A madcap, vivid time-travel tale with a strong ensemble, both indebted and cheekily alluding to Doctor Who and Firefly.
A boy born beyond time and space finds he is running out of time to save the worlds.
Born aboard a time-traveling ship, 17-year-old Farway Gaius McCarthy dreams of being a Recorder like his missing mother, Empra McCarthy. Ejected from the Academy, Far goes rogue, working as an antiquities thief for a black-market baron. Acting as captain and Recorder of the Invictus, Far and his teenage crew—Historian Imogen, Far’s rainbow-haired cousin; Engineer Gram, a math genius; and Medic Priya, Far’s love interest—plus a mischievous red panda go on excellent adventures. But they alter their course after encountering the mysterious Eliot, a girl on a grim mission to stop the Fade from devouring the multiverse. They live in the future, but race is constructed as in the past: Farway, Imogen, and Eliot are white, Gram is black, and Priya is Indian. Action sequences are abundant, but the panicked, delirious prose and multiplicity of narrators make for a long read, counterintuitively. Graudin depicts the futuristic, high-tech world (2371 C.E.) and the fulsome and frenzied historical settings with equal richness, and her theory and mechanics of time traveling are remarkably coherent, if strongly reminiscent of Connie Willis’ works.
A madcap, vivid time-travel tale with a strong ensemble, both indebted and cheekily alluding to Doctor Who and Firefly. (Science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-50307-5
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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
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