Skillfully weaves together political intrigue, complex sibling relationships, and magic.
Four royal siblings reunite, seeking the Ivory Key, a legendary object that could unlock an incredible source of magic and rescue their country from impending war.
For centuries, Ashoka has relied on magic to fuel its economy and protect its borders. But the magic is running out, and Vira, the newly crowned maharani, is desperate. A suspect in the murder of Lord Harish, Vira’s betrothed, shows signs of ties to the Kamala Society, a secret organization that sealed all the magic quarries when Ashokan provinces fought to control the mining trade. To unlock them and save Ashoka, Vira must retrieve the Ivory Key, but she requires the help of her three estranged siblings, who each have their own reasons for obtaining it. Vira’s twin, Ronak, wants to sell it so he can start a new life. Her half brother, Kaleb, who is accused of murdering his stepmother, the previous maharani, longs to clear his name. Her sister, Riya, who has not revealed her true identity as the rajkumaari to the Ravens, a rebel group she has joined, wishes to prove her loyalty to them. Raman’s immersive, enchanting world is rich in Indian cultural influences. Alternating points of view allow every protagonist to shine, and the epilogue told from a fifth perspective offers a tease for the duology’s next installment.
Skillfully weaves together political intrigue, complex sibling relationships, and magic. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-46833-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Mouths have never run so dry at the idea of thirst.
When a calamitous drought overtakes southern California, a group of teens must struggle to keep their lives and their humanity in this father-son collaboration.
When the Tap-Out hits and the state’s entire water supply runs dry, 16-year-old Alyssa Morrow and her little brother, Garrett, ration their Gatorade and try to be optimistic. That is, until their parents disappear, leaving them completely alone. Their neighbor Kelton McCracken was born into a survivalist family, but what use is that when it’s his family he has to survive? Kelton is determined to help Alyssa and Garrett, but with desperation comes danger, and he must lead them and two volatile new acquaintances on a perilous trek to safety and water. Occasionally interrupted by “snapshots” of perspectives outside the main plot, the narrative’s intensity steadily rises as self-interest turns deadly and friends turn on each other. No one does doom like Neal Shusterman (Thunderhead, 2018, etc.)—the breathtakingly jagged brink of apocalypse is only overshadowed by the sense that his dystopias lie just below the surface of readers’ fragile reality, a few thoughtless actions away. He and his debut novelist son have crafted a world of dark thirst and fiery desperation, which, despite the tendrils of hope that thread through the conclusion, feels alarmingly near to our future. There is an absence of racial markers, leaving characters’ identities open.
Mouths have never run so dry at the idea of thirst. (Thriller. 13-17)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8196-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Bound to be popular.
A suddenly trendy trope—conflict and romance between members of conquering and enslaved races—enlivened by fantasy elements loosely drawn from Arabic tradition (another trend!).
In an original, well-constructed fantasy world (barring some lazy naming), the Scholars have lived under Martial rule for 500 years, downtrodden and in many cases enslaved. Scholar Laia has spent a lifetime hiding her connection to the Resistance—her parents were its leaders—but when her grandparents are killed and her brother’s captured by Masks, the eerie, silver-faced elite soldiers of the Martial Empire, Laia must go undercover as a slave to the terrifying Commandant of Blackcliff Military Academy, where Martials are trained for battle. Meanwhile, Elias, the Commandant’s not-at-all-beloved son, wants to run away from Blackcliff, until he is named an Aspirant for the throne by the mysterious red-eyed Augurs. Predictably, action, intrigue, bloodshed and some pounding pulses follow; there’s betrayal and a potential love triangle or two as well. Sometimes-lackluster prose and a slight overreliance on certain kinds of sexual violence as a threat only slightly diminish the appeal created by familiar (but not predictable) characters and a truly engaging if not fully fleshed-out fantasy world.
Bound to be popular. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-803-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
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