapters, increasing the suspense of their respective quests. Unfortunately, despite descriptive prose and musings on identity and self-acceptance, uneven character development and a rushed ending blunt the impact of their stories’ intersection and weaken a climactic twist. The magic and social class systems are familiar; a romance feels hasty and contrived. Most characters, including Constance, appear to be white; several characters, including Lena, are brown skinned. A minor character is gay and closeted.
Lyricism notwithstanding, this tale falls short of spellbinding. (maps, guide to the gods) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4088-9805-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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