by Missy Wilkinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2015
A sometimes-endearing tale that almost succeeds but attempts too much.
Grief, teenage drama, alien bird-men, and a reality-warping drug combine in the quirky cocktail of Wilkinson’s debut coming-of-age novel.
Gates McFarland has a lot on her plate. She’s in a new school, for starters, where her father works as the new band director. If that weren’t bad enough, Gates is dealing with the surreal, creepy experience of hearing her recently deceased mother’s voice in her head. Cammie, queen of the social scene, and her henchwoman, Lena, don’t make things any easier, but Gates is determined to win them over, as long as Penny, an incredibly weird, pony-obsessed loner, doesn’t socially contaminate her with overly dorky overtures of friendship. On the plus side, there’s John Ed, an unspeakably hunky drum major and recovering Amanita addict. Amanita, as portrayed here, is a substance that’s new enough to still be legal, provides a surreal trip, and promises a shortcut to artistic stardom. But as Gates discovers to her horror, it can also transport a person across light years to another planet ruled by bird-men (and one of her new classmates). Even worse, the more Gates learns, the more it looks like her mother’s death is connected to it all. The way that she discovers how the tangle of threads interconnects is a high point of the book. Unfortunately, the sheer mass of different subplots may lead to confusion and frustration, as they rarely mesh successfully and none feel fully developed. This effect spills over onto the characters, many of whom often seem more like caricatures; however, the fact that the story is told firmly from Gates’ point of view moderates this to an extent. Each individual plot thread has something to recommend it. However, none of them get as complex a treatment as they deserve.
A sometimes-endearing tale that almost succeeds but attempts too much.Pub Date: July 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61040-938-4
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Prizm
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
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by Hannah Kaner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024
A bold series continuation from a fantasy author to watch.
In a world where old gods can pass away, new divinities may be born.
Hseth, the fire god whose cult murdered Kissen’s family in Godkiller (2023), is no more. However, problems continue to mount for the intrepid young warriors who managed to kill her. The orphaned Inara and her minor-god companion, Skedi, persevere on a seemingly unending search for answers—she to the questions surrounding her paternity, he to an illustrious past he cannot recall. In the aftermath of the climactic battle, King Arren has chosen a path that his best friend, Elo the baker-knight, cannot bring himself to follow, and Elo must reckon with the ramifications of turning his back on his liege. Just as Arren stokes the fires of his own illicit cult—with himself as figurehead—a resistance movement to save what remains of the world’s outlawed gods begins to heat up. Unable to come to terms with Elo’s desire to keep her away from the dangers of war, Inara makes a rash decision that ultimately sets the stage for mass unrest shortly before Arren’s victory tour arrives at their doorstep. Meanwhile, a presumed-dead Kissen fights her way back from the shores of the god who saved her life, only to find herself at odds with her friends’ and family’s goals. You see, Elo, Inara, and the rest have forgotten one very simple rule: Dead gods can always come back. Tested alliances fuel this tightly plotted found-family thrill ride. The worldbuilding is complex, but the reader never feels bogged down beneath its weight. As with the previous installment, queerness and disability are woven into the fabric of the narrative; Kissen and her sisters are queer and disabled, a prominent secondary character is transgender, and several tertiary couples are gay and lesbian. Although the pacing does become a little too frenetic in the novel’s final chapters, as the point of view switches rapidly among protagonists, Kaner has penned another page-turner in this projected trilogy.
A bold series continuation from a fantasy author to watch.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780063350106
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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