Readers may forgive quibbles both major and minor for a story that touches on such complicated themes of identity, love,...
A sci-fi refreshing for both its nondystopian plot and fallible heroine.
In the complex Zodiac solar system there are 12 Houses: Each exists on planets within a constellation from the Western zodiac. Those born into a House share certain physical attributes and embody that House’s qualities. When a tragedy kills the Guardian of Cancer, 16-year-old Rhoma Grace becomes the next Guardian. Through her advanced star-reading abilities, Rho discovers that an ancient evil—the stuff of children’s tales—has returned. Scorned, the determined Rho journeys to warn the Houses she foresees are next to be imperiled. Accompanying her are two love interests: Mathias, the 22-year-old Cancrian she’s loved for the past five years, and Hysan, the charming, teenage Libran diplomat. This satisfying love triangle is resolved with frustrating convenience by the final pages, but Rho’s likable fallibility atones for this, at least in part. Though the narrative mentions “Risers”—people “born into the wrong house”—and Rho wants to be a citizen of the galaxy, the fact that the majority of people conform to the traits of their Houses pushes credulity.
Readers may forgive quibbles both major and minor for a story that touches on such complicated themes of identity, love, sex, class and politics . (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59514-740-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
