Uneven yet enjoyable.
Talia and Wen’s nomadic life with the Wanderers is all they’ve ever known.
Sixteen-year-old Tal and her younger brother travel in a caravan of RVs. Hustling and stealing are their means not only to make a living, but to avoid Tal’s looming marriage by paying off the bride price that the camp’s Boss accepted. In South Carolina, the two try to con a preppy “mark” who knows a thing or two about hustling himself. Tal and Spencer soon fall for each other. The unlikely romance at the core of the novel is charmingly realistic, but unfortunately, the context feels artificial. A healthy suspension of disbelief is needed to accept the Wanderers’ reliance on “the Spirit of the Falconer” to protect them by sending warnings through owls, some falling from the sky. The Wanderers, while not identified as ethnic Roma, are known to the people of the towns they pass through as gypsies, and their portrayal plays into the stereotype of gypsies as swindlers with no moral compass. Tal and Wen have no compunction about conning people to maintain their lifestyle. Despite her outrage at “living in a society that buys and sells girls,” Tal still craves “the freedom, the fearlessness, the invincibility” of Wanderer life. The strength of this debut novel is in the tantalizing development of character and setting as the story unfolds and Tal seeks her path in life.
Uneven yet enjoyable. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0400-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce.
Houck kicks off a new story arc in the world of the Tiger’s Curse series with new tigers who live in a northerly setting.
The death of their widowed royal mother touches off a crisis in the Kievian Empire; neither Stacia nor Verusha Stepanov, 17-year-old sword-wielding twin sisters, wants to be named tsarina. But questions of succession get put on hold when a battle with a sorcerer inexplicably turns the two into nonspeaking Siberian tigers. Hints of a cure send them, along with a growing entourage of men to provide assistance (and, perforce, do all the talking), on a long trek. Though most of the cast sticks to genre type, Houck throws in a wild card in the form of hunky, inarticulate Nikolai, who joins the quest because he is enthralled by Verusha—and who also killed his whole family in an act of revenge. Occasional anachronistic dialogue (e.g., “Are you ready, ladies?”) disrupts the tale’s generally earnest tone, as do the clumsy attempts at banter. A third tiger, snarky and blind but conveniently able to see through others’ eyes, trots in late in the story. The events in this setup volume unfold with many a flashback and change in point of view and head toward no sort of resolution—only the cave-dwelling White Shaman of the Tundra’s advice that further journeys are in the offing. The central cast in this Russian-inspired fantasy world presents white; the Indigenous population includes nomadic reindeer herders.
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce. (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9798212221696
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
A fantastical romp filled with intrigue and suspense.
Amid the approaching coronation of her cruel half brother, Jura, and agitation by pro-democracy rebels called the Dawnbreakers, Princess Teia Carthan of Erisia carves out her own fate.
Following her parents’ death, Teia learned to fight. In addition to being able to wield fire and water, she’s not above resorting to blackmail, bribery, and murder to ensure her survival. Through master thief Enna, she learns that Jura is after the Dawnbreakers’ symbolic figurehead: Kyra Medoh, a young woman said to be able to control fire, a skill believed to be passed down through the royal lineage. When Teia intercepts Kyra after the thief infiltrates the Golden Palace, the princess tells her she wants to join the Dawnbreakers. Teia plans to gain Kyra’s trust, discover the location of the Dawnbreakers’ base, and use this information as leverage with Jura to get out of the betrothal he’s arranged for her to an abusive murderer. As Teia works undercover, her camaraderie with and attraction to Dawnbreaker Tobias grows, and, moved by Kyra’s idealism, she starts to question her own motivations. Debut author Wang’s tightly written narrative deftly unravels surprising twists and intrigues. While several characters in this duology opener appear too eager to spill their deepest secrets, readers will forgive this weakness and anticipate the second volume. Teia’s mother came from the country of Shaylan; her skin tone is darker than most Erisians’. Kyra has coppery skin and black hair.
A fantastical romp filled with intrigue and suspense. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781959411772
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Violetear Books/Bindery
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
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