Expert world-expanding storyline-juggling raises the stakes while building up to the series’ climax.
Mari, Nik, and the mixed (Earth Walker/Companion) Pack’s journey from Death, is interspersed with a new character’s narrative.
Three years ago, River, daughter of the leader of Herd Magenti (one of the five great Herds dwelling on the plains of the Wind Riders) attended a Rendezvous, the ceremony where the herds’ young can be Chosen and one can become a Wind Rider, gaining a bonded horse companion. Casting a shadow is the return of River’s childhood best friend, Clayton, whose feelings she doesn’t reciprocate (she’s asexual in a sexually-liberated culture). Her storyline follows her path to leadership, as she navigates politics and faces treachery. Strong, compassionate River’s scenes—despite temporal and spatial distance—compel readers with equine action and foreshadowing of the main narrative. Other storylines overlap with The Sun Warrior (2017), with the revived God of Death covetously spying Mari’s power during the Pack’s escape. While the Pack (with Dove and Lily) braves adversity while fleeing Death, romances bloom (including a lovely depiction of supporting a rape survivor in reclaiming her power and intimacy) and the openly-discussed ideal of inclusion yields results. Finally, Tribe Storyteller Ralina attempts to save her people, though her cunning brings her uncomfortably close to her enemy. Unfortunately, the story contains tired stereotypical tropes around Native Americans as well as blindness. Characters have a variety of skin tones.
Expert world-expanding storyline-juggling raises the stakes while building up to the series’ climax. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-10078-8
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
A deeply moving account of love in its many forms.
A senior contends with first love and heartache in this spectacular debut.
Sensitive, smart Frank Li is under a lot of pressure. His Korean immigrant parents have toiled ceaselessly, running a convenience store in a mostly black and Latinx Southern California neighborhood, for their children’s futures. Frank’s older sister fulfilled their parents’ dreams—making it to Harvard—but when she married a black man, she was disowned. So when Frank falls in love with a white classmate, he concocts a scheme with Joy, the daughter of Korean American family friends, who is secretly seeing a Chinese American boy: Frank and Joy pretend to fall for each other while secretly sneaking around with their real dates. Through rich and complex characterization that rings completely true, the story highlights divisions within the Korean immigrant community and between communities of color in the U.S., cultural rifts separating immigrant parents and American-born teens, and the impact on high school peers of society’s entrenched biases. Yoon’s light hand with dialogue and deft use of illustrative anecdotes produce a story that illuminates weighty issues by putting a compassionate human face on struggles both universal and particular to certain identities. Frank’s best friend is black and his white girlfriend’s parents are vocal liberals; Yoon’s unpacking of the complexity of the racial dynamics at play is impressive—and notably, the novel succeeds equally well as pure romance.
A deeply moving account of love in its many forms. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-984812-20-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Sparkling and lush; a gem.
A witch and two princes are brought together in an adventure to save 8th-century Wales.
When Ffion, a hedgewitch estranged from her powerful magical family, members of the Foxhall coven, suffers a terrible loss, she finds herself in the position to team up on a quest with Taliesin, the “bastard prince” of her kingdom of Powys. Ffion sets out to walk the length of Offa’s Dyke, determined to use her own magic to destroy it in order to return the disappearing magic to Wales. Meanwhile, Tal and his brother, Dafydd, have been pitted against one another in a challenge from their father, King Cadell, to destroy the dyke: Whoever succeeds will inherit the throne. While clever, opportunistic Tal hates magic, he’s desperate to become king. Dafydd would rather spend his days working at his forge as a blacksmith, but he’s coerced by Cadell into competing. Throughout the journey to destroy the dyke and thwart their enemies, the brothers are thrown together with Ffion in ways they couldn’t have predicted. This comforting and cozy fantastical romance bursting with Welsh mythology is told from Ffion’s, Tal’s, and Dafydd’s compelling points of view. It’s an atmospheric jewel box with sympathetic characters readers will root for from the first page; they’ll only be disappointed to learn it’s a stand-alone novel and not a series opener. Ffion in particular shines as a thoughtful, brave hero with a compelling backstory.
Sparkling and lush; a gem. (pronunciation guide, author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780063083578
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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