The faith is fervent, but the story is just a mess.
The final installment in the evangelical-dystopian Anomaly trilogy keeps the tension cranked up to 11.
Thalli finds herself transported back to the State, still under control of the evil Scientist Dr. Loudin. Thalli will discover numerous, ever changing evil schemes that Loudin advances and abandons as she constantly seeks escape and alternates between despair at her abandonment by the Designer (her usual name for God) and heartfelt belief that the Designer will conquer all. She still loves longtime heartthrob Berk, but she also feels friendship and loyalty to Alex. Even as she struggles with these conflicting feelings, Thalli and her friends try to battle the cartoonishly evil Loudin. The representation of faith comes across as completely sincere and believable. However, McGee appears not to have planned out her plotline, leaving it with a moment-by-moment feel. Loudin needs Alex’s abilities, but later, it turns out that he really doesn’t. He wants to control all the surviving cities in the world but later decides to nuke them. Thalli fights off “weak” Loudin “as easily as if he were a child,” but two pages later, Loudin overcomes a strong young man. The impression left is that the point is simply to pitch Thalli against Loudin in numerous different scenarios until it’s time to end the book.
The faith is fervent, but the story is just a mess. (Dystopian romance. 12-18)Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4016-8876-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
Gorgeous, fascinating, and fun.
An angel and a demon immigrate to the goldene medina.
Little Ash, a lesser son of the famed demon king Ashmedai, studies Talmud all day with his counterpart, a forgetful angel, in the synagogue of a tiny Jewish town in the Pale of Settlement. But Little Ash wants to see more than their unnamed shtetl: He convinces the angel to go to America, ostensibly to find out what happened to Essie, the baker’s daughter who hasn’t written since she left Warsaw. Steeped in Ashkenazi lore, custom, and faith, this beautifully written story deftly tackles questions of identity, good and evil, obligation, and the many forms love can take. Queerness and gender fluidity thread through both the human and supernatural characters, clearly depicted without feeling anachronistic. A generous peppering of nonitalicized Yiddish and Hebrew (with a glossary in the back) combined with culturally specific dialogue and turns of phrase make this read like a classic while still feeling fresh and contemporary. The immigrants, human and B’nei Elohim, deal with medical gatekeepers at Ellis Island, assimilationist American Jews eager to denounce their greenhorn landsmen, exploitative factory owners, and religious obligations toward the beloved dead. Despite its length, this novel clips quickly along, crafting a world that proves hard to leave behind.
Gorgeous, fascinating, and fun. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64614-176-0
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Chilling, poignant, haunting, and, unfortunately, all too timely.
A rebellious 16-year-old is sent to an isolated island for her grace year, when she must release her seductive, poisonous magic into the wild before taking her proper place as a wife and child bearer.
In gaslit Garner County, women and girls are said to harbor diabolical magic capable of manipulating men. Dreaming, among other things, is forbidden, and before girls embark on their grace year, they hope to receive a veil, which promises marriage. Otherwise, it’s life in a labor house—or worse. Strong, outdoorsy, skeptical Tierney James doesn’t want to be married, but a shocking twist leaves her with a veil—and a dangerous enemy in the vindictive Kiersten. Thirty-three girls with red ribbons symbolizing sin woven into their braids set out to survive the island, but it won’t be easy. Poachers, who trade in the body parts of grace-year girls, surround the camp, and paranoia, superstition, and mistrust rule. Not everyone will make it home alive. The bones of Liggett’s (The Unfortunates, 2018, etc.) tale of female repression are familiar ones, but her immersive storytelling effortlessly weaves horror elements with a harrowing and surprising survival story. Profound moments lie in small details, and readers’ hearts will race and break right along with the brave, capable Tierney’s. The biggest changes often begin with the smallest rebellions, and the emotional conclusion will resonate. All characters are assumed white.
Chilling, poignant, haunting, and, unfortunately, all too timely. (Dystopian. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-14544-4
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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