An entrancing, magical, and well-plotted slow-burn romance.
An innkeeper’s daughter swears allegiance to the brooding young man who saved her life.
Bria Angarsold, 17, has grown up at Three Corners Inn under Grimsvold’s twin moons. Her outgoing, talkative, and confident personality is a boon when serving travelers but doesn’t protect her when Surat Confederacy marauders attack, killing her family and hauling blond, light-skinned Bria away in a horse-drawn cart, along with the few other survivors. Titus, whose Corthan name and Dhakaran appearance (broad shoulders, amber eyes, and red-brown hair) signal his mixed heritage, kills their captors. Bria begs him to let her travel with him, becoming his shield maiden while trying to tease out his mission and history. Both fight their slow-burn attraction. The pair inhabit an intricately crafted world in which each person has a “single magical Gift,” or power, which they generally keep secret; using it extracts a toll, risking Gift-starvation. Readers may wish for a map to help them envision the world’s physical layout. In this fantasy-diverse world, the Suratians commonly have “deep brown skin and hair the color of charcoal,” while many Grimsvolders have light blond hair. First-person narrator Bria helps Titus learn to trust, and his worldliness feeds her desire to venture beyond Grimsvold. She gradually develops a broader understanding of cultures including her own. Gentler scenes, like a satisfying makeover for a grand ball, temper the violent confrontations, and the spice level holds at a simmer, not a boil.
An entrancing, magical, and well-plotted slow-burn romance. (Fantasy romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9780063244207
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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