Accomplished prose deserving of a better plot.
Historical fiction with a side of gothic.
Having loved and lost grave-robbing Jack (who possibly survived being hanged thanks to serial killer Dr. Beecham’s tonic but has vanished), Hazel finds solace as the “lady doctor,” caring for Edinburgh’s poor while mourning Jack. Hazel pours her energy into writing a book of medical knowledge designed for ordinary people, not just educated male physicians. After being imprisoned for aiding a woman who aborted an unwanted pregnancy, Hazel is whisked to London to care for Princess Charlotte (as explained in the author’s note, Schwartz creates an alternate history here; the real Charlotte was married and had died in childbirth before her fictional counterpart appears). Once in London, the pacing picks up, but the plot largely maintains a slow burn until a flurry of late-game action. It’s easy to root for Hazel’s self-determination, but she is subsumed by her relationship with the Companions to the Death, a social club of great intellectuals who, as it happens, possess the same tincture and immortality as Beecham. A number of interesting concepts bubble to the surface in this duology closer but largely fizzle out before being fully developed—women’s intellectual rights, the price of immortality, the role of scientific knowledge in society, class tensions, and more. Hazel is White; side characters add some diversity in race and sexual orientation.
Accomplished prose deserving of a better plot. (Historical fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-86101-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Bound to be popular.
A suddenly trendy trope—conflict and romance between members of conquering and enslaved races—enlivened by fantasy elements loosely drawn from Arabic tradition (another trend!).
In an original, well-constructed fantasy world (barring some lazy naming), the Scholars have lived under Martial rule for 500 years, downtrodden and in many cases enslaved. Scholar Laia has spent a lifetime hiding her connection to the Resistance—her parents were its leaders—but when her grandparents are killed and her brother’s captured by Masks, the eerie, silver-faced elite soldiers of the Martial Empire, Laia must go undercover as a slave to the terrifying Commandant of Blackcliff Military Academy, where Martials are trained for battle. Meanwhile, Elias, the Commandant’s not-at-all-beloved son, wants to run away from Blackcliff, until he is named an Aspirant for the throne by the mysterious red-eyed Augurs. Predictably, action, intrigue, bloodshed and some pounding pulses follow; there’s betrayal and a potential love triangle or two as well. Sometimes-lackluster prose and a slight overreliance on certain kinds of sexual violence as a threat only slightly diminish the appeal created by familiar (but not predictable) characters and a truly engaging if not fully fleshed-out fantasy world.
Bound to be popular. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-803-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
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