Though flawed, the story provides a thought-provoking metaphor for crucial conflicts of adolescence, as have its...
Does identity come from biology, upbringing or our own choices? The question becomes urgently concrete in the bleak final entry of this blockbuster dystopian trilogy.
After the explosive climax of Insurgent (2012), Tris, Tobias (or “Four”) and their friends manage to escape a city torn between the tyranny of the factionless and the uprising of the Allegiant, who want to restore virtue-based divisions. Once outside, they run into the Bureau, which secretly controls the city as a generations-long experiment in healing “genetic damage.” Revelations pile upon revolutions, revenge fights with reconciliation, until Tris and Tobias are each led to their ultimate choices—where courage, selflessness, peace, wisdom and truth converge into love. Tris and Tobias alternate narrating brief chapters in unfortunately indistinguishable voices. Their choppy, staccato prose, interspersed with occasional arresting images, is a style well suited to the opening and closing sections of dramatic action but only accentuates the dragging pace of the repetitive, overstuffed middle. While the “science” behind the Bureau’s machinations is impossible gobbledygook, the corrosive effects of bigotry ring painfully true. The tragic conclusion, although shocking, is thematically consistent; the bittersweet epilogue offers a poignant hope.
Though flawed, the story provides a thought-provoking metaphor for crucial conflicts of adolescence, as have its predecessors. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-202406-0
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2013
Impossible to put down.
Bangladeshi Irish teen Nishat is obsessed with winning her school’s business competition—which entails outperforming the girl she has a crush on.
Nishat is tired of hiding the fact that she is lesbian. But when she comes out to her parents, they respond with cold silence. Devastated, Nishat struggles to cope by focusing on winning the entrepreneurial challenge and by trying to ignore her romantic feelings for Flávia, a biracial (Black Brazilian/White Irish) girl Nishat hasn’t seen since primary school. Nishat enters with a proposal for a business offering mehndi, or henna tattoos, a traditional Bangladeshi art form Nishat learned from her grandmother. Nishat is thrilled about showcasing her beloved Bengali culture—until Flávia decides to do a henna business as well, a choice that Nishat feels smacks of cultural appropriation. Worse, now Nishat isn’t sure if Flávia’s overtures are signs of genuine romantic interest or a tactic to sabotage Nishat’s business. With her ultrasupportive sister by her side, Nishat fights to be her truest, most visible self. Debut author Jaigirdar seamlessly weaves issues of racism and homophobia into a fast-moving plot peopled with richly drawn characters. Each conflict is resolved authentically and naturally, moving the story along at the perfect speed. The scenes between Flávia and Nishat simmer, and their mesmerizing relationship unfolds with just the right amount of complexity. Most satisfyingly, each character gets the ending she deserves.
Impossible to put down. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62414-9689
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Will cast a spell on romance fans.
A stealth witch and a devout witch hunter are forced to marry.
In this French-flavored fantasy world, witches are hunted down by the Church’s Chasseurs and burned at the stake; they retaliate against this genocidal crusade through vicious terrorist attacks. Thief Louise le Blanc wants none of that—she’s left her witch life behind. But Lou ends up on Chasseur captain Reid Diggory’s radar when a heist goes bad; his attempt to catch her lands them in a situation so compromising that the archbishop suggests marriage to save face. Lou’s initial priority is self-protection—wanting to avoid both fallout from the heist and a dangerous figure from her past—and she’s fine with using Reid. The slow-burn, opposites-attract romance between crass, irreverent Lou and prim and proper Reid gets very hot and sexy once it ignites. Lou sees firsthand the damages some witches do to innocents, has her presumptions about individual Chasseurs challenged, and also sees up close the horrors Chasseurs perpetrate. Despite occasional pacing hiccups and an easily guessed twist, the secondary characters will charm readers, and the story picks up when Lou’s past dangerously catches up to her, revealing the true stakes. Though at heart a romance, rich second-tier characters round out the shades-of-gray, morality-and-empathy themes. Witches, Chasseurs, and some secondary characters come in all colors; the leads appear white. The ending screams sequel.
Will cast a spell on romance fans. (Fantasy. 15-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-287802-1
Page Count: 528
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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