The plodding pace and surface-level characterizations make this a hard sell.
An orphaned boy has a chance to spend the school holidays with an unknown and sinister relative.
Seventeen-year-old Tom can’t bear the thought of spending the next eight weeks of summer holidays under surveillance at his boarding school, but his parents have been dead for five years, and his friends are too busy to host him. An unexpected letter from his Uncle Jack offers a reprieve: a chance to stay in the country. But Tom doesn’t even have an uncle, does he? Mundham Farm, Jack’s village home, proves to be deeply unsettling: Tom gets no cellphone reception, and all household work is done by two “domestics” who dress oddly and speak in archaic language. Is Jack magic? Worse, is Jack actually 500 years old? In this strange, remote house that appears to be under siege by arrow-shooting Good Folk, Jack’s creepy magic seems to come out of a grab bag of tropes, and the slow-moving, fragmented prose contributes to an overall feeling of disconnectedness. The servants’ inner lives are limited to recitations of backstory and expressions of fear or rage; when a tear-faced Tom insists that he loves them, it’s not clear what’s possibly passed between the characters to inspire such strong emotion. Most characters, human or otherwise, appear to be White.
The plodding pace and surface-level characterizations make this a hard sell. (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-915071-22-4
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Little Island
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning.
A young witch whose magic has been burned away undertakes healing journeys both physical and metaphorical in this graphic novel that was first serialized on Instagram.
Mingling riveting illustrations that incorporate fades, flashbacks, and other cinematic effects with a typographically venturesome narrative, Dhaliwal tells a tale of heroic exploits in which allegorical elements are never far beneath the surface. Burned at the stake but rescued by a pair of helpful (if often annoying) witches on a quest of their own, dark-skinned young “Singe” goes in search of her real name and the rest of her burned-away memories, as well as her lost magic, while her body slowly recovers. Along the way to a climax on the shores of Perish Lake, she meets other witches—notably Smoke Witch, a collective gathering of burnt but still aware ashes that rides the night wind—and engages in desperate struggles with three powerful, vividly portrayed demons: Disgust, Doubt, and Despair. The author’s imagination and graphic skills outpace her literary chops, but there’s plenty of entertaining friction and bonding in the colorfully wrought cast, and more than enough action in the plot to make it easy to overlook awkward phrasings and inappropriate word choices. Said plot does take some arbitrary turns, perhaps so that the ending can be left conveniently open. Still, it’s a grand adventure in a richly articulated setting, featuring a racially diverse cast and clever twists aplenty.
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781770466999
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
Witty and funny, with well-rounded characters who face complex inner moral issues.
In a world dominated by order, chaos threatens to upend tradition when unlikely competitors are chosen to fight for the throne.
Emperor Erasmus is dead, leaving the Great Dragon to decide the future of the Etrusian Empire. Traditionally, the oldest child from each of the five Houses and his or her dragon compete for the throne. However, this time outsiders are called to compete: Chara and her rider, Emilia, youngest daughter of House Aurun, who holds the magic of chaos; Tyche and her rider, Lucian, reformed warrior of House Sabel; Karina and her rider, Vespir, the lowborn, lesbian servant girl and dragon handler of House Pentri; Dog and his rider, Ajax, the wily illegitimate son of House Tiber; and Minerva and her rider, Julia, who are challenged by Hyperia, who believes the throne is her birthright, and her feral dragon, Aufidius. During the stages of the Emperor’s Trial—the Hunt, the Game, the Race, and the Truth—each competitor faces their own personal weaknesses. Multiple perspectives create depth in this complex fantasy world with flawed human characters who have murder, destruction, thievery, and cowardice in their backgrounds. Cluess’ dragons have unique personalities and voices of their own, becoming as central to the story as their human riders. Most characters are cued as white; blonde hair and blue eyes are valorized. Vespir’s lesbian identity is neatly and naturally woven into her character.
Witty and funny, with well-rounded characters who face complex inner moral issues. (map) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-64815-4
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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