A richly detailed dark fantasy with an engaging lead player.
In order to save her own life, an 18-year-old must strike a bargain with a notoriously violent leader in Spann’s YA fantasy novel.
The land of Theatron is divided in half. People living north of the Cut live in complete truth: no fictional stories, no music, no lying, and certainly no theater. All are measures to help protect them from the Players in the southern region and their worshippers, called Revelers. The Players are immortal performers with fearsome, godlike powers whose narcissism often leads to gruesome violence. Northerners are advised to never look a Player in the eye and to pay them three compliments to appease their vanity and enable escape. The Northerners are also marked with Eleutheraen gold—the one material that can harm and kill a Player—to ensure immunity to the Players’ allure. Thanks to a 500-year treaty, the Players stay south of the Cut, but that treaty is reaching its expiration date. Ten years ago, Riven Hesper had a run-in with a rogue Player and escaped by stabbing her with an Eleutheraen gold knife; the Player’s blood infected the child with a curse that, in the present, still causes her body to deteriorate. Now, 18-year-old Riven doesn’t have much time left. The Playhouse announces it will have a casting call for a grueling competition which will end with a mortal taking the place of an immortal Player—or dying themselves. Riven, desperate for a cure, goes to the Playhouse where she’s forced to strike a deal with the enigmatic Lead Player Jude Stepharros, who’s determined to make Riven the winner. Spann’s debut novel is a dark and dizzying fantasy that will keep readers enthralled to the end. Protagonist narrator Riven is resilient, flawed, and engaging throughout, and the supporting characters are equally intriguing. Most noteworthy is the complex and well-developed worldbuilding and the storytelling style, which often combines prose with scriptlike dialogue. While this novel will appeal to many fantasy-genre fans, readers with a theater background will especially appreciate the inclusion of universal stagecraft rules, such as “do not touch other’s props” and “never anger the stage manager.”
A richly detailed dark fantasy with an engaging lead player.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781649379511
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic.
An 18-year-old’s encounter with the pale, mysterious, golden-eyed Starmaker transforms her from hamlet girl to magical apprentice.
Aurora Finch discovers she possesses the rare ability to channel sunlight—magic essential to the survival of snow-covered Reverie, her mountain village, “with peaks so high the Sun [cannot] rise above them.” Now she faces a harsh choice: Leave everything behind to train at the Starmaker’s enchanted castle or die as the untapped magic destroys her from within. Griffin excels at worldbuilding; the story is filled with elements and characters that feel both whimsical and real, from Tilly, a living snow angel who’s searching for herself, to Constance, an immortal rabbit. As the antagonism between Aurora and the cold, centuries-old Starmaker melts, their love story, which forms the heart of this tale, crackles with tension. Aurora emerges as a compelling hero—stubborn and brave—who refuses to be diminished by the overwhelming responsibilities thrust upon her. The romantic storyline proves both strong and emotionally involving as the author brings fresh twists to familiar elements, exploring the power of stories and how they shape our understanding of the world. White-presenting Aurora faces a devastating truth that creates urgency and heightens the emotional stakes that drive the story to its conclusion. This satisfying, sparkling fantasy will capture hearts with its well-developed setting and captivating love story.
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781728256184
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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