The protagonist mooning over boys sometimes overwhelms the engaging, unique sci-fi elements.
A teenage girl emerges from wallflower status only to be plagued by unexplained phenomena in this young-adult romance novel.
Anna Stuart lives in a quiet town with her widowed mother and younger brother. In her final year of high school, she finds herself with only one friend and her passion for science to keep her company. Her life takes a sharp turn when the once-innocuous pattern of freckles on her arm begins to itch and change, a perfect replication of the constellation Pleiades becoming more and more pronounced. Next, a shadow man almost certainly trying to kill her begins appearing at the foot of her bed. As Anna tries to keep these developments under wraps, her longtime crush, quarterback Steve McCormick, enlists her as his physics tutor, shifting her focus entirely onto him and his glamorous lifestyle. Everything seems to be going her way until she overhears some gut-wrenching gossip about Steve at the mall. Suddenly wary of her new friends, she buries herself in her after-school astronomy club, finding solace in a new paramour from a neighboring school. Just as she regains control of her life, the freckles on her arm begin to transform again, the shadow man begins appearing in daylight, and uncontrollable visions of a seaside observatory and a man with startling blue eyes begin to haunt her. All the new attention she garners comes to a head as her love interests reveal their true selves, and Anna finally unravels the shocking connection between herself and the stars. Though debut author Riley writes realistic teenage emotions, Anna’s remarkable aptitude for science is her one defining quality, and it gets lost quickly. Written with an uneven level of detail, each tense encounter with a love interest glows, while the darker, metaphysical elements recede. The novel will hit the mark for readers who prefer blossoming love stories to the high-stakes, plot-driven books popular with teens today.
The protagonist mooning over boys sometimes overwhelms the engaging, unique sci-fi elements.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1484126509
Page Count: 374
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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