An action-heavy installment in the continued battle between good and evil.
Following her abduction by the Devil, Brielle, a Celestial, must fight all of Hell to get back to Earth.
This third series entry finds Brielle in Hell, where she’s been ever since Lucifer created a portal into her world and dragged her there, leaving her family and boyfriend, Lincoln, believing she’s dead. Brielle is drugged, left unable to use her powers and constantly watched over by Raksha, an imprisoned Dark Mage who seems to have “drunk the punch.” But as Lucifer begins to train Brielle, it’s Raksha who helps her survive—and warns her about what Lucifer really wants. Raksha, who’s of Indian descent, helps white-presenting Brielle get back to Earth, but not before Brielle makes a deal with the Devil that she’s eternally bound to fulfill. The fast-paced story follows a repetitive pattern of fights between Brielle and demons in Hell and fights between Brielle and demons on Earth—emotional and physical battles to preserve her life with Lincoln and others she cares for. Ultimately, Brielle learns to fully accept herself, making her magic her own and finally putting an end to the question of identity that’s plagued her. The tension between Brielle and Lucifer and the complex relationship between Brielle and Raksha will hold readers’ attention, adding a refreshing layer to the otherwise familiar story. A dark closing novella follows Lincoln’s perspective as he deals with Brielle’s absence and attempts to follow her to Hell.
An action-heavy installment in the continued battle between good and evil. (trigger warning) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781464218941
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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