Family bonds create the magic in this stirring fantasy.
This debut YA novel sees two black identical twins discover their magical lineage.
In Cincinnati, Ohio, twins Arden and Aurora are about to turn 18 years old. Their mother is Selene Bryant, a famous Jamaican opera singer who has retired to finally settle down with her daughters. When Selene is called to London for an emergency fill-in performance, Aurora is incensed. The teen decides to throw a “legendary” party, to which the bookish Arden is not invited. During the party, a handsome 21-year-old named Devin is drawn to Arden’s closed bedroom door. She soon begins to read his thoughts, realizing that “his want for me travels from his body into my own like waves in an ocean.” Soon the twins’ godfather, Leo, breaks up the party. He informs them that Selene has disappeared overseas. What the girls don’t know is that their grandmother Ghani has been empowered with immortality and a vision for justice by the Fates. Her husband, Ezekiel, hates the notion of powerful women as well as the institutional racism plaguing black men. He plans to steal the celestial power from his wife and their gifted children, then use it to help black men dominate society. Arden and Aurora sneak off to London, unaware that they’re embroiled in their family’s generational war. Williams’ fantasy with a diverse cast introduces a few intense topics, like racism and female oppression, but doesn't explore them at length. The story’s emotional weight comes mostly from the chapters narrated by Aurora, who believes she is the inferior twin unworthy of her talented mother’s love and that Selene has betrayed her daughters. In one bleakly revealing line, the girl says that men are “basically just mirrors who pay for the tickets to where I want to go.” Engaging characters—like the twins’ cousins Lilo and Liberty and the space-folding Aunt Kiara—help the protagonists, perhaps too well. Great swaths of plot open with each new meeting, and the powerful twins (along with readers) are told far more than they’re shown. Nevertheless, continuous revelations keep the optimistic tale humming, and the cast is in fine shape for a sequel.
Family bonds create the magic in this stirring fantasy.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68463-032-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Well-drawn characters and playful twists keep this thriller fully charged.
This YA SF novel features a teen who must halt a virus that will kill two-thirds of humanity.
In Silver Oak, Maryland, Alice Sherman is a high school junior enjoying lunch near her campus basketball court. With her is Archie, her brother, a senior and science prodigy who likes equations more than his fellow students. Alice has been Archie’s one true friend since their mother left six years ago. Alice is about to catch up with Lalana Bunyasarn, her best friend, when a sudden “streak of electricity zaps through” her head. The agony intensifies until a Voice enters Alice’s mind, asking her, “Do you want this pain to stop?” The Voice then instructs her to go up to Bandit Sakda, a classmate playing basketball, and say that she loves him. Bandit is a beautiful Thai boy who’s talented and arrogant. Strangely, the Voice calls her Malice and says not to fall for him because “it’ll only make what you have to do later harder.” Eventually, Alice learns that the Voice belongs to someone from 10 years in the future who needs help saving humanity. A virus will be created by a person Alice knows that will wipe out two-thirds of the world population. Following the Voice’s directions can save everyone—except the person Alice is ordered to kill. Dunn’s (Star-Crossed, 2018, etc.) latest YA adventure offers increasingly tantalizing twists that gleam in succession like nested matryoshka dolls. Alice will charm readers with her quirks, especially her devotion to Chris Hemsworth of Marvel’s Avengers films. Tension builds as characters in the large cast, including crushworthy Zeke Cain and the brilliant Cristela Ruiz, become potential targets for Alice’s mission. Details about Thai culture add a splendid dimension to the narrative; for example, Bandit is pronounced “bun-dit” and means “one who is wise.” While the notion of a high school killer may not sit well with some, the author doesn’t use the device lightly. Her book takes a strong anti-bullying stance, doing so through an entertaining narrative that doesn’t resort to preaching. The author’s heart and craftiness make a sequel welcome.
Well-drawn characters and playful twists keep this thriller fully charged.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64063-412-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Any moral that may be gleaned from the tangled narrative is buried in confusion. (Fantasy. YA)
A convoluted fantasy offering a series of morals about justice, mercy, human treatment of animals and human treatment of other humans.
A cluster of animals have been educated by a World War II veteran and his activist wife. The animals, a now-vegetarian mix of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, live in harmony on Cloudburst Mountain. Following their scriptures (the Bible, Animal Farm and judgments such as “Humans Are Evil”), they plan for the day when they will kill all the humans and rule the world. The tale follows the adventures of their coyote prophet Justice and human ally Cody as they travel the United States preparing other animals for “The Rebellion.” Though they meet mostly repellent, violent humans and mistreated animals, they also encounter enough well-meaning, victimized humans to make Cody question his alliance with the cause of human genocide. Meanwhile, the grandson of the original human missionaries to the animals threatens the entire endeavor as he plans to mine the mountain for uranium. Ultimately, the animals succeed in murdering the vast majority of the human race, giving them hope for a shining new day. This overly complex tale is dense with purple prose and far too many extraneous characters–for example, Gordon “Raindance” Fell, the Shadow Shaman of the Pokihallah tribe; and Forest Victor, who appears for the first time late in the story, saying of his never-mentioned-before dead wife, “if only her hatred of the evil deeds of the baby seal killers hadn’t drawn her and her cameras into a combative stance.”
Any moral that may be gleaned from the tangled narrative is buried in confusion. (Fantasy. YA)Pub Date: June 21, 2006
ISBN: 0-595-39274-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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