An effortlessly grand fantasy that should ensnare young and older fans alike.
This YA novel sees a young god in danger of breaking his pantheon’s oath for the sake of a mortal.
In ancient Egypt, the falcon-faced Horus, God of the Sky, has come of age. At his coronation in the palace courtyard, he’s to receive an amulet of power from Amun Ra, God of the Sun, that bestows miraculous power. Horus chooses to don the face of a mortal. Ra sees the young deity with the wheat-colored hair of a Northerner and becomes enraged. He drops the garnet amulet, cracking it and vastly reducing its power. Horus vows to prove himself to Ra and goes among the worshiping mortals for the first time. The warrior goddess Bastet, a friend, suggests that he “learn about your people and gain their faith.” Yet Horus must abide the Oath of the Gods, which warns against altering a mortal’s fate, showing favor, causing death, or granting life. This proves challenging when Horus notices the enchanting Zahra, head priestess at the Temple of Ra. While she can’t see Horus, Zahra begins to feel his curious presence. Horus wonders why she’s so devoted to the cruel Ra, who ignores even her, the most devoted and bewitching mortal the young god’s yet encountered. In this sensual fantasy, Anastasia (Fates Awoken, 2018, etc.) skillfully balances an epic romance against a crafty magic system that demands Horus perform miracles to regain the power denied him by Ra. When Zahra thanks Horus for bringing shade to the Temple, “warm, yellow light emanated from beneath” his skin. She grows ever harder to resist: Horus finds that “her companionship provided me with a sense of wholeness and belonging.” Complicating matters is Set, God of Chaos, who’d love for Horus to break the oath and leave him a path to the throne. Readers should enjoy the constellation of twists that makes this a shimmering heroic romance with a message of hope through transformation.
An effortlessly grand fantasy that should ensnare young and older fans alike.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9974485-8-0
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Jackal Moon Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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