Add a little romance and a few journeys to the spirit world, and the novel makes for a quick, entertaining read.
It isn’t until 16-year-old Katy Jessavar is shipped off to boarding school 1,500 miles from home that she finally discovers “who—and what—” she really is.
At Ainsworth Preparatory School, nestled in the mysterious, fog-shrouded heart of Whitfield, Mass., Katy—or, rather, Serenity Katherine Ainsworth—comes face to face with the legacy of the mother she never knew and the powers that have always resided within her. Descended from a long line of great witches, Katy must learn to harness her mystical powers in order to battle the Darkness that threatens the town and the people she’s grown to love. Cochran’s first book for teens will satisfy readers hungry for a little paranormal excitement and romance in a post-Twilight world. The novel isn’t without its shortcomings, though. Readers will likely suffer whiplash adjusting to Katy and Peter’s inexplicably sudden shift from icy exchanges to passionate declarations of love, and for a girl who never knew her own mother, there is far too little exploration of Katy’s relationship with her newly found maternal relatives. That said, there is enough suspense and witchcraft to keep readers turning the pages.
Add a little romance and a few journeys to the spirit world, and the novel makes for a quick, entertaining read. (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1739-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
A gritty, raw account of surviving tragedy one minute at a time.
Sixteen-year-old Tiger Tolliver’s struggles are relatively minor—she’s stuck in secondhand threads and lusts after her biology partner—until her overprotective but loving mother unexpectedly dies.
For more than 200 pages, readers endure with Tiger the two weeks that follow her mother’s death. A minor with no known living relatives, Tiger becomes a ward of the state of Arizona, sharing foster homes with kids who have been abused and abandoned. She finds herself responsible for the logistics of death, such as the funeral planning and ordering death certificates. Tiger obsesses over the last words she screamed to her mom, “Why can’t you ever just fucking leave me alone?” and refuses to take off the outmoded dress that was the last thing her mother ever bought her. The onslaught of grief and regret is so intimate that at times the novel feels claustrophobic, as if there is no escape. Which, of course, for Tiger, there isn’t. There’s only surrender to her new normal. A few glimmers of hope appear in the form of friendships and kindnesses, but this narrative is chiefly a first-person experience of the void left behind when the most important person in a young woman’s life is suddenly gone. It’s visceral and traumatic, pulsing with ache. Tiger is white, and many secondary characters are black and Latinx.
A gritty, raw account of surviving tragedy one minute at a time. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-101-93475-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A cosmically compelling read.
In Petrus’ bewitching debut, Aquarius meets Scorpio and contemplates what comes next.
Audre has found religion in the form of Neri, the pastor’s granddaughter, much to the chagrin of her religious mother. Sent from Trinidad to Minneapolis to live with her father, Audre is afraid of leaving her beloved grandmother, being cut off from her home culture, and starting over in a new country. Meanwhile, fascinated with Whitney Houston and the singer’s supposed romance with a female friend, Mabel is attempting to fit the pieces of her sexuality together. Although she’s been feeling sick, she agrees to entertain her father’s friend’s newly arrived daughter, and Audre and Mabel grow close over the summer. As the school year ramps up, Mabel can no longer ignore her chronic fatigue and pain and must grapple with life-altering news. She finds comfort in reading an old book of her parents’, learning about astrology, and seeking Audre’s healing presence. Audre’s voice is lyrical, and readers will practically hear her Trinidadian accent as she overcomes her fears and self-doubt. Through a nonlinear storyline and two secondary characters, Afua and Queenie, the author beautifully interjects elements of magical realism while delving into the complexities of spirituality. Readers seeking a deep, uplifting love story will not be disappointed as the novel covers both flourishing feelings and bigger questions around belief and what happens when we face our own mortality. Main characters are black.
Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-5255-5548-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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