Like fairy gold: shiny but ephemeral.
A fluffy derivative fantasy tries to stuff 20 pounds of plot into a five-pound story sack.
Eloise Hart is a normal high-school girl, hanging out with her best friends Jo and Devin in a small town sweltering through an endless dry summer. That is, until a strange boy salutes her in the ice cream parlor, the birds start behaving oddly and Eloise discovers that she has become a pawn in the struggle between a villainous Fae king and his estranged queen, with potentially deadly consequences. Told in alternating chapters by the bullied-but-quietly-strong Eloise and the quirky madcap Jo, the story serves up two stereotypical teen heroines for the price of one, although they (and their sadly underdeveloped geeky friend Devin) share the same indistinguishable snark-riddled voice. There's also a double helping of Mysterious Hot Guys, in the Gallant Protector and Brooding Bad Boy flavors, both of whom fall madly in reciprocated love with the narrators before they've had a chance to exchange more than a few sentences or even names. The plot clips along briskly, rapidly tossing in assorted tidbits of fairy lore from shapeshifters to kelpies to Victorian pixies, mixing an admirable depiction of friendship and some arresting imagery with too many clunky metaphors and painfully cheesy dialogue. If it's all very shallow and predictable, it's also breezy and entertaining, with a diverting blend of chills, humor and spunk.
Like fairy gold: shiny but ephemeral. (Urban fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2189-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
