This tale moves beyond the boom-bang, boring theology of so many fantasies—and, in the process, creates, almost griotlike, a...
Taj, the black teenage narrator of Onyebuchi’s debut, is an aki, or sin-eater—meaning that he literally consumes the exorcised transgressions of others, usually in the forms of inky-colored animal-shaped phantasms called inisisas that reappear as black tattoos on the akis’ “red skin, brown skin.”
This really isn’t his most remarkable trait, however, even as he ingests greater and greater sins of the Kaya, the brown-skinned royal family ruling the land of Kos. What makes Taj extraordinary is the tensions he holds: his blasé awareness of his exalted status as the best aki, even as the townspeople both shun yet exploit him and his chosen family of sin-eaters; his adolescent swagger coupled with the big-brotherly protectiveness he has for the crew of akis and, as the story proceeds, his increasing responsibility to train them; his natural skepticism of the theology that guides Kos even as he performs the very act that allows the theology—and Kos itself—to exist. He must navigate these in the midst of a political plot, a burgeoning star-crossed love, and forgiveness for the sins he does not commit. “Epic” is an overused term to describe how magnificent someone or something is. Author Onyebuchi’s novel creates his in the good old-fashioned way: the slow, loving construction of the mundane and the miraculous, building a world that is both completely new and instantly recognizable.
This tale moves beyond the boom-bang, boring theology of so many fantasies—and, in the process, creates, almost griotlike, a paean to an emerging black legend . (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-448-49390-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Hard-to-read story, hard-to-stop-reading writing.
A hardscrabble antihero’s coming out lands him in an off-the-grid conversion camp.
Connor Major of Ambrose, Illinois, has quite a mouth on him. But when it comes to the rite-of-passage revelation to his single, hardcore Christian mother that he’s gay, he can’t find his words. At the behest of his boyfriend, Ario, Connor begrudgingly comes out, which is where the book begins. His rocky relationship with his mother is disintegrating, his frustration with exuberantly out Ario grows, accusations of being the absentee father of his BFF’s baby boy haunt him, and he gets violently absconded to a Christian conversion camp in Costa Rica. And that’s all before the unraveling of a mystery, a murder, gunshots, physical violence, emotional abuse, heat, humidity, and hell on Earth happen in the span of a single day. This story points fingers at despicable zealots and applauds resilient queer kids. Connor’s physical and emotional inability to fully find comfort in being gay isn’t magically erased, acknowledging the difficulty of self-acceptance in the face of disapproving homophobes. Lord of the Flies–like survival skills, murder, and brutal violence (Tasers, spears, guns) fuel the story. And secret sex and romance underscore the lack of social liberty and self-acceptance but also support the optimistic hope of freedom. Connor is White, as is the majority of the cast; Ario is Muslim.
Hard-to-read story, hard-to-stop-reading writing. (Fiction 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63583-061-3
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Atmospheric but ultimately unfulfilling.
Reflections from a mirror world hold secrets long ago forgotten.
Ying Yue’s betrothal to the crown prince has not gone the way she had hoped. Instead of finding a man interested in getting to know her, she’s been locked away, seeing no one except her handmaiden. As her wedding draws nearer, Ying begins to see strange things in the mirror, until she’s suddenly pulled into a mirror world that’s much like her own but with its own dangers as well. There’s a Mirror Prince, too, and he’s different from the one she knows—more attentive and interested in her well-being. But not everyone from the mirror world is so friendly, and, like it or not, Ying discovers she’s at the center of an ancient prophecy that affects both this reflected world and her own. Unfortunately, Ying repeatedly falls for deceptions that come her way, all the while distracted by her feelings for two different princes, both of whom she barely knows. While the mirror world’s trappings are chilling and possess an alluring aesthetic, and the doubles are eerie, these elements unfortunately aren’t enough to elevate the novel, which gets bogged down in the plot contrivances that Ying encounters and ever-so-luckily survives. This quick read delivers a strong Chinese-based fantasy setting but leaves something to be desired in terms of character and plot development.
Atmospheric but ultimately unfulfilling. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593707500
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
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