An exciting series starter with engaging concepts and memorable characters.
Cammaratta’s debut YA dystopian novel follows the efforts of two teenagers fighting to enact revolution in a society with dark secrets.
On the opulent island of Kaycie, where social status reigns supreme, 16-year-old Serenity Ward lives a life of fame, wealth, and comfort. However, her life, as she knows it, is based on a lie. Most people believe that Kaycie is the last surviving vestige of humanity after a global flood. In truth, there are seven other islands beyond the horizon, all secretly under the control of Kaycie’s shadowy government, known as the Establishment. They monopolize the islands’ resources and steal their residents’ children, while Kaycian citizens are kept ignorant of injustices that fuel their indulgent lifestyle. After Serenity joins Kaycie’s Leadership program and starts to learn the truth, she decides to become a spy for a rebellion operating within the Establishment. In the process, she meets Bram, a cynical young man who seeks revenge on behalf of his island home and views Serenity as a liability. However, both are aware that even their allies are keeping secrets from them, and the two will have to learn to trust each other if they’re to keep the rebellion afloat. Cammaratta’s novel hits many of the standard beats of the dystopian YA genre, but it does so with cleverness and sincerity. The worldbuilding is mostly succinct but doesn’t feel underdeveloped, and the cast, especially Serenity’s cohort of friends, speak and interact in a realistic, natural way that includes genuine moments of humor. Serenity and Bram both act as narrators, which allows the story to strike an excellent balance between vastly different viewpoints, and their tumultuous relationship develops in sweet, unexpected ways. The overall premise, which seems simple at first, grows in scope as the stakes get higher, and the novel ably interrogates the underpinnings of its setting and the ways in which unjust systems are allowed to operate unhindered. Serenity undergoes realistic, engrossing, and meaningful evolution as she struggles with betrayal, takes dangerous risks, experiences romance, and grows into the best version of herself.
An exciting series starter with engaging concepts and memorable characters.Pub Date: May 21, 2021
ISBN: 979-8-50-794291-6
Page Count: 305
Publisher: Darkstroke
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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