A swirling blend of Chinese mythology and teenage angst, though the presentation struggles to keep up.
Ung-Lai’s (The Freedom... Cage, 2012) latest novel sinks teen orphan Sam Sword into deeper water and stranger companionship than he could ever imagine.
When Sam Sword’s mother died, he fell into a fugue that’s revealed in patchy, unpredictable recollections as he juggles two part-time jobs and cares for twin boys he found abandoned on the roadside. Finding the twins snapped Sam back to reality, giving him a reason to live, but apparently, he’s also got a reason to die: Mysterious red-suited men and women are making attempts on his life. Ung-Lai doesn’t explain exactly why the strangers are after Sam, so it’s understandable that he at first thinks he’s losing his mind when no one else visibly reacts to the attacks. He has no idea that he’s surrounded by—and beloved by—ancient, magical beings who can see exactly what’s going on. The ancient ones use their magical talents to protect Sam from some attacks, but they can’t keep him from falling head over heels in love with a coy, mysterious girl he just met. Ung-Lai’s creativity shines as she illuminates a world where reincarnation and the primal forces of sunlight, moonlight and water are the lynchpins holding Sam’s world together—if only he knew. Meanwhile, his new girlfriend isn’t anything she seems, and winged bugs tiny enough to live beneath his fingernail are fierce enough to suck the life out of him. Quirky, enjoyable phrases like “stare-of-war” mark simple, declarative sentences that frame the action. Sometimes, however, Ung-Lai repeats herself and falls into the trap of overstyling the prose—a raised voice is almost always a scream, sighs are unfailingly happy, there are countless smiles—which ultimately dampens her creative expression.
A swirling blend of Chinese mythology and teenage angst, though the presentation struggles to keep up.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1480125889
Page Count: 290
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.
Opposites attract when a Grim Reaper clashes with a Guardian Angel in this whimsical paranormal romance.
Darcy Moore is in a bit of a tough spot; she’s a Grim Reaper who’s grown tired of death. When she’s given her next assignment, Darcy decides to go rogue. Rather than reaping, Darcy is determined to save her mark, which only upsets the balance kept by the Department of Hauntings and Spirits. Nothing good comes from a Grim Reaper who’s gone AWOL. Bartender Gabriel Aetos works as a Guardian Angel. He doesn’t take kindly to the fact that a Grim Reaper is slinking around his territory. His role is to protect people, while hers is to usher souls into death. To him, their very natures are at odds and his sudden attraction to Darcy won’t change that. This is very much a grumpy-meets-grumpy romance. Gabriel tries hard to keep Darcy at arm’s length and is open about his mistrust of her. Darcy’s standoffishness, though, is born out of her feelings of isolation and loneliness. Dealing in death has taken an obvious toll on her, and she’s traveling her own introspective path on what it means to be human. Darcy’s fragility is what slowly convinces Gabriel to get close to her, despite the heady yearning he keeps under wraps. However, both view their jobs as central to their existence, for better or worse. While Darcy is actively wondering what it would mean to break free of her Grim Reaper responsibilities, Gabriel has never seemed to ponder being anything other than a Guardian Angel. Borison’s romances—most recently And Now, Back to You (2026)—always strike an emotional chord, with deep-seated conflicts that tap into themes of identity, connection, and grief. This addition is truly the epitome of a Borison romance.
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9780063430464
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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