A huge, colorful cast gives this superb fantasy kickoff a hearty boost.
It’s up to four Earthly siblings to vanquish a ruler tyrannizing otherworldly islands in Akers’ YA debut and series launch.
The Ollivaros family, late for a flight, sprints through an Atlanta airport. As teenager Nachton, younger sisters Amélie and Cécilie, and baby brother Ewan run through Gate 3, they enter the mysterious interdimensional portal right next to it. The kids land in Overtwixt, a group of nilands (floating islands) connected by bridges—an entire realm that sits between parallel worlds. “The Guide,” a centaur-like “centman,” greets the kids and insists that, as humans, they have the ability to oppose this world’s only other human, the Vizier, who’s seized power in Overtwixt. The siblings choose their “paths” from options that the Guide gives them, each with a corresponding role to play and quest to complete. Amélie, for example, as the Empress, “must build trust and loyalty” among the various races in Overtwixt, from the gnomen to the merpeople. The Vizier, meanwhile, is destroying bridges to trap people in this world, including the bridge to the Ollivaros children’s home. This opening series installment teems with impressive worldbuilding: Akers introduces the nilands and supporting characters without saturating the narrative in details. It helps that nearly all of the Overtwixt beings are recognizable fantasy types, including the horselike eqmen, female unicorns, and dragonlike drachmen. The kids have striking personalities; energetic 5-year-old Ewan has a distinctive speech impediment (calling someone named Berserker “Bazooka”), and foolhardy Nachton incessantly complains about being a not-so-active “Loremaster.” While action scenes occasionally crop up, this story primarily consists of Nachton and the others plotting to confront the cloaked-in-black Vizier, who makes relatively few appearances. Still, the exciting final act concludes with a worthy cliffhanger. Lewis’ sketchy illustrations boldly define myriad individuals; most of the images are akin to profile pics.
A huge, colorful cast gives this superb fantasy kickoff a hearty boost.Pub Date: Dec. 25, 2024
ISBN: 9798991822305
Page Count: 344
Publisher: The Orbital Defense Corps
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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