A fantasy that’s brimming with clever ideas and a dense mythology.
A YA fantasy epic follows a teenager destined to challenge the religion and status quo of her world.
“I hate being a prophet,” 14-year-old Iliya Rusul tells her spiritual “guardian” when she feels frustrated that he won’t give her all the information she needs. Iliya lives in a remote village and struggles to care for her disturbed mother and her siblings; work and medicine are hard to come by. Since her 13th birthday, an otherworldly being—known only as her guardian—has followed Iliya, giving her guidance and breadcrumbs of information about her role as a prophet who will affect the world. When Iliya learns that she can perform miracles of healing and diagnosing illnesses, she strives to help her neighbors. But each miracle comes at a steep price: Time is taken away from Iliya’s life. Determined to help those in need without losing herself, Iliya sets off from the village to discover the wider world. She meets new friends like Reth and Alisha, who explain how society has been divided into epicenters run by powerful, corrupt corporations. These epicenters create isolated villages like the one Iliya was born in. With her friends’ help and her guardian’s wisdom, Iliya realizes that the biggest miracle of all would be to equalize the world and redistribute all wealth, but like anything else, the cost of such a dangerous and complex endeavor may be too great a price to pay. In the same vein as Philip Pullman’s classic His Dark Materials series, Tracy’s novel puts likable, plucky heroes into both exciting action sequences and complicated inner debates about philosophy and religion. The added layer of economics with evil, all-powerful corporations and transactional miracles feels fresh. It’s a smart twist that brings Iliya’s adventures into conversations with the contemporary world. But younger readers may find themselves just as frustrated as the book’s hero, as Tracy does struggle to properly explain and build up such a complicated universe. Iliya’s long story takes its time introducing readers to how guardians, gods, cities, social classes, and technologies work. The exposition is heavy-handed and arrives curiously late, making for a rough start to such a long journey. Still, answers eventually come, and patient readers will be richly rewarded.
A fantasy that’s brimming with clever ideas and a dense mythology.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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