Between the expanded worldbuilding and well-paced suspense, Fine presents a sturdy-enough bridge to carry readers to Book 3....
At the end of Sanctum (2012), sweethearts Lela and Malachi found themselves returned to the world of the living to track down the evil, soul-destroying Mazikin that had escaped from the dark city of suicides Malachi had protected.
Back in suburban Rhode Island, Lela needs to navigate the end of her senior year even as she acts as Captain of a Guard unit that must work at night to track and banish the Mazikin. Joining her and Malachi are Jim, from the Blinding City of addicts and thieves, and Henry, from the Wasteland, that section of the Shadowlands reserved for murderers. Archangel Raphael provides intermittent help and healing but never as much as Lela would like. Per the now-standard formula of paranormal-romance middle volumes, Fine provides a nominal reason to separate Lela and Malachi—here, Malachi’s fear that his love for Lela will cause him to make bad decisions—and stretch out the sexual tension. This contrivance is made less irritating than it might be by the teens’ involvement in the student body of Lela’s high school and its shifting romantic relationships. Lela has to admit that the attention hunky, normal Ian pays her is pretty appealing. Alternating high school banality with the surreal danger of the Guards’ mission, Fine kicks it up a notch when Lela encounters the mother who abandoned her, now possessed by a Mazikin.
Between the expanded worldbuilding and well-paced suspense, Fine presents a sturdy-enough bridge to carry readers to Book 3. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4778-1729-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Skyscape
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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