A poorly developed twist on magic school fantasy stories.
Two outcast teens join forces to fight an infamous witch who’s at the head of a violent rebellion.
Anabelle Gage has one year left to live unless she transfers her Pith to a new body. Working as a maid, she can’t afford the cost of replacing her decaying Edgar chassis; all her hopes ride on attending Paragon Runic Academy, Caimor’s ultra-exclusive magic school. But when her rejection letter arrives, desperation drives Ana into a reckless heist that goes horribly wrong and a criminal partnership with someone she never expected would help her: Nicholas Carriwitch, Paragon’s headmaster. Carriwitch sees Ana’s potential and wants her help hunting down Khaiovhe, the dark witch in charge of the international terrorist organization Commonplace. However, Ana won’t be working alone. Weston Brown, an Ousted noble and former Paragon student, lost everything when his mother exiled him—working for Carriwitch and killing Khaiovhe is Wes’ only chance to return to his old life. Although this debut shows glimmers of potential, with its characters’ urgent goals and its overarching sense of danger, the story suffers from messy worldbuilding and uneven pacing. Ana, who presents as the fantasy equivalent of white and East Asian, with her Caimorian father and Shenti mother, describes her Edgar chassis as ethnically vague. Wes is cued white. The exploration of gender identity in this world conflates sex and gender, presenting a stuck-in-the-wrong-body narrative.
A poorly developed twist on magic school fantasy stories. (content warnings, the four schools of magic, author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781250362971
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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