A pleasurable read despite some inconsistencies.
An individual vendetta fuels a systemic challenge in a war-torn world.
In Huaxia, a Chinese-influenced futuristic society, humankind is in a constant war with the Hunduns. These giant buglike aliens fly and attack with frightening power. In response, humans have built Chrysalises, war machines that take the shape of mythical animals and are powered by the qi of two pilots, one bringing the female yin force and the other the male yang. The female concubine-pilot typically dies in the battle, having been entirely drained of her qi. This sacrificial attitude toward females results in the death of narrator Zetian’s older sister. Bent on revenge, Zetian, a frontier girl who chafes at the idea of rigid gender roles and imagines the freedom of “giving onlookers no easy way to bind me with a simple label,” voluntarily becomes a concubine-pilot. She proclaims herself the nightmare these careless, selfishly ambitious boy pilots deserve to face. When she is paired with Li Shimin, a pilot and murderer with powerful qi, she must be strategic to survive the war and take down the patriarchy. Things become complicated when her forbidden love interest, wealthy, protective Yizhi, gets involved. The action-packed plot, involving battles both physical and mental, is original and incorporates queer themes and Zetian’s unwavering, cathartic feminism. However, lapses in worldbuilding and characters’ relationships result in some events feeling random and forced. The epilogue promises a sequel.
A pleasurable read despite some inconsistencies. (content note) (Science fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6993-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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