A suspenseful adventure that will engage readers to the final page.
Bacilieri presents a coming-of-age YA fantasy series starter about the transformative power of love.
Sixteen-year-old Kiera Vandyer’s mother endured years of poverty and despotism to keep her daughter safe, but when the young woman takes a bold risk to improve her family’s position, she invites dangerous magic into their lives. In exchange for a diamond bracelet that she could use to buy a stable home, Kiera escorts six wealthy classmates to Etabon—a once-uninhabited land into which all the world’s magic was banished 150 years ago. Now, Etabon’s borders are open to those with enough wealth to access the decadent spectacle of an annual festival that includes violent tournaments. Notably, most attendees are magically transformed into animals when they enter Etabon’s gates, and Kiera discovers that her magical form is a rare, extraordinary lynx. So unique is the magic that courses through Keira that her arrival attracts the attention of Eugene Hallowfeld, a corrupt wizard known as the Ascendant One. He uses threats to force her to fight in the tournaments. When her courage and mercy become a rallying cry for revolution, Hallowfeld raises the stakes, employing deceit and dark magic to threaten all Kiera loves. Bacilieri’s novel is fast-paced and wildly imaginative, which results in a consistently compelling read. Kiera is a fresh, modern hero who grows into her new role as a shapeshifter. Coming to terms with her new physical strength, Kiera learns to balance defense with compassion, discovering great power in the process. She also begins to understand the fluidity of her own emotions as well as her emerging romantic love for Attalin, a mermaid trapped by Hallowfeld’s plans. Readers will find themselves swept along to a cliffhanger conclusion as Kiera heads toward a destiny that may save the dying planet.
A suspenseful adventure that will engage readers to the final page.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 979-8-9886618-2-5
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Crescent Ink Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Crowd-pleasing fun laced with political fire: a winner.
Bestselling author Faizal returns to the universe of We Hunt the Flame (2019) with a stand-alone duology opener.
Orphaned Arthie, brown-skinned with mauve hair, has created a criminal empire out of sheer pluck despite being Ceylani in Ettenia, where laws favor white people. She pulled legendary pistol Calibore from a stone plinth (though the prophecy that doing so would make her the nation’s leader turned out to be a hoax). She’s also built Spindrift, a teahouse-cum-bloodhouse, where she gathers secrets from wealthy humans and vampires, amassing power and security. Now Arthie has her sights set on vengeance—and the Ram, Ettenia’s masked monarch. When she and Jin, her brother-by-choice (who’s cued East Asian), are drawn into a heist, they assemble a diverse crew of immigrants whose roles riff on genre archetypes. The lush prose pulses with feeling as revelations are dropped and the tension ratchets up, keeping the pages turning as the motley gang plans to infiltrate a vampire society, retrieve a stolen ledger, and double-cross one of the Ram’s guards (who might be planning to double-cross them). Their ultimate goal: taking down the colonizing Ettenians and the exploitative East Jeevant Company. It’s all very exciting right up to the action-packed finale, which promises more conspiracy and (hopefully) justice to come. This compelling read offers interesting commentary on our society while feeling entirely real within the context of its own worldbuilding.
Crowd-pleasing fun laced with political fire: a winner. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780374389406
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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