Ripe with sarcasm and complicated relationships, an action- and angst-packed installment reminiscent of Buffy and Neil...
Forces of light and darkness clash in this urban-fantasy sequel to The Girl at Midnight (2015).
Already filled with previous vessels’ memories, Echo struggles with her new roles as host to the firebird and fugitive or figurehead in a long-lasting supernatural war between the birdlike Avicen and dragonlike Drakharin. The white girl has survived on the fringes of New York City’s magical society as a thief and runaway, but now she must lead a ragtag crew on a peripatetic quest to understand both the firebird’s and the feud’s origins and to battle the opposing dark force she inadvertently released, the kuçedra. As the shadows attack, infect, and trigger disasters, Echo also finds an enemy in Drakharin usurper Tanith, sweetheart Caius’ power-mad twin. Quick to quip, pop-culture savvy, and prone to lexicographical musings—a hazard of living in a library—Echo is a grudging heroine, fearful of endangering her friends and reluctant to assume political power, but typical Chosen One agonizing and an obligatory love triangle diminish her distinctive humor. With minimal plot progress and a scattered, misty mythology, personal journeys and romances—heterosexual, homosexual, and interspecies—take precedence over worldbuilding. Echo and her fellow narrators accomplish little but anguish a lot, enduring action sequences with brief respite in tender (if melodramatic) moments.
Ripe with sarcasm and complicated relationships, an action- and angst-packed installment reminiscent of Buffy and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. (Urban fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: July 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-385-74467-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
A winning game of feelingsball.
A former football star, who never thought she’d play again after she came out as transgender, steps back onto the field for one last season to help her team win state.
Grace Woodhouse used to know where she belonged. She had Division I schools lined up to recruit her, but that was before what happened during playoffs last year, before she came out as trans, and before she quit the team. Although her single father and new friend group support her, Grace feels lost as her senior year begins. When one of her old teammates asks her to help him with his technique, she quickly realizes that he and the other captains are hoping for more than her expertise from the sidelines—they want her to rejoin the team. Grace can’t resist the opportunity to play again, but her return draws unwanted national attention that makes her question her future and who she wants to be. Flashback chapters written in the second-person present tense bring Grace’s past to life, which helps maintain momentum and makes her emotional journey feel more immersive. A heartfelt, goofy, and diverse cast of secondary characters surround Grace, who’s white, as she navigates self-doubt, friendship, complicated feelings for her ex-girlfriend, and what she wants to do after graduation. Overall, this coming-of-age sports narrative is honest, gentle, and hopeful.
A winning game of feelingsball. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145027
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
A meticulously crafted magical medical mystery with an emotionally substantive romance.
As in earlier entries, this trilogy closer blends genres as it presents a quest to resolve a strange plague alongside a heartfelt romance and an exploration of shifting allegiances.
With Theo Brood’s father dispatched, Theo and Ren Monroe begin the arduous task of turning the Brood estate into something more egalitarian. Meanwhile, medical student Mercy Whitaker has been sent by her mentor, Dr. Horn, to help victims of a plague that’s sweeping nearby farms. Quick thinking and dogged detective skills lead her right to the source—but not to a full explanation of what’s going on. Concurrently, questions arise after someone from Ren’s past goes missing. Nevelyn Tin’Vori’s careful research, part of her ongoing desire to undermine the Brood dynasty, leads her right to the answers everyone seeks, ones that are directly connected to Mercy’s gruesome discovery. Alliances new and old form and break, as a shadowy group called the Makers threatens to bring down not just the Broods but magic itself. The solidity of the central characters, who continue to grow emotionally through their many varied experiences, brings coherence to the series. Though Ren and Theo, who present white, have grown up over the course of the books, the steadily upbeat pacing and judicious worldbuilding remain ideal for teen readers, preventing any stagnation in this series that ends as interestingly as it started.
A meticulously crafted magical medical mystery with an emotionally substantive romance. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781665930499
Page Count: 544
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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