Despite some pacing hiccups, a series ender packed with action, scary enemies, and satisfying character arcs.
Half-human, half-Sirena white teenager Lyric faces the biggest threat to the world yet in this trilogy closer.
The story jumps timelines by chapters that alternate between a present time and the three months between the present time and the end of Raging Sea (2016). In the present, a shell-shocked Lyric has clearly been through hell but has emerged again from the depths of the ocean, bearing terrible news of a new existential threat, far worse than the Rusalka or Undine. In the three-months-prior storyline, Lyric encounters an intelligent Rusalka who keeps her alive in the face of mad Minerva’s wrath and helps her learn more about Alpha mythology and the magic gloves that tether her to Husk. The alternating storylines don’t always work well together—the present one prevents surprises in the past storyline and unnecessarily prolongs the wait for details on the long-hinted-at threat. Once Lyric reunites with her cast of supporting characters and their land-based enemies start moving, the story picks up. The romantic storyline starts with the love triangle between Lyric and stoic Alpha warrior-prince Fathom and the sweet, hot geek hybrid Riley but then concludes in a way that’s as unexpected as it is satisfying, coinciding with character growth and development.
Despite some pacing hiccups, a series ender packed with action, scary enemies, and satisfying character arcs. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-34867-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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