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
A thrilling, climactic storm with an abrupt conclusion.
In this much-anticipated trilogy closer following 2019’s Children of Virtue and Vengeance, an enemy from a land across the sea carries out conquests to fulfill a prophecy that threatens the entire world.
The war between the maji and the crown of Orïsha ends when the Skulls, a tribe of masked, pale-skinned invaders, interrupt the pivotal battle, abducting Zélie, Tzain, Amari, Inan, and dozens of maji from their homeland. Caged on a ship and cut off from their magic, they have no choice but to set aside their bitterness and distrust to fight for their freedom. Ruthless and empowered by the volatile magic of bloodmetal weapons, the Skulls hunt for Zélie, “a girl with the blood of the sun,” at the command of their king, Baldyr, who prepares for his ascension to godhood during the Blood Moon. As much as she longs to return home, visions and an intertwined fate pull Zélie, along with her companions, to the land of New Gaīa in search of a girl with russet-brown skin and eyes that glitter like diamonds. United goals, fresh conflict, and impending doom provide invigorating gusts of momentum that push the story out of the doldrums of the previous book. On its own, this installment is a suspenseful and compelling expansion of the world, but as a series finale, the conflict seems disconnected from the first two books, and the resolution feels rushed.
A thrilling, climactic storm with an abrupt conclusion. (guide to clans) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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