A fast-paced romantic fantasy set in a thoughtfully built, diverse world.
After 15-year-old Gul watches Sky Warriors murder her parents, she vows to assassinate those responsible.
Her targets are King Lohar, the cruel ruler of Ambar, and Major Shayla, a ruthless commander of the Sky Warriors. Gul’s parents died protecting her: She is a magus—a human capable of wielding magic—born with a star-shaped birthmark on her arm. According to an ancient prophecy, a magus girl with a similar mark will someday kill the king. While Gul is convinced she isn’t the girl from the prophecy—she has been unable to perform magic since she was a baby—the world seems to believe otherwise. With the help of the mysterious Sisterhood of the Golden Lotus, Gul manages to get herself a job at the palace—and to fall in love with Cavas, a nonmagi with some dark secrets of his own. Weaving together Indian and Persian mythology, the story features a diverse cast of brown-skinned villains and heroes. The action is nail-biting, and the romantic scenes shimmer. At first, the intricately built world is so detailed that the story can be hard to follow; that being said, Gul’s and Cavas’ fascinating backstories and burgeoning relationship—all of which unfold in the final two-thirds of the book—make this initial effort worthwhile.
A fast-paced romantic fantasy set in a thoughtfully built, diverse world. (map, glossary, author’s note) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: June 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-31309-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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