A captivating finale to a highly addictive and entertaining duology.
In the wake of a dramatic betrayal in Heartless Hunter (2024), a witch and a witch hunter are again embroiled in a high-stakes struggle to outwit each other, further complicated by their deepening, conflicting feelings.
Since fleeing her home after Gideon exposed her as a witch and left her to face execution, Rune has become engaged to a prince. Her mission: use her fiance’s fleet to reclaim the New Republic and save witches from slaughter. This means working with Cressida Roseblood, the witch who tortured Gideon and killed his family. Rune doesn’t trust her, but she needs Cressida to defeat the Blood Guard. Meanwhile, Gideon’s job is to assassinate Rune before she completes her mission. Despite their mutual distrust, Rune and Gideon, who read white, pair up out of necessity to stop Cressida from raising her sisters from the dead and regaining control. Even while standing on two opposing sides of the war, neither the witch nor the witch hunter can keep their heart from yearning for the other. The nonstop rising action will keep readers entrenched in the world and the fates of the characters. The strong characterization is evident in the dynamic between Rune and Gideon, whose interactions evoke a powerful blend of heartache and longing, kept alive with an abundance of banter and a healthy dose of sizzle.
A captivating finale to a highly addictive and entertaining duology. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781250866929
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Somberly beautiful.
A girl goes in search of her missing sister and discovers a strange hidden world of dreams.
Corin, who’s 18 and dark-skinned, strives to protect her 12-year-old sister, Elly. But life as a thief is full of struggle, poverty, and loss, even without Corin’s avoidance of other relationships. Elly clings to the promise of fairy tales, like the one that says a princess lies sleeping in an underground castle after pricking her finger on a spindle. After the sisters fight and Elly runs off, Corin searches for her in Gyldan’s old network of tunnels—and finds the tale is true: Cursed Princess Amelia, golden-haired, with eyes like “sea glass” and porcelain skin, lies asleep, surrounded by flowers. Corin enters the princess’ dreamworld—the place “where your subconscious desires come to life.” She meets Briar Rose, Amelia’s alter ego, who experienced her share of sadness and wanted to fall asleep. Also in the dreamworld is green-skinned Malicine, the nonbinary demon who, despite having placed the curse of eternal slumber on Amelia, is mostly friendly. All three are running from things they can’t face, though the dreamworld may not give them a choice. Pham’s debut, a Sapphic reimagining of “Sleeping Beauty,” explores mental health and asks a lot of readers as it seesaws between emotional confrontations, time jumps, and scenes where one character inhabits the memories of another, all of which demand intense engagement. Still, the ending is earned as well as positive.
Somberly beautiful. (content note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798217113026
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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