Uneven prose and illogical events abound in what’s clearly not the foretold savior of epic forbidden-love trilogies
A millennia-old global conspiracy comes to a climax with all the overwrought personal drama this trilogy has promised.
Avery, once an ordinary, violet-eyed American white girl, now is identified as a member of the world-ruling cabal, the Circle of Twelve. Since the time of Alexander the Great, the Circle’s families have secretly controlled the world’s governments, corporations, and media—but they still anticipate the prophecy of the girl with violet eyes and the One. Now Avery knows that she and white, blond, Russian Stellan (her one-time kidnapper, one-time smoocher) are the two destined to change everything. Avery’s blood, when mixed with Stellan’s, produces one of the deadliest biological weapons the world has ever known. Her recently rediscovered Circle family commits gleeful mass murder with Avery’s stolen blood in a quest for power. The series’ trademark sudden-yet-inevitable betrayals cause dramatic uproar but have minimal effect on the plot. Given the deadly risk if their blood is mixed, Avery and Stellan’s romantic choices (petting each other’s freshly inked matching tattoos; insisting on dashing off together into an obvious trap; bandaging each other’s blood-soaked wounds when other potential medics are available) serve only to diminish the importance of impending doom.
Uneven prose and illogical events abound in what’s clearly not the foretold savior of epic forbidden-love trilogies . (Paranormal thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: July 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16652-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills.
A group of teens stranded in a snowstorm discovers a murderer in their midst.
While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills. (Mystery. 12-16)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-32333-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices—Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred—with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy. Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy; almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper. As a vehicle for exposition, however, and a reminder of Germany’s role in the war, he serves an invaluable purpose that almost makes up for the mustache-twirling quality of his petty villainy. The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn’t change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning.
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful. (author’s note, research and sources, maps) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16030-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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