A slog, with perhaps enough moments between Ember and Chase to appease romance devotees.
The lengthy sequel to dystopian romance Article 5 (2012) sees fugitives Ember Miller and Chase Jennings deepening their involvement with a resistance operation.
Ember and Chase are stationed at the Wayland Inn, a resistance headquarters at the edge of Knoxville. Their job involves helping transport fugitives to safe houses, but anonymity becomes complicated for Ember when her name, somewhat inexplicably, appears on a list of suspects in a series of shootings. A mission to rescue Rebecca, Ember's roommate from the reformatory and resistance fighter Sean's girlfriend, gives the story some shape, but the action is largely episodic. Characters spend more time reacting to dangers than planning for them, and thoughtful readers may be frustrated when even the climactic rescue operation is carried out with relatively little forethought. Too often, Ember's motivations are assumed to be obvious, when in fact many readers may not share her assumptions. Why, in a pivotal scene, should readers agree that her friend Beth is too naïve to run a safe house? What fuels Ember's opposition to fighters targeting government officials even though other resistance members support it? Tensions among Ember, Chase and the pair's old enemy Tucker Morris run high, but when none of the trio makes an effort at communication, their interactions quickly become repetitive.
A slog, with perhaps enough moments between Ember and Chase to appease romance devotees. (Dystopian romance. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2959-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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