Colorful characters headline this imaginative, witty tale.
A young girl befriends Danish elves and a charming snowy owl in this middle-grade fantasy debut and series opener.
Ten-year-old Anne Katrine loses one of her favorite people—her grandmother. Her parents settle the late woman’s estate in Denmark and leave their daughter in Pennsylvania for what was meant to be a temporary stay but becomes indefinite. Now she’s stuck with cruel relatives, like spiteful Aunt Jess and bullying cousin Neena. But things aren’t all bad. In the surrounding woods, Anne Katrine meets a couple of affable men—each no more than 5 inches tall. Yul and Nissa are Danish elves who offer her magic seeds so she can be elf-sized, too (or return to her regular size when necessary). They need her help retrieving Yul’s laptop, which Neena swiped, thinking the tiny object was a bracelet charm that Anne Katrine stole. Meanwhile, the elves hitch rides from warmhearted snowy owl Dumbert and sneak into Anne Katrine’s attic bedroom for late-night visits. Yul and Nissa make Pennsylvania life so much better; unfortunately, they plan to travel to a faraway land to restock their magic seeds, and Anne Katrine, who misses her parents, will be lonely once again. Newman’s delightful story is reminiscent of “Snow White” and “Cinderella.” The appealing young hero radiates tenderness and perseveres despite horrid treatment, especially from Aunt Jess, who, it seems, hates her niece. Nissa stands out among the vibrant characters; he has an extensive vocabulary and likes a good pun (“Owl be right back”). Newman wisely keeps the plot uncomplicated, though there’s a lot left unresolved. The author has a series in the works and ends this book with the promise of even greater adventures awaiting Anne Katrine. Gadotti’s black-and-white sketches enliven the pages, from Anne Katrine’s bandaging Dumbert’s wound to the Pennsylvania woods.
Colorful characters headline this imaginative, witty tale.Pub Date: June 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73629-460-4
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Apex Collaborative, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
