A satisfying conclusion to a sword-and-sorcery series with a feminist fairy-tale twist.
Finally 14, Rory Landon gets to complete her own tale, taking on the Snow Queen and all her evil allies with the help of her classmates at the Ever After School.
In this fairy-tale world, first introduced in Of Giants and Ice (2012), rising ninth-grader Rory stands out at Ever After School: her tale is unwritten. She only knows the beginning, the part that says that in the month she turns 14 she will meet winter, death, and despair and hold the fate of magic in her hands. There’s plenty of all that in this action-packed fantasy. The special relationship Rory thought she had with half-Fey classmate Chase seems to have evaporated; he spends all his time with Adelaide and misses important fights. The Snow Queen is amassing allies; she invades the formerly safe area of the school and threatens the world of humans. Rory teaches her special brand of fighting and goes out on one mission after another, skirmishes that lead up to the climactic battle. Bach balances 21st-century adolescent angst with self-aware fairy-tale tropes for a fizzy if formulaic read. Readers new to this fairy-tale world may find it hard to catch up, but those who’ve followed this sword-wielder through three previous volumes will be as pleased to read the end of her tale as Rory is.
A satisfying conclusion to a sword-and-sorcery series with a feminist fairy-tale twist. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9787-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.
Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.
The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Fare to satisfy readers captivated by disaster, particularly outdoor enthusiasts, but less satisfying to aspiring feminists.
When a hurricane strikes the Alabama coastal swamps, it takes real expertise to survive.
Cort, 13, wants his father to pay attention to their bill-paying river-guide work on the Tensaw River delta instead of trying to win back Cort’s mother, who walked out six months ago. The intimidating geography and frightening nature of the swamp are established at the beginning of the book, when Cort and his dad take two hunters up the bayou to kill a gator. A momentary lull in the action follows on their return, and longtime residents of the Gulf Coast will find familiar the calm preparations that are made as Hurricane Igor approaches. Things begin to go wrong when Cort is left alone with the neighbor girls; Liza is Cort’s age, but Francie is 6. Spiraling disaster (including a cottonmouth bite suffered by Liza) leaves Cort feeling completely responsible for the safety and well-being of the three. While Cort relies on what he has learned from his father, it’s clear that it’s not enough. The unusual gathering of desperate animals escaping from high water is critical to the book’s suspense, as are the girls’ helplessness and fear. Though their situation emphasizes Cort’s determination to save them and throws his heroism into relief, it is unfortunate that the story can’t find a way for them to contribute.
Fare to satisfy readers captivated by disaster, particularly outdoor enthusiasts, but less satisfying to aspiring feminists. (Adventure. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-37430-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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