An earnest, if sometimes heavy-handed, Christian allegory about faith and the modern world.
Two teens make their way through a post-apocalyptic future world in Seitz’s YA series starter.
In this first installment in the House of Heaventree saga, 15-year-old Flare Flanagan and her 14-year-old brother, Cornelius, are misfits in a hypertechnological future world in which Great Storms once disrupted all satellite and electronic technology for over a year. Since then, society has been almost entirely subsumed by a gigantic company called the Global Operational Datalink, which has taken over most of the world through its communication monopoly: “It was a satellite that controlled all communications—wePhones, wePads, computers, internet, gaming,” explains the omniscient narrator. “It was supposed to be free, but nothing comes without a price.” Everybody now has an electronic chip implanted in their foreheads for instantaneous connection with the Datalink, governed by the “Herod clause,” which grants the Global Union ownership of all users’ firstborn children. Cornelius and Flare’s parents refuse to do this, thus making their children immediately identifiable outcasts, although they try to wear their hair over their foreheads to disguise their status. The pair also attend the House of Heaventree, a Christian preparatory school that aims to make its charges “physically fit, mentally fit, and most importantly, spiritually fit to handle any test of faith.” Seitz handles the work’s straightforward Christian allegory with enough skill and energy to head off any predictability. The interplay between the Flanagan children and their schoolmates at Heaventree is well rendered, and although the benefits of Cornelius’ encyclopedic recall of the Bible results in some rather on-the-nose quotations, Seitz manages to create a good balance between the Christian subtext and the bleak future setting. Religious readers are likely to find this work congenial and faith-affirming.
An earnest, if sometimes heavy-handed, Christian allegory about faith and the modern world.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-32072-4
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Water Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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