Spellbinding; brings closure through solid worldbuilding featuring clever heroes and complex villains.
A satisfying sequel to 2023’s Garden of the Curse, tinged with political intrigue.
The Falcrests are one of the original Five Families—along with the Morandis, Starlings, Vales, and Delvignes—who control all the libraries and maintain control over the city of Caraza. In this duology closer, 17-year-old cursebreaker Marlow Briggs is reeling from the aftereffects of the fatal attack by Adrius Falcrest, her 18-year-old love interest, on his own father. Marlow manages to break the spell that forced Adrius to stab his father in the heart, but now she’s been falsely accused of Aurelius Falcrest’s murder. Meanwhile, she discovers that Cormorant, the head of the Vale family, cast the Compulsion spell on Adrius, forcing this patricide. Cormorant also has grand plans, supposedly for the greater good, to work from an ancient grimoire on creating a spell “that will give him ultimate power over reality itself.” Marlow, with help from her friend Swift and his lover, Silvan, conspires to stop him. This world of spellcasters, cursebreakers, and hexes provides plenty of interesting twists and turns. Marlow also solves mysteries that were introduced in the earlier volume. Action sequences and sensual (though not explicit) romantic scenes between Marlow and Adrius provide breaks from the slower-paced problem-solving explanations. Marlow is clever at finding solutions, and she’s an expert analyst of human nature who navigates the complexities of the wealthy oligarchy with confidence. Main characters read white.
Spellbinding; brings closure through solid worldbuilding featuring clever heroes and complex villains. (Fantasy mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9781250846686
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 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
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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