by Laura E. Weymouth ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 22, 2022
Absorbing.
Kill or be killed.
Romans were driven from Britain, now called Albion, by the rise of a fierce and fiery god. To sate him, young women are sent up his mountain as living sacrifices and returned after the god takes his due—hands, eyes, memory. When willing sacrifice Ilva is instead rejected and killed by the god, her twin, Anya, puts herself forward as a replacement. She actually plans to kill the god. Vivid writing, a righteous cause, and a cast of interesting side characters—corrupt religious figures, nomadic rebels, a boy with mysterious gifts—make for an engrossing journey. Anya draws strength from Ilva’s ghost, which appears to her, and her own conviction that the god is wrong. In her willingness to break rules (including physical intimacy with the aforementioned boy), she discovers truths that further her determination. A small pendant with Christian imagery plays a small but vital role; the god’s holy book, the Cataclysm, has passages with a biblical feel; and the wicked god looks not unlike conventional representations of the devil. But at the same time, this is a tale of female empowerment for Anya and all the women she represents as she fights against the god’s demands, making for unclear deeper metaphoric and thematic meaning; fortunately, the surface-level historical fantasy makes for a satisfying read apart from the deeper messages. Albion is depicted with some racial and sexual diversity; the twins are White.
Absorbing. (Historical fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-270-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
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by Rebecca Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2023
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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by Scott Reintgen ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2023
Truly fantastic.
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This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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