An artful adaptation and delightful debut.
Pinocchio meets Frankenstein in this gender-swapped light fantasy.
Eleven years after losing his wife in childbirth—and their only child too—master puppeteer Gephardt Leiter succumbs to loneliness and puts his talents to the test. Though the territory of Tavia outlawed conjuring magic generations ago, Gep recites a forest crone’s incantation beneath a lustrous blue moon to bring a lovingly crafted marionette to life, a girl about the age his daughter would have been. Seven years later, Gep’s health fails and Pirouette, his (literally) animated daughter, finds herself struggling to complete the last in a commission of 100 life-sized soldiers. Soon after, the ruling Margrave’s heir demands yet another malicious mannequin, and he puts long-banned spells to use, turning an army of wooden brutes loose and accusing Piro of the very sorcery he’s practicing. Imprisoned by a madman, Piro faces a dreadful final task….An earnest, appealing, and accessible narrator, Piro fastens together a magnificent world where, per her father’s favorite maxim, “a maker will always prevail.” DeSelm’s at her best describing artisans at work—from the fleet-fingered tailor to the sure-handed potter—stitching, striking, stoking, and shaping raw materials into works of beauty. Allusions to source texts buttress gender-conscious explorations of belonging, honesty, autonomy, empathy, and the nuanced politics of creation. A simpler story about the timeless battle between those who produce and those who merely consume undergirds the fable. Physical descriptions indicate characters of varying ethnicities.
An artful adaptation and delightful debut. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64567-080-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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