Nonstop action, horrific magic, and teen love.
After surviving the Call to the Grey Land and the attempted fairy invasion (The Call, 2016), Anto and Nessa hope to escape the limelight and live a quiet life together in the countryside, but the Irish government has other ideas.
Fourteen-year-old Anto is drafted into a military unit known only as the infestation squad, while Nessa is labeled a traitor to the nation and imprisoned. Cut off from the rest of the world, Ireland has been struggling with a crumbling infrastructure and limited provisions. But for the citizens, the worst is the certainty that at some point during adolescence, all will be called to try and survive for a day in the land of the Sídhe. But the brutal fairies have found a way to travel to Ireland and finally retake it for themselves. Nessa, disabled by polio but blessed by her fireproof skin, is forced to fight again. Anto must face his own demons as he struggles to master his Sídhe-given arm. The action is blood-soaked and brutal, but the angst-filled love story of teens torn apart by war is life-affirming. While the cast is all Irish, it is ethnically, spiritually, and sexually diverse. Students and faculty are South Asian and French. Soldiers are black and Asian. Characters profess to be Christians, atheists, and Celts. One character, Aoife, is openly gay.
Nonstop action, horrific magic, and teen love. (Fantasy/horror. 14-18)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-04562-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: David Fickling/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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