A fresh and substantive story about family, love, and deciding who you want to be in the world.
A teenage boy learns that the power to steal people’s innermost feelings is both a blessing and curse.
For generations, 17-year-old Aspen Quick’s family has conducted a secret ritual to keep the cliff hanging over their small town from falling: they use a special power to “reach” inside people, steal their memories, desires, fears, talents, and physical attributes, and feed them to the cliff. Smart, cocky, and confident, Aspen doesn’t think twice about also using this power to influence strangers and friends for his personal gain. But no amount of magic can bring Aspen’s Chinese-American mom back after his parents split up. And when Aspen’s friends Brandy and Theo join him at his grandmother’s house for the summer, the biracial teen learns that “reaching” isn’t the only secret his family has been keeping. Ultimately, Aspen must decide how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants. The novel’s complex characters and family drama pull readers in from the first page. Ribar balances weighty moral dilemmas with the unusual adventures of a teen who has the power to manipulate those around him. Flashback chapters chronicling Aspen’s younger years are interspersed throughout the story, to good effect. Fast-paced and unpredictable, the plot seamlessly balances a summer romance with well-crafted paranormal suspense.
A fresh and substantive story about family, love, and deciding who you want to be in the world. (Paranormal suspense. 12-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-5254-2868-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kathy Dawson/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
PROFILES
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
