Having narrowly escaped the Nazi bombing of their miniscule island kingdom, the young impoverished royal family of Montmaray is living in exile in England with their very wealthy aunt (A Brief History of Montmaray, 2008). Their lives have changed dramatically, as they are thrown unprepared into the world of upper-class society. But they also become embroiled in all the confusion of the perilous 1930s, speaking out against Fascism and appeasement and aiding children escaping from the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, all the while attempting to get help in wresting their home back from the Germans. Princess Sophie’s voice is true and clear in her journal, with syntax and tone spot on, as she writes with compassion of the upheaval, changing family dynamics and her own emotional growth. The novel is, in Sophie's words, a combination of the “Awful Bits” and “things that successfully distract one from the Awful Bits” in a world that “has been wound up as far as it could go.” The lively, charming characters meet challenges with pluck and ingenuity as well as a great deal of humor. Will modern readers get all the references to the real events and people? Perhaps not, but it won't matter, because the information is woven seamlessly into the plot. Multilayered and engrossing, Cooper’s tale alternates between frothy fun and heartbreaking seriousness with utter mastery. (author's note) (Historical fiction. YA)
Pub Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-85865-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Full measures indeed of love and suffering…and bloodshed too: Fans will sail through and clamor for more.
Both warring hearts and (literally) fiendish schemes keep the upcoming generation of demon-fighting Shadowhunters on their toes in this midtrilogy doorstopper.
Set in 1903 and centered on a love triangle involving the well-bred offspring of part-angel Nephilim last met in the Infernal Devices series, this episode carries on from Chain of Gold (2020) as golden-eyed James Herondale and Persian/British Cordelia Carstairs, wielder of the legendary blade Cortana, are wed in what—due to the workings of various spells and ill-concealed feelings—they think will be only a marriage of convenience while third-wheel Grace Blackthorn uses her power to cloud people’s minds and further the machinations of her deranged foster mother. Meanwhile, with Nephilim suddenly being slaughtered Jack the Ripper–style and other mysterious doings in the background, friendships are tested amid the efforts of supporting cast members to follow the leads in chaste but steamy couplings, requited and otherwise, same-sex and otherwise, even living and…otherwise. A brief but desperate climactic battle drives off a demonic incursion, but worse is plainly to come. “The gods are walking,” a character remarks, “and none of us are prepared.” Also, as an emotionally wracked James reflects in the aftermath, “We suffer for love because love is worth it.” The wealthy, cosmopolitan cast of Londoners includes some ethnic diversity. Illustrations not seen.
Full measures indeed of love and suffering…and bloodshed too: Fans will sail through and clamor for more. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3190-3
Page Count: 624
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
A transportive, thrillingly queer adventure.
Sixteen-year-old Joe Garbe leaves the family farm, finding trouble and romance in Chicago during the Great Depression.
Arriving by train, Joe meets his cousin, Bernie, at the station and is instantly enamored by the sights and sounds of the city. Thanks to Bernie, Joe lands a job in the kitchen of the Lago Vista hotel, where he now meets Eddie Zambriskie. Their chemistry is palpable from the start, and they start dating. Meanwhile, Joe’s desperate need to settle his family’s debts back home in Kickapoo gets him involved in an underhanded scheme: His role is to take a French conversation class with wealthy people who will be sailing to Europe on vacation and gather information about his classmates’ names and travel dates so that Bernie’s criminal confederates can burgle their homes while they’re away. This ruse is complicated by Joe’s love affair with Raymond Kenrick, one of his marks, who introduces him to kissing, so-called pansy parlors, and sex. The emotionally nuanced characters, most of whom are presumed White, navigate stages of guilt, paranoia, and remorse as they swindle as a means of survival—with tragically beautiful results. Through passionate, cinematic scenes, Klise poignantly captures the fears and joys of being gay in this polished work of historical fiction.
A transportive, thrillingly queer adventure. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-61620-858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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