The well-built world, vivid characters, and perfect blend of action and amour should have readers eagerly seeking the sequel.
Seventeen-year-old Echo is an odd bird, but she soars in this urban fantasy.
Echo lives by two rules—don’t get caught, and if caught, run—but breaking them brings life-changing adventures. Ten years ago, when the Ala caught Echo picking her pocket, she brought the young thief into the underground world of the Avicen—a race of long-lived, partly feathered people. Echo now flits among the Avicen, trading favors, learning magic, and even snagging a boyfriend, Rowan, but she never feels like part of the flock. Splitting time between her illicit home/book hoard in the New York Public Library and travel around the world via magic powder and portals, Echo is rarely at rest, as if aware of her mortality. When she gets caught again, this time by the dragonlike Drakharin—the opponents of the Avicen in a long-running war—she undertakes a perilous journey to find the legendary firebird and, hopefully, peace. Grey’s energetic debut offers a strong protagonist with a delightfully snarky voice. Echo’s street-honed burglary skills and survival instincts are well-balanced by her (typical) teenage hormones and boundless enthusiasm. Her companions, Avicen Ivy and Jasper and Drakharin Caius and Dorian, are also entertaining, gaining depth by sharing the narrative spotlight—though the initial ping-pong switches between Echo and Caius are disorienting.
The well-built world, vivid characters, and perfect blend of action and amour should have readers eagerly seeking the sequel. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-74465-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
Substantial and satisfying: Readers will look forward to being reunited with these characters.
A brilliant magician who seeks to destroy the system of inequality propping up her world is aided by new allies and feels the complications of romance in this middle entry in the Waxways trilogy.
As expected, Landwin Brood doesn’t appreciate Theo’s new bond to Ren Monroe; despite her brilliance and magical prowess, Landwin won’t look past her Lower Quarter origins. Although Landwin attempts to separate them, Ren maintains her single-minded focus on revenge. Unbeknownst to Thugar, the eldest Brood, Dahvid and Nevelyn Tin’Vori, who are in hiding, are also out for vengeance as descendants of another family who fell victim to the Broods. Their alliance with Ren and Theo (if he can be trusted) will be the key to bringing down House Brood, but success hangs delicately on an intricate plan that could go wrong in deadly ways. While this sequel to A Door in the Dark (2023) has less breakneck action and high-octane adventure than the first volume, it more than compensates with a slow-building and intensely suspenseful plot that plays to Reintgen’s strength in creating well-defined, emotionally convincing characters. The novel is narrated in multiple third-person points of view, and Ren and Theo’s romance keeps pace, developing slowly but skillfully into something undeniable and sparkling. Themes of loyalty, familial expectations, and personal choice are woven into a world that makes space for sharp-edged girls, tender-hearted boys, and everyone in between. Central cast members are cued white.
Substantial and satisfying: Readers will look forward to being reunited with these characters. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781665930468
Page Count: 416
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A love story—romantic and familial—that is a must-read.
Avery and her parents move to her mom’s hometown to care for her ailing grandma.
Lately 17-year-old Avery feels like she needs a change of scenery, a break from Washington, D.C., and her singular focus on early admittance to Georgetown. When Avery’s mom, Zora, learns her mother is dying from cancer, she decides to move back home. After more than a decade away, Zora is not wholeheartedly embraced by Mama Letty. As a queer, biracial teen—Avery’s mom is Black, and her dad is White—Avery’s welcome in rural Bardell County, Georgia, population 9,127, is just as cold. Avery tries to understand what caused the rift between her mom and Mama Letty and what happened to her grandfather, but both women are reluctant to share. Avery befriends the pretty Black girl next door and the rich White girl whose family runs everything, and she discovers Bardell County is full of buried secrets. As in most small towns, everything and everyone is connected, and debut author Hammonds skillfully unpeels each layer of intrigue, keeping readers engaged until the last page. The tension between Mama Letty and Zora is complex and deep-seated, and the generational trauma revealed throughout is beautifully explored. Hammonds seamlessly weaves together mystery, romance, and a town’s racist history, crafting a gripping and emotional story.
A love story—romantic and familial—that is a must-read. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81655-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
