A gripping, if sometimes turgid, work of sinister speculative fiction.
A pair of sisters gets caught up in the centuries-old machinations of a Chinese witch in this debut horror fantasy.
Almost 2,000 years ago in China, a witch named Zi-Ling is wrongfully accused of the murder of a warlord’s son. Before she is burned, she curses the warlord and the onlookers in the crowd—as well as all of their descendants. Her ashes are divided into six magic boxes and spread throughout the various Chinese kingdoms. But the witch’s spirit remains and requests that her sister reunite the boxes of ashes so that she may be reincarnated. Over the course of the centuries, Zi-Ling—or the queen, as she styles herself—uses her influence from beyond the grave to track down all but two of the boxes, increasing her power and bringing her closer to a new life. The tale resumes in modern America, where Elise and Maria Wang are growing up in Seattle under their parents’ abusive discipline. The girls realize at a young age that they can read each other’s minds, but after a bizarre and traumatic incident that leads to the deaths of their parents, the two are separated and raised apart. Their unusual powers grow through their adolescence—perhaps because they are Blood Children, descendants of Zi-Ling’s family who are pure enough that she can possess them and force them to hunt for her ashes. Unfortunately for Elise and Maria, the queen—who often takes the form of a creepy old sewing machine—has decided that only one Blood Child can be allowed to live. Fang’s prose is textured and often unsettling, particularly when describing the necromantic powers wielded by the queen and her servants. Here, a homeless girl is targeted: “Something in her pushed her forward; that something inside of her skull was gnawing her at the root of her neck. Strange and unfamiliar voices pounded her head, and panic swelled inside. She pulled her hair, hoping the pain would stop the voices.” The novel takes a long time to get started, and there are a number of scenes and sections that could have been left on the cutting-room floor. That said, the author’s blend of Chinese folklore with modern horror makes for a compelling combination, and those looking for a high-stakes tale of magic and mayhem will likely walk away pleased.
A gripping, if sometimes turgid, work of sinister speculative fiction.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-69504-508-8
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A new and contemplative take on the vampire novel.
Following a vampire across more than 200 years, this novel considers “whether this world and life in it is a kindness or an unkindness, a blessing or a curse.”
At the age of 10, Anna faces illness and death daily as an epidemic sweeps through her town. After the deaths of her father and brother, and when she's at her sickest, her grandfather arrives. Just as she’s about to succumb to the illness that killed her whole family, he transforms her into a vampire like himself. When she asks him why he did it, he replies: “This world, my dear child, all of it, right to the very end if there is to be an end, is a gift. But it’s a gift few are strong enough to receive. I made a judgment that you might be among those strong few, that you might be better served on this side of things than the other. I thought you might find some use for the world, and it for you.” The years that follow are difficult and often wrought with loss for Anna. She lives many lives over the centuries and eventually takes on the name Collette LaSange, opening a French preschool in Millstream Hollow, New York. Chapters alternate between Anna’s life beginning in the 1830s and her current life in 1984 as Collette. Notable points of tension arise when Collette tries unsuccessfully to sate her hunger, which is becoming increasingly unbearable, and as her interest in the artistic growth of a student named Leo deepens. Through decadently vivid prose—which could have been streamlined at times—this hefty novel meditates on major themes such as life, love, and death with exceptional acumen. The final questions in the book—“How presumptuous is the gift of life? What arrogance is implicit in the act of love that calls another into existence?”—serve as an anchor to meditations on these themes found throughout.
A new and contemplative take on the vampire novel.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781250856760
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.
A disturbing household secret has far-reaching consequences in this dark, unusual ghost story.
Mallory Quinn, fresh out of rehab and recovering from a recent tragedy, has taken a job as a nanny for an affluent couple living in the upscale suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey, when a series of strange events start to make her (and her employers) question her own sanity. Teddy, the precocious and shy 5-year-old boy she's charged with watching, seems to be haunted by a ghost who channels his body to draw pictures that are far too complex and well formed for such a young child. At first, these drawings are rather typical: rabbits, hot air balloons, trees. But then the illustrations take a dark turn, showcasing the details of a gruesome murder; the inclusion of the drawings, which start out as stick figures and grow increasingly more disturbing and sophisticated, brings the reader right into the story. With the help of an attractive young gardener and a psychic neighbor and using only the drawings as clues, Mallory must solve the mystery of the house's grizzly past before it's too late. Rekulak does a great job with character development: Mallory, who narrates in the first person, has an engaging voice; the Maxwells' slightly overbearing parenting style and passive-aggressive quips feel very familiar; and Teddy is so three-dimensional that he sometimes feels like a real child.
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81934-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
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