Given the complexities of worldbuilding and back story, for established fans only
Lena Gabrilowicz is hoping to start her freshman year at the University of Oregon alien-free, after accidentally falling for Ixdahan Daharek, an exile from the planet Snaldrialoor.
In trilogy opener Heart of Earth (2013), Ixdahan had been banished to Earth and forced into a human body, leading to his and Lena’s first adventure. After abandoning their romance to save the Earth in Heart of Mystery (2015), Ixdahan is now incorporeal, a setback to his reconnecting with Lena. While Lena meets a relative who suddenly appears from the year 2457, Ixdahan finds himself again at the center of a galactic threat as he is recruited to prevent a permanent rift in space-time. Zealot scientist Ardelt Zoktyla has created the Zoktyla root, a genetically modified superfood that contains every single nutrient—and she’s determined to hide its mysterious, not-so-pleasant side effect in order to sell it across the galaxy, even if it means the manipulation of time to boost crop yields and, worse, forcing the relocation of entire populations of planets. Even as Ixdahan comes up with a plan to expose the Zoktylese, readers are lulled into the angst of the ongoing human-alien romance that may be rekindled—if not thwarted by Ixdahan’s jealous alien admirer. The jarring shifts among multiple narrative perspectives and condensed intergalactic politics makes this sci-fi tale a bit heady at times, and readers may find themselves wanting to bypass what feels like filler to get to the humorous banter among characters.
Given the complexities of worldbuilding and back story, for established fans only . (Science fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9913274-8-5
Page Count: 210
Publisher: Chickadee Prince Books
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In the current game of one-upsmanship that is the teen paranormal romance market, how does one top vampires, faeries, angels (fallen and otherwise) and the like? Why, make your dark and brooding male lead the Lord of Death, of course. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera and her mother have just moved to Isla Huesos (an alternative Key West) to start over after her near-death experience two years earlier (she drowned in the backyard swimming pool) and her parents' subsequent breakup. But Isla Huesos just happens to be a portal to the Underworld, making it very easy for tall, dark and handsome John to monitor the girl who ran away from him at 15. She wants to live, darn it, and bad things always happen when he shows up, so why is she so unhappy when he takes back the magical necklace he gave her when she was dead? Cabot's a pro; Pierce is a perfectly likable if almost preternaturally good protagonist; her relationships with her ex-con uncle, underachieving cousin and new buddy Kayla are genuinely endearing, and her interactions with John have the right mix of humor and sexual chemistry. A refreshingly offhandedly gay cemetery sexton rather testily helps Pierce along the way. Ultimately, though, the conventions of the form leach real suspense from the plot, making it feel more like a progress to the inevitable sequel (Underworld, coming in the indefinable soon) than any real reboot of the genre. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 970-0-545-28410-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The back story may not sink in but the romantic tension captivates
Debut author Faegen’s paranormal romance impels a celestial girl toward a dark paramour who embodies a purpose and a partner for all eternity.
Seeking her father’s killer, Sasha entertains the notion of joining a cultish secret society that mysteriously grants the wishes of initiates. It turns out renouncing God and pledging fealty to Eryx, a relation of the devil, is not in store for Sasha. In some inventive takes on the eternal good-versus-evil dichotomy, Sasha is part-angel, and Eryx has a troupe of brothers who nobly seek to thwart him, though they are also sons of Hell. Big, strong, long-haired and immortal, Jax is the brother who is fated to shack up with Sasha, should she forsake her mortality and enlist with the brothers in their mission. Much of what drives the story comes across as just plain arbitrary. Early on, Sasha’s mother is deported to Russia, and Sasha has to move to Colorado, where Jax lives, to reside with evil relations. It turns out Sasha is an adopted child with no clue who her real parents are, and by the time she agrees to sacrifice normalcy to join Jax forever, she has nothing to lose and no one to fall back on anyway. The dialogue partakes of an aggressively teen vernacular—"… major bummer that her aunt isn't just a lost soul, but a crazy-bitch lost soul"—but the narration seems to have a hard time finding its rhythm.
The back story may not sink in but the romantic tension captivates . (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-60684-170-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Egmont USA
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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