Her romance with Lend is developing, but she does find the regular high-school routine a little dull. Evie’s ability to see...
Having escaped from the International Paranormal Containment Agency in Paranormalcy (2010), Evie finds that her unusual powers, history and, in particular, a shape-shifter boyfriend make being a normal girl utterly impossible.
Her romance with Lend is developing, but she does find the regular high-school routine a little dull. Evie’s ability to see through the glamours of the beings that inhabit the spirit world inevitably shakes things up, though. When a mysterious new guy, Jack, shows up with the ability to navigate the faerie realm, Evie's off on another hair-raising adventure. Despite her distrust of IPCA, Evie knows that she can help in its battle against the faeries’ machinations—after all, she knows how dangerous the fae can be from personal experience—so she allows herself to be sucked back in. Readers can safely assume that Jack will be competing against Lend for Evie’s affections, but he proves to be a far more complex character under his blithe surface than they may initially think. Characters and plot will make more sense to readers who are familiar with the story than to newcomers, but it’s a goofy, amusing ride for anyone. As in the previous book, Evie’s voice is the best part of the story, as she balances her supernatural abilities against typical teen concerns and obsessions.Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-198586-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Intertwined spectral and real worlds deliver double the thrills.
Leaving his actual body behind in prison, Smoke can move through the world as a ghost in this fantastic yet real portrait of a survivor seeking answers.
John “Smoke” Conlan has survived a brutal beating from his father, a murder conviction, and prison life. His uncanny ability evidently triggered by the beating, Smoke exists inside and outside the fictional Greater Denver Youth Offender Rehabilitation Center (unrealistically represented as a maximum security prison). Smoke keeps his physical body protected on the inside thanks to the balance of favors earned outside his body. On one such errand, he discovers that a young waitress at a seedy dive can actually see him. Smoke’s vivid present-tense narration is filtered according to his concerns. He insists that he is innocent of killing his favorite teacher but guilty of killing a fellow student in self-defense, keeping readers teetering between a belief that the punishment is justified and cheering Smoke on to fight for freedom. The narrative’s romance is chaste, and it tempers the intensity brought to the story by the threats of guards, fellow inmates, and outside criminals. Though the complex plot is based on an impossible premise, readers will be flipping the pages, watching the diverse cast (Smoke is white) race toward the climax.
Intertwined spectral and real worlds deliver double the thrills. (Paranormal suspense. 11-16)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2597-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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