The language will carry word-loving readers past the story’s rough spots.
Moments of real beauty and mystery vie for readers’ attention with an overstuffed plot glazed in magic.
The island of Murano was (and is) the home of Venice’s glassworks in 1497. There, Renzo tries to learn his late father’s craft, practicing at night. During the day, he serves the padrone who took him in and worries about how he might support his mother and sister. The glassmakers of Venice are fierce and protective of their skills, even to the point of violence. One night, a silent, green-eyed girl, Letta, and her kestrel creep into the glassworks, and Renzo discovers she leads a group of ragged children, each with a bird companion. Renzo is deeply conflicted as he tries to both teach himself and protect the children. An assassination, a lost relative, intimations of witchcraft, an eye-gouging and high tide seeping into the doge’s dungeons are only some of the plot lines in a story whose seams and rough cuts seem rather visible. But there are some lovely moments, too. “You can watch the glass swell, grow bubble-thin and gossamer, and know that fear is making it lovely, fear is giving it shape. With glass, joy is the preferable medium. But fear is powerful, and it will do, when joy cannot be found.”
The language will carry word-loving readers past the story’s rough spots. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2990-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Brilliant.
Young heroes rise to the challenge of protecting their home, family, and world when a new villain threatens the Glimouria Archipelago and the Immortal in this third series entry.
“New trouble” comes to the sanctuary of Glimt when Irian Guinne is kidnapped and Teren, the young Immortal, is threatened. Christopher Forrester, former princess Anya, jaculus dragon Jacques, and ratatoska navigator Ratwin undertake a series of herculean tasks to fulfill the kidnappers’ demands and free Irian, all without Nighthand’s knowledge or help. Christopher seeks knowledge from Naravirala the sphinx to understand his new, deeper connection to creatures (“It is the people you love who anchor you”), while Anya leans into her warrior nature (“What if I was born to be brave?”). Meanwhile, bandits with ouroboros bracelets pillage and burn across the Archipelago at the command of Astor Morax, and a fearsome tiger spies through mirrors. The white-presenting leads’ quest to save Irian is central, but brief sections visit Irian, Nighthand, and beautiful, deadly Carla Venasque. The climactic Battle of Glimt features ferocity, cleverness, sacrifice, and bravery, and the ending is more Shakespearean comedy than tragedy—but the danger to Teren is not over, leaving eager readers to await the fourth installment. This is a perfectly paced, mythology-laced tale of action, adventure, and heart that reminds readers that “the only thing stronger than fear is love, unceasingly and exultantly given.” Final art not seen.
Brilliant. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593809945
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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