A futuristic novel with insufficient worldbuilding.
A man who lives in a future peaceful world ruled by a religious government finds himself questioning his circumstances in Sims's second book of a planned trilogy.
Paul Watanabe lives in a post-Armageddon world that has been without war for hundreds of years. A Jerusalem-based, Big Brother-esque government headed by Christ-figure Lord Emmanuel rules the planet. People live to be hundreds of years old, famine is unknown and there are rules for everything, from how to get married to how to choose a career. Everything’s fine as long as one follows the rules, but Watanabe is vaguely unhappy. Middle portions of trilogies often wind up as placeholders, setting up events for the final installment while not providing much in the way of significance, and this is the fate here. The novel, which is essentially one of conversations, sees little action. Characters have long discussions with each other, but unfortunately these heart-to-hearts don’t generally advance the plot. Chapters begin and end with insignificant actions, providing little incentive to read further. While the future world is unusual—none of that typical scene of humans fighting machines on a blasted landscape here—there’s not enough description of it. Occasionally, the author opens the curtain to reveal a bit of the realm, and the book comes to life, such as when an archeological find prompts the characters to discuss the rationale behind a store being called Best Buy. But then the curtains shut again, and yet more conversations ensue, ending any momentum gained. Author Sims nimbly moves around his large cast of characters, but the reader never gets to understand the motivation for any except Watanabe.
A futuristic novel with insufficient worldbuilding.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478314646
Page Count: 344
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming and incisive debut.
Four young nuns wind up running a halfway house full of quirky characters in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Four Catholic sisters live with the elderly Sister Roberta in upstate New York. All on the edge of turning 30, the young women are at loose ends: Their day care is shuttered, and Sister Roberta is retiring. However, the four women refuse to be parted: “We were fixed to one another, like parts of some strange, asymmetrical body: Frances was the mouth; Mary Lucille, the heart; Therese, the legs. And I, Agatha, the eyes.” Eventually, the Buffalo diocese decides to transfer them to Rhode Island, where they are put in charge of running Little Neon, a “Mountain Dew”–colored house for residents trying to get sober and get back on their feet. When the local Catholic high school needs someone to teach geometry, the sisters volunteer Agatha, who is labelled as the quietest but the smartest of the quartet. As Agatha immerses herself in her new life, she finds the residents of Little Neon, from parolee Baby to Tim Gary, whose disfigured jaw prevents him from finding love, open her eyes to new realities, as do her colleagues and students at the high school. Eventually, Agatha can no longer ignore that the church, and most of all she herself, is changing. Luchette’s novel, her first, is structured in small chapters that feel like vignettes from a slightly wacky indie film. The book is frequently vibrant with resonant images: Agatha learning to roller skate in Little Neon’s driveway or a resident drunk in a sequined dress riding a lawnmower through the snow. But even though the book feels light, Luchette does not turn away from the responsibility of examining the darkness undergirding the institution of the Catholic Church.
A charming and incisive debut.Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-26526-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A moving, magical holiday romance.
Exes are reunited during a chaotic, miraculous Hanukkah season in Manhattan.
Evelyn Schwartz is at the top of her game at work, and all her effort and long, thankless hours have led to a project that will let her truly make a name for herself: executive producing a live televised musical of A Christmas Carol, which will have her working all through Hanukkah. When an injury lands her in the studio’s medical bay, she’s shocked—and infuriated—to see her ex-husband filling in for the usual on-set doctor. David Adler hasn’t seen his wife since he left her two years ago, moved out of the city, and started an animal rescue farm. Despite their unresolved history, they agree to be professional and get through this production. When Evelyn encounters the ghost of a former co-worker, she thinks she must be hallucinating even though that’s never been a symptom of her chronic migraines before. Throughout the eight days of Hanukkah as Evelyn counts down to her show, solving one problem after another, more spectral and outlandish visitors appear to show her eight heartbreaks of Hanukkah past. As Evelyn relives the things that brought her and David together and then tore them apart, her love for him is reignited. It’ll take a Hanukkah miracle, though, for them to work through their past heartache. Meltzer blends the deep, somber emotions of heartbreak and loss with moments of pure hilarity and adds a dash of holiday-season magic to create an affecting, heartfelt story. Tough topics are deftly handled with tenderness, care, and compassion, while the characters are allowed to be realistically messy and complex. Evelyn’s growth as she faces her grief feels more substantial than the romance, although the two meaningfully weave together and the couple’s happy ending is well earned.
A moving, magical holiday romance.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780778334422
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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