Not quite as exciting or satisfying as its predecessor, this novel still delivers an appealing continuation of the elixir...
Two American teenagers embark on a mission to track down the foremost expert on a powerful potion in this sequel to DeBruce’s YA thriller The Riddle of Prague (2013).
It’s 1991, and Hana Silna, 18, is returning to America after a summer in Prague, where she reclaimed the family home for her mother (ill with a rare and dangerous blood condition) while battling ruthless forces in search of an ancient elixir that supposedly cures diseases and confers near-immortality. (She learned that those who use the rare substance “can die by fire, guns, drowning and other trauma, yet they’re immune to most maladies, infections and old age.”) In Prague, Hana met and befriended Alex Williams, a motorcycle-riding American who was also seeking the potion to save his sister, who has a fatal illness. As the sequel opens, Hana receives a flask of the elixir—but no clue how to use it, and a mistake would be fatal. One who knows the secret to handling the potion, as well as its source, is Valentina, a legendary Immortal. In Paris, Alex joins Hana in the hunt for Valentina by following clues left in a painting. Friends aid the pair—but it’s a race against time, because a threatening cadre intends to steal the flask, find Valentina, and force her to reveal the mysterious source. DeBruce again shows her talent for fast pacing and memorably eccentric characters, such as orange-haired dowsing detective Geerdina Singh: “I am Dutch by birth, Indian by marriage and a child of the universe.” Nadja, a Gypsy Immortal who was a mysterious character in the first novel, gets a fuller back story here; no longer just a shadowy nemesis, she reveals a deeply emotional side as well as intelligence and penetration: “He’s the type of man who likes to take up as much space as possible,” she thinks perceptively about a boorish American. But the Paris setting is less compelling than Prague, and many threads are left dangling at the book’s end, perhaps because it’s the middle volume in a planned trilogy.
Not quite as exciting or satisfying as its predecessor, this novel still delivers an appealing continuation of the elixir story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Quicksilver Legacy Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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