This authentically geeky and feminist romance nails the con scene.
A teen copes with home-life troubles by cosplaying her favorite comic-book character.
Edan Kupferman’s father is being sequestered during an inquiry into shifty accounting at his workplace. Needing an escape from reality, she heads to the Angeles Comic Con for a panel with the cast from the upcoming film of her favorite comic, Team Tomorrow. (Between chapters, history and analysis of the fictional comic book are given, including parallels to Edan’s life.) At the con, she connects with her crush, Yuri, whose friends constantly quiz her to check her nerd-cred. In fact, Edan struggles throughout against geek sexism, objecting to the “fake geek girl” label and telling a male jerk that “cosplay is not content.” A costume contest to be an extra in the movie’s sequel prompts Edan to start a cosplay club at school. One member is Spanish-speaking Kirk Gomez, who is Han Solo–handsome and ethical enough for one of Yuri’s goon friends to accuse him of being a “social justice warrior.” Edan tries to ignore both Yuri’s complacency in the sexism she faces and her growing connection with Kirk in a frustrating love triangle. A final plot twist that coincides with the revelation of her father’s troubles is engrossing, but its resolution’s glossed over in favor of the inevitable romantic conclusion. Edan and Yuri seem to be white, though people of color populate the diverse secondary cast.
This authentically geeky and feminist romance nails the con scene. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-12549-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
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 well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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