An exciting, inventive finale.
In the conclusion to Benedict's YA fantasy trilogy, conjurer Tessa Skye must defeat a diabolical, seemingly immortal ruler.
Tessa is searching for the boy she loves, Ash Kemp, who has inexplicably vanished. Some of the enemies the two have faced are dead, but others, like Tessa’s evil half sister, Ratcher, continue to be a threat. The greatest menace to Wilderyn, however, is King Slayert, a powerful conjurer leading a cursed army. Apparently, Slayert possesses the Kingshackle, a gold band that renders him invincible. But anyone who completes “the King’s Challenge” can take the Kingshackle from him. Tessa gets news that Ash, who’d fought during Slayert’s assault against the city of Blackgrove, is now the wicked king’s captive. She hopes to save Ash by traveling to Slayert’s fortress, which is also where one can undertake the King’s Challenge. Tessa fortunately has her windrider, an amulet that turns her into a sparrow. But she strives to find her “bloodbeast” (an animal she can change into at will) to battle Slayert’s—reputedly a dragon. Benedict's masterful pacing makes her novel a quick read. The story takes readers through a bevy of betrayals, startling deaths, and exhilarating action, with striking villains, like boarmen and Snakeskins. While the young heroine is the series’ highlight, there are myriad characters who make an impression. Blackgrove’s Queen Sage, for example, is strong but perpetually drunk, and her brother, Lord Queshire, who sometimes refers to himself in the third person, wants to surrender immediately to Slayert’s army. Though the ending provides the trilogy with a resolution, a few characters’ fates remain in question. As such, Benedict could easily return to her sublime world—and hopefully will.
An exciting, inventive finale. (acknowledgements, about the author)Pub Date: July 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9994492-6-4
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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