An epic, futuristic tale continues with proficient, zestful writing.
A teenage psychic tries to stop an invention and prevent a massacre in the second installment of Dunn’s (Forget Tomorrow, 2015, etc.) YA sci-fi series.
Ten years ago, 6-year-old Jessa Stone was a captive of the Future Memory Agency, which aimed to create technology to see into the future and change it. The key to inventing that tech was her own psychic link to her older sister, Callie, who sacrificed herself to try to subvert a genocide that she witnessed in a vision. Jessa and other psychics subsequently went on the run for years, but a treaty with the Committee of Agencies eventually afforded them legal refuge in a wilderness community called Harmony. Now Dresden, the chairwoman of the defunct FuMA, wants to recruit Jessa to work at the Technology Research Agency. Jessa says no even though Dresden shows her a holo-vid recording of a vision from Dresden’s precognitive, never-seen daughter, Olivia, showing Jessa as the chairwoman’s assistant. But Jessa had a dream about FuMA’s old offices that makes her suspicious—apparently, the dream was a message from Olivia. Sure enough, it turns out that FuMA’s experiments with psychics are still continuing. Jessa believes that the answer to stopping future memory may lie in the past, so she teams up with TechRA scientist Tanner Callahan, who’s difficult to trust but easy to fall for, to find a way to travel through time. Dunn ramps up the tension by laying out plenty of hurdles for her protagonist; for example, Jessa’s time with Tanner leads her Harmony allies to abandon her as a traitor “cavorting with the enemy.” The author also deftly links this second installment with the first, providing breezy recaps, addressing questions, and including details on Jessa’s absentee father. The romance between Jessa and Tanner is winsome, although it unfortunately sidelines Jessa’s charming friend Ryder. The novel’s second half offers abundant surprises, including another, more understated, but equally appealing romance and a risky journey. Once again, Dunn masterfully sets the stage for another series entry.
An epic, futuristic tale continues with proficient, zestful writing.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63375-495-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very full mixed bag.
In the sequel to Furyborn (2018), Rielle and Eliana struggle across time with their powers and prophesied destinies.
Giving readers only brief recaps, this book throws them right into complicated storylines in this large, lovingly detailed fantasy world filled with multiple countries, two different time periods, and hostile angels. Newly ordained Rielle contends with villainous Corien’s interest in her, the weakening gate that holds the angels at bay, and distrust from those who don’t believe her to be the Sun Queen. A thousand years in the future, Eliana chafes under her unwanted destiny and finds her fear of losing herself to her powers (like the Blood Queen) warring with her need to save those close to her. The rigid alternation between time-separated storylines initially feels overstuffed, undermining tension, but once more characters get point-of-view chapters and parallels start paying off, the pace picks up. The multiethnic cast (human versus angelic is the only divide with weight) includes characters of many sexual orientations, and their romantic storylines include love triangles, casual dalliances, steady couples, and couples willing to invite in a third. While many of the physically intimate scenes are loving, some are rougher, including ones that cross lines of clear consent and introduce a level of violence that many young readers will not be ready for. The ending brings heartbreaking twists to prime readers for the trilogy’s conclusion.
A very full mixed bag. (map, list of elements) (Fantasy. 17-adult)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5665-4
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
An unflinching portrayal of the devastating effects of domestic violence.
After a horrific domestic violence incident, Zoey Ward and her family finally find their footing in Las Vegas only to have their lives overturned by a house fire.
Learning that her father has been recently released from prison, Zoey suspects he had something to do with the blaze. After their lives go up in flames, literally, Zoey along with her mom and her younger siblings, Kate and Cole, flee Las Vegas with the help of her older brother, Will, and his best friend, Tristan. They take refuge in California, where Tristan and his sister welcome them into a world where things seem hopeful and more stable than anything they have ever known. Yet the fear of being hunted down by her father consumes Zoey. The story is narrated from Zoey’s and Tristan’s first-person perspectives, and Gray (Run Away With Me, 2017, etc.) has masterfully captured the uncertainty and terror that come from domestic violence. Tristan and Zoey share a budding romance in which Zoey slowly but surely learns to love and be loved in a nondestructive, healthy way despite her fears and reservations. With everything she has been through, Zoey is the underdog readers will find themselves rooting for. Gray spares no detail in this intense tale. All characters are assumed to be white; Tristan is dyslexic, and there are several queer characters.
An unflinching portrayal of the devastating effects of domestic violence. (Fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4281-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
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