by Mark Anthony ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2022
A delightfully gruesome story that will continue to haunt readers long after they reach its end.
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The effects of trauma, depression, anxiety, and human suffering manifest as literal monsters in this series starter from SF/fantasy author Anthony.
The story follows three remarkable characters from very different walks of life who have one thing in common: They’re haunted by terrible creatures called “Leviathans,” brought forth by extreme traumatic experiences and mental illness. Ellie Jameson is a school janitor who’s hounded by a giant Slender Man-esque Leviathan that destroys her family, causing a mental breakdown that forces her into state-mandated therapy; during on session, she can still hear the monster’s “rasping breath” and “feel its cold and smell its nauseating stench.” Sam Morris is a struggling advertising executive whose Leviathan manifests as a giggling, creepy little girl begging him to “come play” and victimizes family members and colleagues in Sam’s vicinity during times of extreme stress. Joshua Fielding is an 8-year-old with an alcoholic mother who has an abusive boyfriend; the youngster’s Leviathan emerges as a giant “Monster Dog” that follows him to school, where he tries to avoid prying questions from teachers and friends. Although the characters are from separate worlds, their stories begin to overlap as Ellie and Sam prepare for an upcoming event of horror and mayhem and Joshua encounters his Monster Dog for the first time. Debut author Anthony, a registered nurse, effortlessly interweaves together elements of mythology and dark SF to create a world in which trauma’s harm is far more than mere metaphor. The plot is consistently engaging, displaying an understanding of genre tropes, and the author shows a skill for storytelling that surpasses that of some more established authors. Most notable is Anthony’s ability to smoothly move between each character’s point of view, which not only gives the reader a complete story, but also a proper basis for understanding the detailed world the author has built in these pages.
A delightfully gruesome story that will continue to haunt readers long after they reach its end.Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Leschenault Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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SEEN & HEARD
by Leigh Bardugo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2024
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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