Will the band get back together, or will the world end? Who cares? (Science fiction. 14 & up)
Guys with weird names, girls with creepy tattoos and a splintered universe form the core of this novel that’s so meta it loses itself to its own cleverness.
Idea Deity (yes, that’s his real name) spends most of his life inventing the online world of Youforia, a rock-’n’-roll band that’s taken the Internet by storm, even though they don’t exist. He suffers from Deity Syndrome, a fear that he might exist only in the pages of a novel. Somewhere else lives Reacher Mirage, the lead singer of Youforia, a band that’s taken the Internet by storm, even though they’ve never recorded a song or an album. Neither knows the other exists. Both have girlfriends with strangely similar names and tattoos, and both are reading a hokey horror/fantasy novel called Fireskull’s Revenant with two warring characters who might hold a clue to their existence. Bizarre? Yes. Complex? Yes. Hard to follow? Absolutely. Jesschonek’s puzzling, if ambitious debut mashes too many characters, too many plots and too many oddities together, making it more of a hot mess than a cohesive narrative. Just when readers think they’ve wrapped their brains around what’s going on, he throws another curve ball. The back stories to Idea’s and Reacher’s lives aren’t revealed until the end, and by then readers might have already given up.
Will the band get back together, or will the world end? Who cares? (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: July 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-37027-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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