A lyrical, tender, and insightful exploration of death, love, and the Mexican American experience.
A young woman with a mythic duty struggles to let go in the wake of her girlfriend’s death.
Estrella “Noche” Villanueva is a Lechuza: She’s a 17-year-old girl by day and a legendary black owl at night, responsible for escorting the souls of the dead to their next destination. Her girlfriend has been dead for two months, but Noche can’t bring herself to say goodbye, and instead cherishes the stolen hours she spends with Dante’s spirit on the icy banks of Lake Superior. As the rest of her Duluth, Minnesota, community mourns Dante’s loss, Noche’s extraordinary double life puts distance between her and her best friend, Julien. Meanwhile, a handsome new lab partner, Jax, brings confusion and warmth in equal measure as Noche finds herself drawn to a new flame despite her lingering grief. Torres tells the story with finesse, granting Noche both fragile youth and sturdy wisdom as she learns to navigate death. Noche’s Mexican heritage and her sometimes isolating experiences as the granddaughter of immigrants are depicted with love and nuance. The story never underestimates the tenuousness of life and love but rather celebrates and honors these aspects of Noche’s path to self-discovery. Julien is Sioux, Dante is Latine, and Jax is cued as Asian.
A lyrical, tender, and insightful exploration of death, love, and the Mexican American experience. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780593426173
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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