For more discerning fans of the genre and those who enjoyed the previous title.
Enjoyable and as illogical as is dictated by paranormal-romance conventions, round two of The Elemental Series is set apart by its focus on the viewpoint of the guy.
Following Becca and Chris’ showdown with the Guide sent to kill the Merrick brothers in the first of the series, Storm (2012), Gabriel Merrick, one of the twins, here explores his connection to fire, which is reflected in his quickness to act and to anger. Quite athletic, Gabriel has opted to let his twin Nick cover for him in math, a strategy that works until a new and more demanding teacher shows up. Layne is a quiet girl who tries to go unnoticed, but by observing Gabriel’s academic struggles, she connects with him, even as her father wants her to avoid boys completely; her deaf younger brother, Simon, is almost her only ally. Gradually, both Layne and Gabriel share the spotlight in this third-person tale. Clearly, fire is the unifying theme, and blazes appear with horrifying regularity as events reveal Gabriel’s need to control his power. A lively romance blossoms, despite the usual absurd misunderstandings and defenses of the protagonists. The plot is fairly predictable, but the characters have slightly more depth and are more interesting than many in the genre, as it takes more than special powers to face their internal challenges.
For more discerning fans of the genre and those who enjoyed the previous title. (Paranormal romance. 11-15)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-7282-9
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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