A fresh, suspenseful take on the robot apocalypse.
War brews between humans and their automaton overlords.
In a nigh-unrecognizable world, humans are kept as servants on large estates controlled by Automa, impossibly advanced creations who have recently seized power. The history of how artificial intelligence took over develops in interstitial chapters told by various historians while tensions rise in the present. Humans have various skin tones, including swarthy and brown, but racial categories don’t seem to matter in a world where the main axis of power is human versus Made. Crier is the daughter of Sovereign Hesod, who loves appropriating human culture while brutally oppressing the people under his rule. She is also betrothed to Kinok, an Automa with more separatist beliefs toward humans as well as a plan to make him and his kin invulnerable. Meanwhile Ayla, a human girl who lost her family to Automa violence, takes a job as Crier’s handmaiden in an attempt to take them down from the inside. Dizzying political machinations intertwine with a burgeoning romance between mistress and servant, especially since Crier suspects that she was built with a capacity for love that her kind shouldn’t have. The plot zooms ahead despite being a setup for the sequel, with nail-biting sexual tension between Crier and Ayla—queerness is unremarkable in this world but cross-species relations are unthinkable.
A fresh, suspenseful take on the robot apocalypse. (map, timeline) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282394-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling, beautifully written page-turner.
A young woman pursues a dangerous quest in late-1800s Egypt in this sequel to What the River Knows (2023).
After Inez Olivera was nearly murdered while assisting with her uncle’s archaeological expedition in Egypt, Tío Ricardo is eager to ship her home to safety in Argentina. But Inez burns with the need to stay and make sure that those who committed crimes against her family are held responsible. Unfortunately, the law precludes Inez, as a young unmarried woman, from accessing her inheritance (needed to fund her quest for justice) without her guardian uncle’s permission. Whitford Hayes, a former British soldier and her tío’s aide-de-camp, proposes marriage, which could solve her problems. But can Inez trust the secretive Whit? More danger and intrigue lurk at every turn in this exciting duology closer, which fully addresses the first entry’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The well-paced plot encompasses many fresh, new adventures and betrayals in this reimagined historical setting in which ancient magic abounds and not everyone or everything is what it seems. Even more captivating, however, is the complicated, nuanced love story between Whit and Inez. Their chemistry sizzles, but their relationship is achingly layered with both profound loyalty and deep deception. As their journey unearths new enemies and priceless archaeological finds, the duo must try to trust each other enough to survive.
A thrilling, beautifully written page-turner. (cast of characters, map, timeline) (Historical fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781250822994
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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
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