Despite (or perhaps because of) the standard-issue romance tropes, fans of the series will find all they want here
The Angel Burn trilogy ends with plenty of action and heaping portions of romance, complete with jealousy, rivalries and lovers’ quarrels.
In a nice twist on the usual angel meme, the angels in this series are the bad guys, feeding on humans’ auras and killing them. The humans respond by worshipping the angels even more, except for Willow and Alex’s band of Angel Killers. In middle volume Angel Fire (2012), the group succeeded in killing much of the angels’ leadership, but devastating worldwide earthquakes resulted, and the angels have pretty much taken over anyway. Half-angel Willow and boyfriend Alex find a secure underground CIA base where they train and plot, only to learn that they are so severely outnumbered that victory appears impossible. Meanwhile, half-angel Seb still loves Willow, who still loves Alex. Willow’s trek across the country and the solo adventure of another major character stand out as high points in this entry. Weatherly’s action scenes move briskly, and she draws out the impossible-to-win-but-can-they-do-it-anyway scenario. For romance fans, she provides appropriately spaced hot kissing scenes and hints at behind-the-curtains sex. Then there’s the lonely Seb, who can’t stop loving the unavailable Willow. The main characters are, of course, supermodel-attractive and bound together by raging love forever, except when they’re having a spat.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the standard-issue romance tropes, fans of the series will find all they want here . (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5680-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gripping and authentic in the ways it portrays grief and shows how moving forward means having to let go.
After her father dies, a teen drops out of high school, loses her job, and embarks on a four-week journey through the California backcountry.
Everyone in the Bear Creek Community Service program is assigned a nickname as part of starting over with “a blank slate.” No one needs to know your past or whether you’re there by choice or court order. All that matters is the present: working on hiking trail maintenance. For Atlas James, or Maps, as she’s now known, it’s an escape from the poor decisions she’s made since her father’s death from cancer and a tribute to him. One of his dying wishes was to hike the Western Sierra Trail with her—the same one she’ll now be spending the summer working on with Books, Junior, Sugar, and King. Maps is immediately drawn to group leader King, and as secrets are revealed, the two act as magnets, attracting and repelling one another. Maps’ tangible grief is centered as she copes with the loss of the only person who understood her and always had her back. Gradually, as they clear brush, dig drainage, and battle the backcountry and their pasts, a sense of family is forged among the crew. The palpable romantic tension between King and Maps propels this beautifully written story. Junior is coded Black; other major characters read white.
Gripping and authentic in the ways it portrays grief and shows how moving forward means having to let go. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780063088580
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices—Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred—with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy. Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy; almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper. As a vehicle for exposition, however, and a reminder of Germany’s role in the war, he serves an invaluable purpose that almost makes up for the mustache-twirling quality of his petty villainy. The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn’t change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning.
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful. (author’s note, research and sources, maps) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16030-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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