A whimsical food concept brought vividly to life.
A boy from a society where only sweets are eaten journeys to far-off lands of vegetable and fruit consumption in this illustrated middle-grade fantasy.
Ten-year-old Henry lives in Choco-Locoville, a town in Sugarland. Like all the inhabitants of Sugarland, Henry is overweight. Since his father’s death (brought on by obesity), Henry has tried to diet, but with only sweet things to eat, he finds it impossible. Henry is also lonely. His mother works long hours overseeing the family’s chocolate factory, and Henry’s only friend is his fat cat, Tiger. Disaster strikes one day when Sugarland’s chocolate clouds are stolen. These are essential for the running of the chocolate factory, and, seeing an opportunity to recapture his mom’s attention, Henry resolves to bring them back. Along with Tiger, Henry strikes out for the Monster Mountains and, beyond these, the mythical lands of Veggington, Fruitopolis, and Barebone Island, which features dairy products. In Veggington, Henry eats vegetables for the first time and makes a new friend—a carrot girl named Carrotina, who joins him on his quest. Henry’s journey helps him to lose weight, but even with Carrotina’s help, will he be able to find the missing chocolate clouds and break down the national boundaries between food groups? Remus writes in the third person, past tense, from Henry’s point of view. The prose is a simple mix of narrative, dialogue, and description, enhanced throughout by the author’s partial and full-page illustrations. These pictures—textured black-and-white sketches of considerable intricacy—contribute greatly to Remus’ worldbuilding and to the depictions of Henry, Carrotina, Tiger, and others. Henry is a likable protagonist, conscious of his own shortcomings but determined to overcome them. Carrotina is a particularly memorable character. She is kind and companionable but also acutely aware of being a sentient, anthropomorphized vegetable. Her perspective on life encapsulates the magical suspension of disbelief that underpins the four food-based lands of Foodtopia. The story itself is sweet and nonthreatening, although Henry’s quest is not without peril. While adult readers may find the plot predictable, there are surprises on a page-by-page level and wonder aplenty for the target audience. The moral, likewise, is overt but not intrusive. Younger readers will be thoroughly entertained.
A whimsical food concept brought vividly to life.Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-3-949488-01-6
Page Count: 242
Publisher: Misty Moon Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A delightful, genre-defying debut.
Historical horror? Dark fantasy? Queer romance? All of the above!
“I was hundreds of years old before I ever met him, but that day we were both young.” While visiting his Florence offices in 2013, attorney Sebastian Grave unearths a bloodstained lambskin glove that belonged to a past lover—a man he’d met in the 18th century. Nestled within this frame narrative is a tale of desire, werewolves, and the French Revolution. In telling his story, Sebastian introduces Sarmodel, the demon with whom he shares a body, and a succubus named Livia contributes chapters in which Joan of Arc, her notorious ally Gilles de Rais, and the archangel Michael all make appearances. First-time novelist Sullivan wields the tools of multiple genres deftly, but what really makes this book special is its central character. Sebastian has powerful magic at his disposal, but he’s also human enough to fall hard for a hot young nobleman. When Sebastian goes hunting for the Beast of Gévaudan, he’s not looking for adventure. The first time, it’s because he can’t resist Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne. The second time, it’s because he dreams of a reunion with his love—even though he knows this is a hopeless wish against the advice of Sarmodel. Using Sebastian as a narrator keeps things light, in part because he has a droll, contemporary voice and in part because it makes the worldbuilding feel natural. There are footnotes, but there are no infodumps. The fact that Sebastian doesn’t know exactly what he is sets the tone for storytelling that leaves a great deal unexplained while providing enough detail to keep the reader engaged. Deploying Sarmodel as a sort of alter ego and allowing Livia to offer her own perspective on Sebastian also adds both depth and charm.
A delightful, genre-defying debut.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781250362766
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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