Equal parts funny and fatiguing.
Following Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles (2019), the further zany adventures of an anxiety-prone 15-year-old member of the Garda Special Unit of Tir Na Nog, i.e., Irish faerie fighter.
Despite his incompetence, anxiety, and absolute lack of courage, young Ronan Boyle is off again to the enchanted side of Ireland, to capture Lord Desmond Dooley, the man who framed Boyle’s parents for theft of an ancient mummy, the Bog Man, and to rescue his captain, who fell into Dooley’s nefarious hands. Accompanied by the formidable Log MacDougall, a human raised by leprechauns, and an Irish wolfhound named Rí, he braves a wild variety of horrors, including a unicorn spa town, where he appears in a musical revue, and the titular Swamp of Certain Death. As in the first volume, the tale is snort-out-loud funny on the sentence level, but the plot, such as there is one, approximates the inside of Ronan’s noggin: “a hamster on a Mobius strip, running frantic laps to nowhere.” It’s highly enjoyable to a point, and then the utter lack of cause and effect begins to wear readers down. One could skip any or all of 90% of the scenes in this book and never notice. As far as race goes, the unicorns come in all colors; Ronan is depicted as white on the cover.
Equal parts funny and fatiguing. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4113-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Combining Korean-American experience with ancient cultural traditions for a new twist on exorcism, this tale’s for beginning...
A neophyte Korean shaman, or “mudang,” takes center stage in this chilling thriller by Oh, of We Need Diverse Books.
The story starts when mixed-race 12-year-old Harper Raine, who is half white and half Korean, moves into a new home in Washington, D.C., that her new Jamaican friend, Dayo, tells her is haunted. Before the Raines left New York City, Harper survived both a fire and a traumatizing illness, but she has blocked all memories of these events. The creepiness ramps up in mind, gut, and heart as readers see Harper’s little brother making a new “friend” in their home. As she witnesses an evil spirit slowly overtaking her brother, Harper’s memories begin to resurface. While Harper selflessly tries to save her brother’s life from multiple evils, she juggles the psychological conflict of her mother’s broken relationship with Harper’s beloved Korean grandmother, who lives nearby. The tension of the life-ending danger stretches across sometimes confusingly paced chapters, as help arrives slowly. While the writing level skews young, the graphic content is gruesome. Readers will not want harm to come to the likable Raine family. The well-rounded and diverse cast provides interesting cultural touchstones of Korean and Jamaican heritage throughout the novel. Korean shamanism, specifically, is explored with respect and curiosity.
Combining Korean-American experience with ancient cultural traditions for a new twist on exorcism, this tale’s for beginning horror fans and readers looking for a decent scare. (Horror. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-243008-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
PROFILES
Inconsistent and messy.
A young Appalachian girl uses magic to try and save her home.
Sybaline Shaw’s family has known for years that their magical valley in the Appalachian foothills would be flooded when the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority dam was complete. Her father is off fighting in World War II, but Momma has already packed up their household. Sybaline alone of her family can’t accept this. Everyone in the Lark bloodline can use magic within the valley to shape the natural world, but they risk transforming themselves into plants or trees—a danger Sybaline and her cousins regularly ignore. After lying to their parents shortly before everyone moves away, Sybaline and her cousin Nettle—each claiming to be going to stay with the other—remain behind and create a bubble around Sybaline’s home, which soon turns into a dark, dank prison on the bottom of the newly formed lake. Now Sybaline and Nettle are becoming trees—how will they escape? Told from Sybaline’s point of view with matter-of-factness, the novel blends fantasy and reality with worldbuilding that leaves unanswered questions. Brief mentions of aluminum plants supporting the war effort, riots by White men over Black construction workers, and the Trail of Tears contrast with the Edenlike imagery of the lush, unspoiled valley and its sheltered occupants living off the land in yet another Appalachian story supporting the trope that technology is predominantly bad. Main characters are assumed to be White.
Inconsistent and messy. (Historical fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72820-964-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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