A tribute to lovable losers, unlikely adventures, uncomfortable truths, and the will to move forward.
A 16-year-old underdog wanders a highway through Hell on a not-quite-hero’s journey.
A few pages into this first-person worldbuilding fantasy, Sam Sullinger is mortified by a candid photo album of humiliating photos shared online. Worse still: This isn’t unusual, as Sam’s life is defined by bullying. At school, ringleader Kyle McGee has tormented him since sixth grade; at home, his own father regularly belittles him. Two people have kept Sam afloat amid the anguish. Uncle Bear, his mother’s gay, worldly, wheelchair-using brother, captivated him with legends chronicled in The Books of Hell. Then there’s Harper James: smart, tough, and pretty, his lifelong defender and crush, and, in two weeks, off to Paris for a yearlong exchange program. Worried he’ll lose Harper forever, Sam develops a plan to tell her how he feels. It backfires spectacularly. When Harper disappears into an all-too-real Hell, Sam realizes help isn’t coming and follows, hoping to petition Stolas, a slave-turned–liberating king, for aid. While Hell is indeed hell, it also subverts his expectations. Sam forms a romantically tinged alliance with teen badass Hollinshead; comes to see demons as people rather than deities; and, most importantly, realizes The Books of Hell sold him falsehoods, especially about Stolas. Can Sam locate Harper, defeat Stolas, and find a way home—or has he exchanged one hell for another? Excluding demons, characters are Canadian and coded as white.
A tribute to lovable losers, unlikely adventures, uncomfortable truths, and the will to move forward. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4597-4675-6
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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