Dual heroes’ journeys filled with magic and high-stakes romance.
Unlikely lovers face deadly trials.
Blue-eyed Inna Pallo, who dyes her auburn hair blond, is the new heir to the Pallo empire. She’s determined to investigate her sister’s death while training to take over the family business, the illustrious Horizon Club. The club’s allure is based on sprites—insectlike creatures whose magic makes people feel euphoric. The Pallos market the sprites as “harmless, floating baubles,” concealing their murderous potential, which they’re trying to keep hidden at all costs. Rylan, who has “shaggy blond hair, pale skin and green eyes,” is an orphan with cause to seek vengeance against the Pallos. He seeks the legendary hibernating Serpent God, who’s rumored to grant a wish to whoever finds and awakens him. But to do so he needs a journal that he suspects is hidden within the heavily guarded Pallo Vault. Rylan’s break-in attempt leads him to cross paths with Inna, who wants to find answers to her sister’s death, and they work together on a heist that sends them on the run—and into each other’s arms. Despite Inna’s unearned trust in Rylan, their slow-burn romance satisfies. Both embark on the quest of a lifetime, shedding their old skins and making surprising choices that transform them by the end. This stand-alone work following Bridge’s debut, Of Flame and Fury (2025), returns readers to the Republic of Salta and introduces new creatures and mythology.
Dual heroes’ journeys filled with magic and high-stakes romance. (content warning, map, excerpt from The Saltan Bestiary) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393441
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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