Readers are left blinking and anticipating the next volume of this nightmarish saga.
In this sequel to Dreamfire (2015), Joshlyn grapples with her new Dream Walker status and her own nightmares.
Dream Walkers enter and help resolve the nightmares of others, and Josh is believed to be the True Dream Walker, endowed with special powers. In the previous novel, vicious villain Feodor tried to kill Josh with his memories, and now they linger in her subconscious, infecting her sleep with terrible dreams in which her relationship with him is both terrifying and erotic. She can tell no one that she’s building one of Feodor’s dream-controlling devices, and as her relationship with her boyfriend/apprentice, Will, suffers, she questions her own motives. Meanwhile, the princess Mirren has escaped the Hidden Kingdom, desperately seeking a genuine life only to find that she has entered a cutthroat political battle for dominion over the Dream. In order to maintain the balance between the Dream and the World, Josh and her family are forced to play a treacherous game with the very being that nearly destroyed them. Unlike the first book, this outing is not bogged down by numerous characters or convoluted politics. Written with an alluring, almost hallucinatory atmosphere punctuated by visceral horror, this is a phantasmagoric swirl in which quantum theory meets Freddy Krueger.
Readers are left blinking and anticipating the next volume of this nightmarish saga. (Paranormal adventure. 15-18)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-250-07811-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uneven tale of revenge, infamy, and thievery in space.
A pair of thieves turn vigilantes when an external force threatens their home planet of Nakara in this Bonnie and Clyde–inspired science fiction.
Eighteen-year-old Shane Mannix and 17-year-old Ava Castor are partners in crime. After Shane’s recent, traumatizing stint in a brutal space prison, they’re working together to exact revenge for Shane’s sake and, while doing so, become infamous as Ava has always dreamed. Meanwhile, on the other side of the law, earnest 18-year-old Cyrus Blake, a recent graduate of Opia’s Air Force Academy, hopes to carve a place for himself within the ranks of privileged classmates while trying to avoid being tempted by handsome Lark into breaking the rules until a devious plan from a rogue military leader to further oppress their homeworld sets Shane, Ava, and their crew on a collision course with Cyrus. Voris’ action-filled debut follows antiheroes Shane and Ava on their murderous, extremely violent space escapades against tyranny. Also central is Cyrus, whose yearnings for Lark and for doing the right thing clash with truths he unveils. A few odd chapters offer flashbacks of Shane and Ava’s first encounter but don’t add much to the overall tale, and while the setting has intriguing elements of political and social unrest, the world at large is underdeveloped. A bittersweet end promises more. Cyrus and Shane are assumed White; Ava is from a mixed fantasy race background.
An uneven tale of revenge, infamy, and thievery in space. (Science fiction. 15-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-52521-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling fantasy series opener.
Gem, a transmasc teen in a small Southern town, finds it increasingly difficult to discern between nightmare and reality when a new girl comes to town and informs Gem that they’re a god.
Following a difficult divorce, Gem and their mother moved to Gracie, Georgia, their mom’s hometown, which is also closer to their ancestral Seminole lands. It’s been four years, but Gem feels alone and dreams of moving to Brooklyn, where their best friend, Enzo, a Native trans boy with a thriving queer social life, lives. Gem and Enzo talk regularly, but Gem has never mentioned the vivid nightmares—full of “blood and gore and magic and sex demons”—that have haunted them since childhood. So when beautiful new classmate Willa Mae saves Gem’s life and claims that the two of them are gods and soulmates, Gem’s mom begins to question whether Gem is hallucinating like their father did. But taking their meds is not a top priority for Gem right now: They have to find a magic knife and stave off the demons that are threatening their life while figuring out what to do about loving two people at the same time. Fast-paced and engaging, the novel addresses queer identity, mental health, and belonging to and disconnection from one’s land and language, while weaving a vivid magic realm with its own logic.
A thrilling fantasy series opener. (map) (Fantasy. 15-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781250853615
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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