A thrilling underwater adventure for fans of dystopian drama.
A teenage girl races to uncover a conspiracy in a submerged ark that harbors the remnants of humanity in Moshage’s YA thriller.
The ark, named November’s Dawn, is 1,000 meters long and walks along the floor of the ocean on “over two hundred legs”; the world above is “just raging waves and endless storms.” Josie Owens, born and raised on the ark, has been educated only by its ruling faction, the Order of Scientific Discovery. On her 16th birthday, Josie finds her life transformed by a “holomessage” from her late father, a respected engineer. He reveals a startling secret: The ark was always intended to rise again and return to the surface of the Earth, “but there are some who would never let this happen because it threatens their power.” In addition to the message, Josie is left with a necklace with a mysterious meaning she must uncover. The stakes escalate when Felix, her father’s loyal engineer friend, is fatally shot by a Commandant soon after sharing the message. Thrust into a quest, Josie seeks to unravel the secrets of the Order of Scientific Discovery. Her adventure, with a setting reminiscent of the class-divided, train-bound society in the film Snowpiercer, takes her through the various levels of the ark. She soon discovers a shadowy resistance group and is recruited to their cause. Broadening the scope, Moshage intercuts Josie’s adventure with the activities of the villain, the First Vicar of the Order, who’s determined to thwart Josie’s efforts. This narrative back-and-forth maintains suspense during some occasional lulls devoted to worldbuilding details, including an extended sequence set at a fictional “fetterball” sports match. Though the story beats may feel familiar to readers of the genre, the novel’s unusual setting, well-drawn central character, and carefully structured twists make it a worthwhile addition to the teen dystopian shelf.
A thrilling underwater adventure for fans of dystopian drama.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781951445645
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.
Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.
When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593809860
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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