A thought-provoking and entertaining time-travel tale with a useful, even hopeful, message about personal responsibility....
Published 30 years ago as a three-volume series, this effort is an updated version combined into a single novel.
Rising junior-high-schooler Rebecca witnesses the kidnapping of a classmate and while trying to help him, is transported by time machine to 2050, a dystopian, post–nuclear-apocalypse future in which the few survivors live underground. Damaged by radiation, they have resorted to kidnapping young teens from the past to provide for future reproduction. In a fast-paced series of often-suspenseful events, the pair return to their own time accompanied by teens Lewis and Catherine. In a second part, Rebecca follows time-travelers Mark and Jonathan to a different dystopian future, a commerce-driven police state in which the pair are freedom fighters. Eventually, Rebecca ends up in her own time living side by side with another version of herself as she and her friends try to change the present in order to alter the future. The action and imaginative ideas will keep readers engaged, although the sometimes preachy, albeit worthwhile, message occasionally intrudes. With numerous characters making brief appearances, Rebecca’s role serves to connect the various time periods, although the three parts of this effort still feel a lot like separate, related tales.
A thought-provoking and entertaining time-travel tale with a useful, even hopeful, message about personal responsibility. (Science fiction. 10-15)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55455-198-9
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A charming setting and appealing premise are let down by uneven execution.
For generations, the heirs of the Feast and Famine families have dueled for control over the land of Fauret and the coveted guardianship of the demon Centurion.
Twelve-year-old Rue Famine is expected to succeed where her mother failed, but insufficient training has left her fumbling to master the simplest charms. Her curiosity about the Feasts’ legendary sweets leads Rue to a chance sighting of Merriment Feast, the sparkling embodiment of her family’s decadent reign. Merri has been training with her guardian, Aunt Ambrosia, in hopes of continuing the Feasts’ dominance, but her interest in learning the Famines’ potion work proves a catalyst for the heirs’ parallel paths to cross. As hidden histories and family secrets come to light, it becomes clear that the long-divided houses must reunite. Debut author Finn’s series opener is dense, and the alternating third-person narration struggles due to Rue’s and Merri’s voices being insufficiently distinct. Social class disparities are a central theme in this magical world, which evokes Studio Ghibli films, complete with quaint shops, talking cats, and a collection of entertainingly cagey and mercurial demons. At first, the lore required for effective worldbuilding is limited, while later in the book, a reveal is repeated without sufficient backstory. While the leads are well developed, the late introduction of explanatory information about supporting characters could pose a challenge to young readers’ comprehension. Most characters present white.
A charming setting and appealing premise are let down by uneven execution. (recipe) (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781728298337
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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