Only for hardcore fans of the authors.
The start of a new fantasy series about witchy twins from the mother-daughter Cast authors.
Hunter and Mercy Goode, twin sisters and descendants of Salem witch Sarah Goode, are turning 16 and being initiated into their full witch powers. Like all their ancestors, they are the guardians of the gates to different Underworlds—all located in Goodeville—including Egyptian, Norse, Hindu, and Japanese. Tragedy strikes when their mother dies while saving their lives when one of the gates briefly opens to unleash a monster during their dedication ceremony, the first in a string of mysterious murders, seemingly connected to the weakening of the gates, that spells global catastrophe if Hunter and Mercy can’t keep them closed. The book, which features graphic sex and violence, does well when showing the sisters’ relationships with one another and with their best friends, Jax and Emily, as well as when examining their internal struggles: Mercy’s dynamics with an abusive boyfriend and lesbian Hunter’s self-harming and trauma over childhood bullying. As a fantasy, however, it is less successful: The worldbuilding is weak, and the choice to situate the White Goode sisters as the sole, most powerful protectors of the entire mortal realm feels questionable in the context of the overall treatment of diversity. Emily is cued as Black while Jax seems to have a White mother and Iroquois father.
Only for hardcore fans of the authors. (Fantasy. 15-18)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76563-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Only marginally intriguing.
In a remote part of Utah, in a “temple of excellence,” the best of the best are recruited to nurture their talents.
Redemption Preparatory is a cross between the Vatican and a top-secret research facility: The school is rooted in Christian ideology (but very few students are Christian), Mass is compulsory, cameras capture everything, and “maintenance” workers carry Tasers. When talented poet Emma disappears, three students, distrusting of the school administration, launch their own investigation. Brilliant chemist Neesha believes Emma has run away to avoid taking the heat for the duo’s illegal drug enterprise. Her boyfriend, an athlete called Aiden, naturally wants to find her. Evan, a chess prodigy who relies on patterns and has difficulty processing social signals, believes he knows Emma better than anyone. While the school is an insidious character on its own and the big reveal is slightly psychologically disturbing, Evan’s positioning as a tragic hero with an uncertain fate—which is connected to his stalking of Emma (even before her disappearance)—is far more unsettling. The ’90s setting provides the backdrop for tongue-in-cheek technological references but doesn’t do anything for the plot. Student testimonials and voice-to-text transcripts punctuate the three-way third-person narration that alternates among Neesha, Evan, and Aiden. Emma, Aiden, and Evan are assumed to be white; Neesha is Indian. Students are from all over the world, including Asia and the Middle East.
Only marginally intriguing. (Mystery. 15-18)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-266203-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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