Even those readers who adore misery and squalor might find this a bit much.
A grimdark fantasy debut opens with the 6-year-old heroine’s mother stabbing her through the heart, and it’s all downhill from there.
Now a teenager, Faris steals and brawls to support her drunkard father and little sister in their totalitarian homeland. After a botched escape attempt, her lover is executed and her sister enslaved; Faris herself is manipulated into a spell binding her to the ambitious princess Bryn, who plans a treasonous foray into a neighboring kingdom, blighted by a plague that’s turned the populace into magic-addicted cannibals. They soon join forces with the enigmatic magician North, whose dark secrets may hold the key to their mission. The present-tense narrator Faris is admirable in her ferocious determination, but her constant rage, hatred, and self-loathing become wearying. Bryn proves a marvelous villain, all cruelty and confidence; North serves mostly to suffer nobly and to fall instantly, madly, and inexplicably in love with Faris. Overwrought prose with a tin ear for metaphor propels the mostly repellent characters through a muddled, convoluted plot. The world seems the generic fantasy default-white pseudo-Renaissance Europe, albeit with jarring anachronistic touches; the magic system is likewise confusing. The headlong pace of the narrative keeps the pages turning but makes the final chapter less a cliffhanger than an abrupt fracture of the storyline.
Even those readers who adore misery and squalor might find this a bit much. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7199-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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