A rushed ending to a witchy trilogy.
The time of reckoning for twins Hunter and Mercy Goode is here.
The sisters are the latest witches from a long line of guardians in their family who protect the earthly gates to the Underworlds of various mythologies. But the gates have been growing weaker since the death of their mother, and they still have no concrete plan for how to heal them. Now Mercy, trapped in the ancient Egyptian Underworld alongside its protector, Khenti, is relying on her sister to help her. Meanwhile, Hunter is reeling from her power-hungry choices and also dealing with Amphitrite, the goddess of the sea, who is a growing threat to their hometown. But before they can save the gates and the citizens of Goodeville from further harm, the sisters first need to mend their broken relationship and find out why it is that their magic is not working to its full potential. This final entry in the Sisters of Salem trilogy examines the relationship between Mercy and Hunter as well as their empowering growth, which also means being held accountable for some terrible choices they made in Omens Bite (2022). But there are many open threads that need closure before the grand finale, some of them involving terrible and potentially fatal dangers, and they lead to an ending that is as bittersweet as it is unsatisfyingly hurried. The twins are White.
A rushed ending to a witchy trilogy. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-76569-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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
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