Utterly bewitching.
Plagued by a family curse to only know doomed love, 18-year-old Cuban American twin sisters descend into a struggle involving magic, traditions, and murder.
Despite Mami’s efforts to eradicate magic from their lives, Lela and Delfi seek to develop their bruja gifts after they are haunted by strange visions of a woman’s death. Aided by Ethan (their best friend and Lela’s crush) and Andres (Delfi’s jilted ex and an aspiring sleuth), the girls uncover a sinister plot involving some powerful brujos who may have a connection to Mami’s family history. What did she run away from back in Cuba? In a separate storyline set in 1980, nearly 40 years before the twins’ adventure, 18-year-old Anita grapples with her predestined path among la Orden de las Palomas. Led by Mamá Orti, Anita’s mother, las Palomas is a malicious group of formidable magic practitioners who pledge their collective might to serve Castro and secure their place among the Cuban elite. Ordained to ascend as Mamá Orti’s successor, Anita gradually repudiates las Palomas and el Comandante’s sphere of brutality in pursuit of seemingly unattainable freedom alongside her brother and friends. Featuring nuanced depictions of Afro-Cuban religious practices, Montalban’s assured debut goes in heavy with an exploration of multigenerational trauma and its accompanying psychic pain. Richly rendered main characters and a knotty central mystery captivate. Even though secondary characters at times fall flat and some obvious plot twists distract, this is overall a strong page-turner.
Utterly bewitching. (author’s note) (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781638930129
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Zando Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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
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