A bit stilted and ambitious, but an action-packed page-turner nonetheless.
In this prose adaptation of a comic-book series, when a harmless game goes horribly wrong, a cursed young thief must risk everything to help a policeman rescue his daughter from the land of the dead.
Brazilian orphan Luci Jenifer Inacio Das Neves—Lucifer for short—a teen master thief, specializes in keeping magical artifacts out of the hands of those who want to abuse them. A prior job against a powerful being named the Harlot left her cursed with a distinctive and indelible mark on her shoulder. Now commissioned by a police officer to retrieve his daughter from a coven of murderous witches, she’s thrust into a world completely foreign to her: teenagers. While she’s extremely knowledgeable about esoteric occult phenomena, she's less well-versed about teenagers and their social mores. Not only does Lucifer need to battle demons, but now she must face her fears about love and death. Though he wrote the serialized comic on which this is based, Nelson's adaptation to prose isn't seamless. His worldbuilding is a bit flat and leaves too many questions unanswered; this can work well enough in a serial comic that builds relatively quickly on each issue, but it doesn’t do so well in prose. However, the book offers a cinematic blend of demonic possession, near-death experiences, and a dash of romance, and paranormal fans may be able to overlook its flaws.
A bit stilted and ambitious, but an action-packed page-turner nonetheless. (Paranormal thriller. 13-17)Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-63388-056-6
Page Count: 290
Publisher: Pyr/Prometheus Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale.
A reissue of the 2016 novel published as Consider.
Alexandra Lucas and her boyfriend, Dominick, are about to start their senior year of high school when 500 vertexes—each one a doorway-shaped “hole into the fabric of the universe”—appear across the world, accompanied by holographic messages communicating news of Earth’s impending doom. The only escape is a one-way trip through the portals to a parallel future Earth. As people leave through the vertexes and the extinction event draws nearer, the world becomes increasingly unfamiliar. A lot has changed in the past several years, including expectations of mental health depictions in young adult literature; Alex’s struggle with anxiety and reliance on Ativan, which she calls her “little white savior” while initially discounting therapy as an intervention, make for a trite after-school special–level treatment of a complex situation; a short stint of effective therapy does finally occur but is so limited in duration that it contributes to the oversimplification of the topic. Alex also has unresolved issues with her Gulf War veteran father (who possibly grapples with PTSD). The slow pace of the plot as it depicts a crumbling society, along with stilted writing and insubstantial secondary characterization, limits the appeal of such a small-scale, personal story. Characters are minimally described and largely racially ambiguous; Alex has golden skin and curly brown hair.
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale. (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-839-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes.
What happens to the world after the dust from a revolution has settled?
Friends Annie and Lee were children from very different circles when Atreus killed Lee’s father, dragonlord Leon Stormscourge, ending the uprising on the bloodiest day in Callipolis’ history. For too long the dragonriders held all the power while their people starved and lived in fear. Nine years later, a new generation of dragonriders is emerging, children selected and trained on merit, not bloodlines. Their dragons are finally mature enough for them to compete for Firstrider, a position of power that can give Lee back a small part of what his family lost. However, not only is Lee competing against Annie, but rumors are circulating that some of the royal family have survived and have dragons of their own. Everyone will have to make a choice: Restore the old regime, support the First Protector and the new caste system he created, or look for a new way, no matter what the cost. From the beginning, this book pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members. Choices are complex, and the consequences for all could be deadly. The world is well fleshed out and believable. Annie and Lee are light skinned; secondary characters are diverse, and race is a nonissue in this world.
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes. (author’s note) (Fantasy.14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51821-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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