A great main character, immense moral tragedy, all sung with full lungs.
Seventh in Robson’s phosphorescently magnificent gallery of forgotten women whom she’s dug up God knows where—even as far off as feudal Japan in The Tokaido Road. In the brook-clear historical fiction of Fearless (1998), she tells the fact-based story of Sarah Borginnis Bowman, six-foot with cayenne hair, who becomes an Army Woman with Zachary Taylor and follows him through battle after battle in the Southwest. In Mary’s Land (1995), we are drawn into the timeless bravery of Margaret Brent in the settling of Maryland as she oversees tobacco crops, balances a household, and keeps a weather eye on the parliament. Now Robson has discovered Lozen, unmarried sister of Chiricahua Apache chief Victorio. Blessed with horse magic and the gifts of healing and far-sight (she can see enemies farther off than anyone else), she becomes not only the legendary and battle-hardened woman fighter of the Apaches but Victorio’s wise counselor as well and his veritable right hand until his death, when she joins Geronimo. The Chiricahua are against everybody and at war with the universe, a wonderful people who bear great names: Talks A Lot, Ears So Big, He Steals Love, Flies in His Soup, and Flattened Penis. Don’t miss the immensely amusing chapter “Rear Guard,” in which the Apaches lift their breechclouts, “presenting their attackers with a long row of bare, brown backsides. They beat a tattoo on them, all the while hooting and shouting insults.”
A great main character, immense moral tragedy, all sung with full lungs.Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-312-87186-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A funny, frank, and refreshingly mature take on the familiar will-they-or-won’t-they romance template.
A college hockey player finds his vow of celibacy tested when he meets the campus beauty.
This final installment of Kennedy’s (Bad Apple, 2018, etc.) Briar U trilogy focuses on a supporting character from the earlier volumes: hockey star Hunter Davenport. He’s so bitterly disappointed that Briar’s hockey team “didn’t make it to the national championship” that he’s decided to take a vow of sexual abstinence until the end of the season. It’s tough on him (“I take out all my sexual frustration on the ice,” he thinks, but readers won’t believe him). And his pledge doesn’t stop him from appreciating all the lovely women at campus parties. But in a psychology class, he meets smart, gorgeous Demi Davis. Demi immediately notices how handsome he is (“too attractive for his own good”), and soon she and Hunter are paired in a psychology experiment in which she plays the doctor and he the patient. In short order, strong sexual tension builds between the two. Hunter doggedly maintains his “monk” status even as the chemistry between them heats up. Demi admires his stunning looks and is amused by his quick wit (When setting up their next class meeting, he texts her: “Make sure you’re wearing tight spandex pants so I can objectify you”). But she has mixed feelings about Hunter (“He is either the best or the worst. I still haven’t decided”). Kennedy unfolds the story with smooth confidence and a great deal of sure-footed humor. The book’s whole supporting cast is well developed. And both Hunter and Demi are sparkling, enjoyable fictional creations, often unpredictable but also entirely believable, dealing with each other in the sexually frank manner that characterizes notable contemporary romance titles. Hunter’s resolve about his love life feels overdone in the novel’s final third, but the author’s prose is so energetic that only the pickiest readers will find it distractingly unrealistic— in fact, they may love the character all the more for it.
A funny, frank, and refreshingly mature take on the familiar will-they-or-won’t-they romance template.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9995497-6-3
Page Count: 422
Publisher: Elle Kennedy Inc.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
SEEN & HEARD
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