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 promising, page-turning romantasy.
An 18-year-old girl’s days of hiding her true supernatural identity are tested when she’s embroiled in the mystery surrounding a prominent professor’s death.
The Palmers are a secretive supernatural family in Cornwall, England. Nicole and her brother, Dylan, pretend to only be Seers like their father and younger sister, Bells, but they’re actually Empyreals—rare, powerful hunters who can shape-shift into any being’s deadliest predator. Nicole knows that if she and Dylan ever transform, the Wake, or shadowy organization that controls the paranormal world and killed their Empyreal mother, will force them to join their ranks or die. Nicole believes she can decode a final message from her mother hidden in The Wild Hunt of Odin, a famous folkloric painting, but after Diana Westmoore, the professor and art collector who owns the painting, dies suddenly, the Wake send their best Empyreal assassin, Kyan McCarter, to retrieve the painting and hunt the supernatural killer. Kyan and Nicole are immediately drawn to each other, even though he’s lived monastically for centuries, and she’s been taught to avoid the Wake at all costs. Their forced proximity causes proverbial sparks to fly. Filled with intriguing worldbuilding, a swoony forbidden romance, and a diverse collection of fascinating mythological creatures who coexist in the human and supernatural worlds, this series opener is ideal for fans of Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Sally Green. Main characters are cued white, Dylan is queer, and the supporting cast includes diversity in race and sexual orientation.
A promising, page-turning romantasy. (Fantasy romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781335006950
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years.
Big-town girl stuck in a small-town world full of lies falls for another girl.
Astrid's parents moved both her and her sister away from their New York City home years ago to a small town symbolically called Unity Valley. Since then her mom has drunk the society Kool-Aid, and her dad takes mental vacations in the garage to smoke weed. Astrid doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere. Two friends keep her sane: her closeted BFF, Kristina, and Dee, a star hockey player she met while working for a local catering company. Sparks fly between Astrid and Dee, causing Astrid to feel even more distanced and confused. Meanwhile, Kristina and her boyfriend/beard Justin use Astrid as cover for their own same-sex sweethearts, adding more fuel to the fire. King has created an intense, fast-paced, complex and compelling novel about sexuality, politics and societal norms that will force readers outside their comfort zones. The whole town—even the alleged gay characters—buy into the Stepford-like ideal, and King elegantly uses Plato’s "Allegory of the Cave" to help readers understand life inside and outside of the box. Only Astrid knows what she wants. She’s in love with Dee, but she's not sure if she’s a lesbian. She’s ignoring all of the labels and focusing on what she feels.
Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-19468-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
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