This earnest but uneven fantasy will appeal most to role-playing–game fans.
There’s a reason the popular role-playing game Beasts and Battlements originated in Midnight Lake, Wisconsin.
Twelve-year-old Vivian Van Tassel has extraordinary fencing skills, a short temper, a passion for Harry Potter books, and a dead mother—for which she blames herself. Moving to her mother’s hometown of Midnight Lake just exacerbates her negative feelings, as she endures bullies and nasty teachers at her new school. Still, despite insisting she doesn’t want friends, Vivian does gradually connect with four Beasts and Battlements gamers. Then, while doing a local history project, Vivian discovers unusual connections between B&B and Midnight Lake. Are the game beasts…real? She soon learns that vulturebears, leer spheres, and canimen belong to an “unholy alliance” fighting for Arborem, an ancient druid determined to eradicate humanity. Perhaps only Vivian, thanks to her mother’s special Silverthorn family heritage, can stop him. This fantasy adventure shines in Vivian’s struggle with grief and guilt and in its creatively crafted gaming elements. Following the prologue, though, active fantasy components disappear for many chapters, slowing the start, and some plot mechanisms feel contrived. As well, in our environmentally aware time, some readers might feel surprised to find a protective nature entity cast as the villain. Vivian and most human characters read White; one gamer is Black, and one has a Latine name.
This earnest but uneven fantasy will appeal most to role-playing–game fans. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781665918190
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Alternately humorous and heartrending, this lively fantasy will have wide appeal.
Can a 12-year-old girl and a dragon awakened from a 1,000-year nap save the world?
In the Draconic Empire, magic is forbidden outside the imperial bloodline. Any other magic use will summon the Revenants, who killed the dragons and the mighty Dragon Mage a millennium ago. Or will it? Five years ago, Ciara found Dragon Mage apprentice Bianca’s magical journal. Bianca’s exuberant, irreverent entries describe a warm (“She’s a hugger”), generous mage with “tawny-brown skin” who wanted dragons to teach all humans to use magic. Living in a mining village that’s been devastated by its cruel Warden’s greed and the Skael Cough that killed her father, Ciara yearns for magical assistance. Then, with the journal’s help, she accidentally wakens a long-sleeping dragon. Can Scorch, who was Bianca’s magister, teach Ciara magic so she can save both her town and her ailing mother? With the Warden willing to ravage and kill for the journal, the cliffhanger ending promises more peril to come. This fast-paced adventure’s hilariously dry humor may not prepare readers for the utter despair of other elements of the story. The characters are memorable and sympathetic, especially impulsive, brave Ciara, who’s cued white, and snarky, protective Scorch, both of whom are guilt-ridden for different reasons. They share the main narration, sometimes confusingly switching viewpoints within scenes. Avid fantasy readers will appreciate the complex magic system.
Alternately humorous and heartrending, this lively fantasy will have wide appeal. (Draconic spells) (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593813171
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
A suspenseful glimpse into a dystopian America dominated by technology.
In the near future, corporations secretly run governments, and most teens and adults use neural implants that allow them to be online at all times.
Twelve-year-old Chinese American Hana can’t wait for next year, when she’ll finally be old enough to activate her neural implant just like her mother and older sister. After Hana is chosen to study at the prestigious Start-Up school, she learns about a new process that will fast-track her date for being meshed to the multiweb. At Start-Up, Hana meets new friends—Japanese and Jewish Charlene, who goes by Chuck, and Latinx Tomás—who each have their own personal motivations for succeeding. The trio compete against other students in virtual reality challenges that test their ability to use boosts, or digital enhancements that provide artificial intelligence, strength, or sensory awareness. Suspicious events at the school coupled with warnings from others trigger Hana to investigate. This smart science-fiction thriller envisions a technologically advanced future America in which Chinese culture plays a prominent role and which is still grappling with concerns like climate change, classism, and monopolies. In addition to these larger timely issues, Hana navigates complex family dynamics (among other things, her father died one year ago, and her grandmother has dementia) and burgeoning friendships in this layered work that invites critical questioning of reliance on technology.
A suspenseful glimpse into a dystopian America dominated by technology. (Science fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35039-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© 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.
