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STREETLIGHT PEOPLE

A reflective, time-bending look at power and young love.

When 17-year-old Kady Dixon wins time-traveling candies at her tiny town’s Halloween festival, her whole world is upended.

Kady wanders away from her friends at Streetlight’s carnival and winds up at an old-school gaming booth, where the Timekeeper (“TK for short”) promises her his biggest prize if she wins. When she does so, he gives her magic candies that will allow her to relive episodes from her past—as long as she follows the rules. Kady uses the candies to re-experience some of the sweetest moments of her life with her boyfriend, Nik, and her best friends. She also goes back to change sour moments that threaten to upset the balance of her relationships. But things get complicated when her time travel starts to attract unwanted attention, and TK reveals to Kady that someone has broken the rules—and it’s now up to her to rectify the situation. The narration alternates between Kady and Aaron, who’s part of Nik’s friend group. Both teens are Black; a multiethnic cast of characters rounds out the book. Streetlight is divided socially into the wealthy Have-Lots and the Have-Nots. This hierarchy highlights the sharp socio-economic divide that drives much of the drama. The novel is filled with numerous surprises, and even though the lead-up to the main story is slow, once the twists start, they don’t stop, keeping readers engaged.

A reflective, time-bending look at power and young love. (Science fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024

ISBN: 9780593618868

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024

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POWERLESS

From the Powerless Trilogy series , Vol. 1

A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.

The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.

Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.

A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023

ISBN: 9798987380406

Page Count: 538

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023

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A STUDY IN DROWNING

From the Study in Drowning series , Vol. 1

A dark and gripping feminist tale.

A young woman faces her past to discover the truth about one of her nation’s heroes.

When Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at her university in Llyr, wins the competition to design Hiraeth Manor for the estate of the late Emrys Myrddin, national literary figure and her favorite author, it is the perfect opportunity to leave behind a recent trauma. She arrives to find the cliffside estate is literally crumbling into the ocean, and she quickly realizes things may not be as they seem. Preston, an arrogant literature student, is also working at the estate, gathering materials for the university’s archives and questioning everything Effy knows about Myrddin. When Preston offers to include her name on his thesis—which may allow her to pursue the dream of studying literature that was frustrated by the university’s refusal to admit women literature students—Effy agrees to help him. He’s on a quest for answers about the source of Myrddin’s most famous work, Angharad, a romance about a cruel Fairy King who marries a mortal woman. Meanwhile, Myrddin’s son has secrets of his own. Preston and Effy start to suspect that Myrddin’s fairy tales may hold more truth than they realize. The Welsh-inspired setting is impressively atmospheric, and while some of the mythology ends up feeling extraneous, the worldbuilding is immersive and thoughtfully addresses misogyny and its effects on how history is written. Main characters are cued white.

A dark and gripping feminist tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023

ISBN: 9780063211506

Page Count: 384

Publisher: HarperTeen

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

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