A fun, inventive superhero tale with a brave teenage girl at its heart.
This second book in the teen paranormal Legacy of Sadie Mae Stevens series introduces a new and dangerous foe for the crimson-tressed title character.
In the first installment (The Gordite Witch, 2012), Sadie Mae, a South Carolina teen with “pecan-brown skin and fiery red hair that for the life of her will not dye,” discovered her mother’s death when she was a child was actually the result of an interdimensional fight with a zombie sorceress known as the Gordite Witch. Christine Stevens wasn’t human but a Daughter of the Seas from the underwater planet Dylan. Like her mother, Sadie Mae possesses supercharged blood that allows her to produce toxic vapor from her hands and eyes that will crystallize into chains to bind the enemies of the Dylanians—the Tetradyne Rulers and their servants, the Pigwallers—and protect humans as well. She also has access to a magical forest all her own, where she’s mentored by a violet-eyed mountain named Lendra and trained by a human/frog hybrid called Norris. After avenging her mother’s death, Sadie Mae ignores a summons from Lendra about the imminent threat of Torene the Tornado in favor of hanging out with her part-Dylanian friends Jalind, Printa, and Harrah and foster parents Suzanna and Dr. Heathcliff Brimm. When Torene appears in Sadie Mae’s forest and kidnaps Norris, the heroine realizes she’s neglected her duties and put her family and friends in danger. As if that’s not enough, there’s a cute new boy named Lander Vandersal in school, and he won’t stop staring at Sadie. Miller (Promises Unbroken, 2015, etc.) delivers sentences that are often lacking in rhythm—“At best she hoped his hype would not end up turning into a weak distraction.” But the author’s imagination remains rich, with the denizens of Sadie Mae’s mystical forest far from the fantasy clichés of elves and dragons (they include graceful “baby dinosaur-sized” green creatures that look like turtles and turn out to be Siamese twins). Sadie Mae is a relatable protagonist who messes up mightily and must deal with the consequences of her actions. Ultimately, she’ll have to make an ethical decision that will challenge everything she’s learned.
A fun, inventive superhero tale with a brave teenage girl at its heart.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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