A laudable hero headlines this swiftly paced, spacetime-defying adventure.
A warrior leads her people into dimension-hopping battle with a merciless foe in this YA fantasy series entry.
It’s been a year and a halfsince 19-year-old Sakima Tamanend fended off a monstrosity in a parallel universe that contains a place called New York City. Now her own island planet of Mannahatta and her Lenape tribe are safe, but their peace is short-lived. Two spaceships suddenly arrive, and, when locals don’t immediately bow to the aliens’ authority, the invaders launch a full-on assault. Thanks to Sakima’s courage and Mannahatta’s impressive technology, the enemy retreats, but not before the Lenape lose countless people. Because Sakima is royalty, she becomes the tribe’s acting leader and strategizes a counterattack against the invaders, who are lying low in the parallel Manhattan. Unfortunately, the villains have evidently aligned themselves with Mhuwe, a colossal and seemingly indestructible mythological beast that the Lenape know all too well. As the tribe’s warriors jump through a portal to the parallel universe to engage the enemy, Sakima finds help from an unlikely source: a spaceship that crashed on Mannahatta centuries ago. More’s sophomore installment, after City at My Feet(2023), further develops its capable and resilient series protagonist. Sakima is a skilled warrior and a compassionate leader, and she’s believably flawed, as not every decision she makes has a favorable result. Her family members are just as layered, including younger teenage brother Nimàt, who identifies as a Two Spirit, and their plucky kid sister, Tangetta, who’s affectionately called Tangerine. While Sakima endures assorted obstacles, as well as personal tragedy, she’s also surrounded by sketchily developed male characters who brazenly vocalize their bigotry and sexism. This hardly affects the exhilarating plot, though, which smoothly mingles SF and fantasy elements, including the nerve-racking, cannibalistic Mhuwe from real-life Lenape folklore. The novel ends on a smashing cliffhanger, and readers can take solace in knowing that more sequels are in the works.
A laudable hero headlines this swiftly paced, spacetime-defying adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2023
ISBN: 9786978138730
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Mannahatta Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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