Suspenseful, deeply drawn, and action-packed.
The second book in the Runestone Saga further explores the forces of greed and ambition.
Blond, blue-eyed Eiric, imprisoned in magical New Jotunheim for killing its council of elders, finds an ally in copper-skinned Reginn, who has “hair like spun gold and copper.” She’s now counselor to ambitious, powerful spinner Tyra, the mother of Liv, Eiric’s half sister. Tyra wants to wage war on Asgard, the land that Eiric comes from, and she convinces Liv (who as Heidin has been elevated to the status of a god) to build an army. With Reginn’s help, Eiric escapes and sails back to Asgard, both to warn Rikhard, the jarl, and to keep a bargain he made with him. In Asgard, he finds that he’s actually been gone for about a decade, although he only spent six months in New Jotunheim. While he was away, Rikhard has become king, and Asgard seems more prosperous under his rule. Meanwhile, as Reginn calls up an army of the dead to fight against Asgard, she’s forced to choose between Eiric and her queen. The chapters in this densely plotted story, which contains betrayal, violence, Norse mythology, and magical beings galore, as well as a healthy dose of romance, largely alternate between Eiric’s and Reginn’s points of view. As the plot lines unspool, nothing is as it appears, and readers will be kept guessing until the very end.
Suspenseful, deeply drawn, and action-packed. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9780063018730
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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