A mysteriously linked trio will do anything to be chosen for a space mission to escape their frozen planet.
At age 17, Franny Bluecastle’s deathday has arrived. Over 1,000 years ago, scientists discovered how to calculate deathdays, and since then it’s been no mystery when anyone will die. Except Franny doesn’t die on her deathday. Instead, she’s found by Court Icecastle and Mykal Kickfall, two mysterious young men who want to help her. Court and Mykal also avoided their deathdays and, in doing so, became deeply connected: They experience one another’s feelings. Now, Franny is linked to them too. To make matters worse, anyone who learns they’ve outlived their deathdays will try to kill them. The only way out is for all three to be chosen for the Saga 5 Mission, which will take them into space, past anyone’s possible deathday. But it won’t be easy—Mykal and Franny must learn to fit in with the rest of the well-to-do candidates, and Court has an enemy on his trail. Intricate worldbuilding and carefully wrought bonds between the trio make for a heady, immersive ride. The world and its lore unfold seamlessly as they fight their way through it. Readers will ache for the next installment. There is diversity in characters’ skin tones, from pale white to dark brown.
A potently addictive blend of romance, fantasy, and science fiction full of unexpected twists. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-12871-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
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Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.
The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments.
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Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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