A virtuous romance with characters who “fall in love with each other’s inner beauty in spite of outward appearance.”...
Living in rural Glynval, England, in 1352, a beautiful but penniless merchant’s daughter discovers appearances can be deceiving.
As she did with The Healer’s Apprentice (2010), Dickerson spins period romance from a fairy tale, in this case, “The Beauty and the Beast.” When their wealthy father loses his ships in a storm and dies of pestilence, 17-year-old Annabel and her family must pay a huge fine to avoid the indenture of one of them to Lord Ranulf le Wyse. Although her “dearest wish was to enter a convent,” Annabel opts to work as Ranulf’s serving maid rather than enter an arranged marriage with the lecherous bailiff. Rumored to have a fierce temper and beastly appearance, Ranulf finds himself attracted to kind-hearted Annabel and, to her joy, asks her to read him the Bible every evening. When the bailiff is brutally attacked and Annabel implicated, Ranulf knows he should send her away to a convent, but he can’t bear to lose her. Should Annabel flee or stay to defend lonely, disfigured Ranulf, whom she has come to love? Awash in meticulous medieval detail and heavily glossed with Christian overtones, this thinly veiled homily pulses with self-sacrifice, good intentions and suppressed sexuality.
A virtuous romance with characters who “fall in love with each other’s inner beauty in spite of outward appearance.” (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0310727613
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Zondervan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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
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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