A flat and compressed duology closer.
In this sequel to Winter, White and Wicked (2020), Sylvi’s band of rebels returns to fight for their future—using Winter as a weapon.
After Sylvi discovers the truth about who she is and the power she holds over Winter, she, her brother, Mars, and her revolutionary friends are on the run from the Majority. As they cross the Kol Sea on their way to meet the king of Paradyia, hoping he will lend his army for their fight against their oppressors in Layce, Sylvi comes up with a different option, one that could avoid an all-out bloody war. It’s a daring and dangerous plan that sends them home, back to where everything started. In the meantime, the curse-bond between Kyn and Sylvi starts to take a toll on their budding romance, and Sylvi’s long-lasting, turbulent relationship with Winter comes to a standstill. This volume sees Sylvi embracing her role as the chosen one and the de facto leader of a revolution—but not without some thoughtful rumination about her feelings for Winter, easily the highlight of an otherwise superficial story that doesn’t flesh out the Majority as a villain and relies on a deus ex machina infodump for its denouement. The fast-paced, plot-driven narrative leads to a rushed, simplistic resolution to a story hundreds of years in the making. The main characters read White; racial diversity exists in the world.
A flat and compressed duology closer. (map) (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5770-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce.
Houck kicks off a new story arc in the world of the Tiger’s Curse series with new tigers who live in a northerly setting.
The death of their widowed royal mother touches off a crisis in the Kievian Empire; neither Stacia nor Verusha Stepanov, 17-year-old sword-wielding twin sisters, wants to be named tsarina. But questions of succession get put on hold when a battle with a sorcerer inexplicably turns the two into nonspeaking Siberian tigers. Hints of a cure send them, along with a growing entourage of men to provide assistance (and, perforce, do all the talking), on a long trek. Though most of the cast sticks to genre type, Houck throws in a wild card in the form of hunky, inarticulate Nikolai, who joins the quest because he is enthralled by Verusha—and who also killed his whole family in an act of revenge. Occasional anachronistic dialogue (e.g., “Are you ready, ladies?”) disrupts the tale’s generally earnest tone, as do the clumsy attempts at banter. A third tiger, snarky and blind but conveniently able to see through others’ eyes, trots in late in the story. The events in this setup volume unfold with many a flashback and change in point of view and head toward no sort of resolution—only the cave-dwelling White Shaman of the Tundra’s advice that further journeys are in the offing. The central cast in this Russian-inspired fantasy world presents white; the Indigenous population includes nomadic reindeer herders.
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce. (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9798212221696
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
A sequel that delivers on the worldbuilding set up by its predecessor.
The royal families of Hálendi and Turia come together once more to fight against the threat of ancient mages who seek to control the entire Plateau in this sequel to Shielded (2020).
A royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Riiga proves to be a trap designed to lure the kings of both Hálendi and Turia, but the newly crowned King Ren of Hálendi manages to evade it. Meanwhile, Princess Chiara of Turia, herself possessing no magic, formulates a plan to find her kidnapped father and prove herself useful to her family. Ren volunteers to go after her and agrees to help her with her quest. In the process, they discover that what the mages are really after are the keys to the mythical Black Library, which contains long-hidden powerful artifacts and records of ancient mages’ knowledge—and that they will use any means at their disposal to find these keys and the location of the library itself. This sequel introduces welcome new characters as well as bringing Jenna, Enzo, and Mari back into the fold, and the villains become more developed characters. While slow to start, the adventure shifts back into gear in the second half with plenty of action sequences amid the chaste, blooming romance that develops between Ren and Chiara. Characters’ skin tones range from pale to olive.
A sequel that delivers on the worldbuilding set up by its predecessor. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11857-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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