African and Caribbean mythology with dragons.
Yenni Aja-Nifemi is an 18-year-old princess of the Yirba people. With a reputation for being unladylike due to her interest in hunting, combat, and studying runelore, she is in no rush to settle down and marry, as her royal responsibilities require. Yenni wishes to find a way to save her father, the chieftain, whose health has been failing with no diagnosis, much less cure, in sight. She is granted permission to go to Cresh, making the pact of Orire N’jem, to seek answers that will help her father get better. During her year abroad, she meets Weysh—a dragonkind, or human with the ability to change into a dragon—whose first moments with Yenni leave a bad impression. To Yenni’s dismay, he has taken a special interest in her and tells her that she is his Given, the one destined to be his mate. Ultimately, Weysh turns out to be more help than hindrance, and Yenni develops feelings for him despite her best efforts. But romance takes a back burner to her other problems as she navigates life in this new world where the magic and culture are so different from those of her home. The captivating worldbuilding of magical lands and well-paced plot and character development combined with intriguing twists will have readers looking forward to more. Major human characters are black.
Enjoyable for readers interested in diverse, modern, lore-based fantasy. (map) (Fantasy. 12-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98936-504-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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Engrossing, contemplative, and as heart-wrenching as the title promises.
15
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What would you do with one day left to live?
In an alternate present, a company named Death-Cast calls Deckers—people who will die within the coming day—to inform them of their impending deaths, though not how they will happen. The End Day call comes for two teenagers living in New York City: Puerto Rican Mateo and bisexual Cuban-American foster kid Rufus. Rufus needs company after a violent act puts cops on his tail and lands his friends in jail; Mateo wants someone to push him past his comfort zone after a lifetime of playing it safe. The two meet through Last Friend, an app that connects lonely Deckers (one of many ways in which Death-Cast influences social media). Mateo and Rufus set out to seize the day together in their final hours, during which their deepening friendship blossoms into something more. Present-tense chapters, short and time-stamped, primarily feature the protagonists’ distinctive first-person narrations. Fleeting third-person chapters give windows into the lives of other characters they encounter, underscoring how even a tiny action can change the course of someone else’s life. It’s another standout from Silvera (History Is All You Left Me, 2017, etc.), who here grapples gracefully with heavy questions about death and the meaning of a life well-lived.
Engrossing, contemplative, and as heart-wrenching as the title promises. (Speculative fiction. 13-adult).Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-245779-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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When the realm is in danger, only a small band of misfits can save Allward.
An in medias res prologue, told from the point of view of the lone squire accompanying the 12 Companions of the Realm, tosses readers into the thick of a quest. Half the Companions are human heroes and half are immortal Elders; they seek to stop a rogue thief and his wizard accomplice from using a magical Spindle to tear a passage between worlds for nefarious ends. A disastrous battle sends squire Andry fleeing with Cortael’s sword so villain Taristan can’t get his hands on it. Grieving Elder Dom requires both a person of Corblood (a descendant of human travelers from another realm) and the Spindleblade Andry protects to stop Taristan from bringing ruin to the realm. Dom seeks Cortael’s secret daughter, Corayne, a bright but sheltered teenager with a pirate mother. At times the narrative tension is undermined by flashbacks that readers already know the conclusions to and by occasional repetition caused by the multiple point-of-view jumps, but there’s a wide variety of action scenes, daring escapes, and betrayals. Many tropes and character types are familiar, but exquisite descriptions and clashing motivations result in a nuanced, sprawling realm with a sense of complicated history. This world is highly diverse in terms of both skin tone and in the refreshing range of roles female characters inhabit.
An epic series opener of old-school high fantasy catering to modern audiences. (map) (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-287262-3
Page Count: 576
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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