Still, this is an entertaining, quick read.
Readers who enjoyed Leah Spencer’s mystical adventures in the first series outing, Shadow’s Edge (2012), will find even more to love in the second.
For a Spencer sister, Rhea lives a relatively normal life. Sure, she’s the reincarnation of Cleopatra, and her boyfriend, Slade, is a shape-shifter and future king of the Dark Créatúir, but up until her 16th birthday, Rhea has gone to school, bickered with her sisters and done household chores just like any typical high school student. However, as soon as Rhea turns 16, she begins to have visions of her former life as an Egyptian queen. Alas, Rhea isn’t the only one intrigued by her growing powers. Soon she finds herself caught up in a war between two ancient, secret orders, one determined to protect the Egyptian queen reincarnate and the other hellbent on harnessing her powers for their own dark and deadly purposes. Rhea is both an entertaining narrator and a compelling heroine, whom readers will increasingly enjoy rooting for as she begins to embrace her fate and battle to protect the ones she loves. Unfortunately (and astonishingly, given the genre), the novel misses an opportunity to explore a potentially intriguing love triangle involving Rhea, Slade and Declan, the handsome young member of the Order of Antony who is determined to protect Rhea, often in spite of herself.
Still, this is an entertaining, quick read. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7387-3193-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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