This YA series opener creates a vivid, evocative foundation for a potential fantasy series.
In Duga’s (Kiss of the Royal, 2018) YA fantasy novel, a teenager discovers that her childhood trauma has allowed her to forge a connection to a magical realm, and may help her find her missing mother.
Sixteen-year-old Briony “Brye” Redwrell is a competitive swimmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. She plans to spend the summer with her best friend, Isabelle “Izzie” Jennison. After a particularly tough meet, she learns that her grandmother, Willa Kaftan, has broken her leg. Willa lives alone in the Smoky Mountains, in an area called Firefly Valley. Brye’s dad sends her to care for Willa, causing mixed emotions. Ten years ago, Brye experienced a house fire in the valley, during which she lost all her memories up to that point. Her mother, Heather, seemingly abandoned her family during the chaos. Thankfully, Izzie joins Brye on her excursion to the Smokies. Soon after they arrive, Brye learns that the charred remains of her old home are scheduled for demolition. Visiting the site triggers memories of the fire, and of her mother. She soon encounters an attractive young man whom she doesn’t remember—yet his “mere touch” triggers a “powerful sense of nostalgia.” After a supernatural event, Brye realizes that to uncover her past, she must learn to trust people, starting with the young man, who calls himself Alder. Duga conjures a classic American landscape and a sublimely sensuous adventure. The emotional complexity of loving a place as though it were a person—and vice versa—is embodied by this description of the energy radiating from Alder: “The essence of the Smokies...the world’s best aftershave....it was distractingly intoxicating.” Brye learns of realms beyond the purely physical, and meets a spirit emissary named Raysh, who appears as a translucent fox. Elegant fantasy components, such as “mana” (the aforementioned energy), elemental gates, and giant animal deities are reminiscent of the work of genre greats, such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. There are occasional references to modern teenage life—to Instagram, for example—but they never intrude for long. A pleasant finale and the promise of further trips to Firefly Valley should please audiences.
This YA series opener creates a vivid, evocative foundation for a potential fantasy series.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-731-3
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Russell (Blue Lightning, 1997, etc.) pens a fantasy with biblical overtones, in which a timid, bookish 14-year-old must save the world from the devil. Fischer reluctantly accompanies his adventurous cousin David to spy on vagrants. They find two strange characters who possess some beautiful, glowing stones. Entranced by the stones, Fischer grabs some from the sleeping pair, and runs. The boys use two stones to make wishes, but Fischer doesn’t realize he still has one, hidden in his pocket. Thereupon they begin a chase with Thistle, who tells Fischer they must find her father, Solomon, keeper of the stones, or evil will consume the world. Fischer, David, and Thistle, pursued by Belial and his minions, set out on the journey. Fischer learns that he’s stronger than David, but he may not be stronger than Belial, who plays upon Fischer’s weaknesses in an attempt to trick him into giving up his stone. Torrential rain and hail follow them, portentous of the disasters to come if Fischer loses his battle. While filling her story with credible characters and a vividly realized contemporary setting, Russell neatly ties her inspiration to a still-unexplained event in 1811, when strange disasters occurred. Every chapter begins with a quotation from the Bible, lending structure to this intriguing, exciting tale. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2568-8
Page Count: 231
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
Another in the series (various contributing authors) retelling classic fairy tales. No prizes for guessing which one this is—but forget Disney and all those cute dwarfs. Wrede moves the familiar story of the two sisters who befriend an enchanted prince out of the German forests where the Brothers Grimm located it and into the London suburbs of Elizabethan England. The fairy godmother becomes the widow (and good witch) Arden; her daughters Blanche and Rosamund are the princesses. John and Hugh, the princely brothers, are sons of the Queen of Faerie and Thomas the Rhymer (the latter a well-known figure in Scottish folklore). The villains of the piece are the sorcerers John Dee (in real life, astrologer to Queen Elizabeth) and Ned Kelly (the famous Australian outlaw who built himself a bulletproof suit of armor), whose ambitions to seize the magic power of Faerie result in Hugh's being transformed into a bear. John and the sisters, then, must seek a way to restore Hugh to human form and curb the sorceries of Dee and Kelly. A subplot involves a palace revolution in Faeries itself. You know how it all turns out. Wrede (Caught in Crystal, paperback, etc.) shows solid craftsmanship throughout and good judgment in avoiding Elizabethan excesses or Disneyesque mawkishness. Nonetheless, those disposed to ask awkward questions will wonder why she (or anybody else) should bother in the first place.
Pub Date: May 1, 1989
ISBN: 978-0142411216
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
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