This sometimes cluttered but consistently gripping fantasy will surely pique readers’ interest in the volumes to come.
A teen wielding newfound superpowers joins others on a potentially deadly mission in Angell’s YA novel, the first in a series.
Ohio high-schooler Calli Courtnae amazes even herself when she breaks a world record in a 100-meter race. This prompts an invitation to a Montana facility, where she’s told she’ll train for the Olympic qualifications. She’s barely there a day when she learns the facility’s true purpose: training youngsters with cosmic-powered abilities from reading minds to healing. Calli is a Runner and, like everyone else there, belongs to a “clan” of people with the same power. She’s quickly put on a delivery assignment with fellow Runners. They’re to deliver the Sanguine Diamond as ransom payment to a nefarious group that has abducted individuals hailing from each clan. This seemingly easy assignment is complicated by a traitor in the Runners’ midst. Calli, meanwhile, wonders how she’s showing signs of other abilities (like peeking into people’s minds) when having more than one cosmic power supposedly isn’t possible. Angell packs this opening series installment with character development. At times, it’s a bit too much; Calli picks up and masters several powers while falling into a brand-new romance, all in the span of a few days. However, the dilemmas she faces—she envisions a future with a lethal outcome that she’d like to change, for one—make for a riveting story. And she has grounded problems as well, like suffering the undue animosity of nearly every teen or tween in attendance when she first arrives at the facility (“a word of advice . . . showing off around here will only get you beat up”). The bulk of this narrative follows the Runners’ trek up north (to Canada); there’s constant peril as sinister, olfactorily enhanced Hunters track Calli and the others. The reason for Calli’s multiple powers becomes clearer as the story progresses to an ending that leaves subplots open for sequels, namely the aforementioned romance.
This sometimes cluttered but consistently gripping fantasy will surely pique readers’ interest in the volumes to come.Pub Date: May 29, 2011
ISBN: 9780979524875
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Fantasy Books Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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