A Sapphic fantasy romance series-opener brimming with blood and longing.
In Adams’ YA fantasy novel, a teenage queen and a princess on opposite sides of a war collide in a fatal quest for revenge.
Princess Kalei Maristela of the island nation Marama has the power that will win the war her parents are hiding from her. Kalei is known as the “Princess of Death”; during the full moon, she has the ability to bring the dead back to life. Additionally, she can use her long, moon-white hair as an extra limb, among other powers she discovers on her eventual journey. Queen Evhen Lockes of Vodaeard, the other point-of-view character, became queen when immediately before the start of the novel’s action, Chief Mikala, Kalei’s father, murdered her parents, Vodaeard’s sitting king and queen. Evhen and her brother, Alekey, sail to Marama for revenge, along with the king’s advisor, Talen, and Evhen’s trainer, Icana. When Evhen appears to exact her revenge on Mikala by murdering Kalei, the princess convinces her to instead kidnap her to use as collateral, allowing her to discover the truth behind her parents’ schemes. Evhen, Kalei, Talen, Icana, and Alekey travel across the continent, racing back to Vodaeard in hopes of stopping the war. Along the way, romance blossoms between the leads, despite the mistrust they share. The point of view alternates each chapter between Kalei and Evhen. Oddly, the alternating points of view continue until the final chapter, which is a flashback from Alekey’s point of view. Despite this abrupt transition, and some editorial issues, the narrative is fully engrossing. Throughout the novel, the sensual descriptors lend realism to the fantasy plot (“Moon dust sparkled in the marble beneath my bare feet. Gold veins ran in rivulets through the floor, streaming up the walls to the vaulted ceiling, spilling into the hundred-candle chandelier dangling from a glass dome”). The gore is heavy throughout, especially when Kalei raises the dead—Kalei’s resurrections are not healing, leaving the resurrected with the wounds that caused their deaths, adding a level of body horror to this fantasy.
A Sapphic fantasy romance series-opener brimming with blood and longing.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781958607091
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Emerge Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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