A sensitive and nuanced exploration of foster care and mental health set against a dazzling backdrop of magic and history.
Pascoe’s YA novel follows a teenage witch’s journey through time.
Fourteen-year-old Rachel “Raya” Hollingsworth lives in foster care alongside 11-year-old Jake. Worried that she’s inherited her mother’s schizophrenia because of her tendency to hear and see things others don’t, Raya runs away. Her kindly social worker, Bryony Braxton—who just happens to be a witch (or “integrator”)—soon catches up to her in Raya’s hometown of Barking, England. Bryony reports that Jake also ran away from foster care and helps Raya to realize that the things she’s seeing and hearing, including her communications with Bryony’s cat, Oscar, are the result of her status as an integrator. Raya’s guilt over Jake’s disappearance accidentally transports her and Oscar (via magic) to Colchester, Essex, in 1645…right in the middle of the Essex witch trials. Bryony arrives to help, and together they attempt to contact Integrator Headquarters to find a way home as the “Witchfinder General,” Matthew Hopkins, closes in on them (“Raya protested but stopped when Hopkins grabbed her by the arm. When he touched her, she saw nothing but mud, smelled rotting things and tasted metal”). Raya’s bittersweet memories of her mother are absolutely heartbreaking and serve as an important touchstone for readers who may have experienced similar trauma. The author’s talent for balancing real-world issues with adrenaline-pumping exploits through time (including a perilous sojourn to 17th-century Istanbul) is impressive, as are her richly detailed descriptions of various people and places: “She heard every strand of conversation, smelled the cheese and yeasty bread of the court watchers, felt the change in temperature as they left the courtroom for the cooler hallway. The dappled light through the window was beautiful. The onlookers outside sounded like a murder of crows.”
A sensitive and nuanced exploration of foster care and mental health set against a dazzling backdrop of magic and history.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2017
ISBN: 9780993574733
Page Count: 380
Publisher: Trindles and Green
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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