A lighthearted and engaging romp for anyone who loves Spidey and Mary Jane's upside-down kiss in the rain.
For Graham Posner, a geeky, bespectacled white teenager from Long Island, the love he feels for Roxana Afsari, the Persian girl next door, is as epic as Peter Parker’s for Gwen Stacey—without the whole dying bit.
A self-respecting comic-book devotee cannot simply blurt out his amorous feelings; the moment has to be hero-worthy, and Graham knows that New York Comic-Con during a Q-and-A with their favorite comic creator is the perfect opportunity. How to make that epic moment happen is the subject of Tash’s witty third novel (The Mapmaker and the Ghost, 2012, etc.), and what follows is an unabashed love letter and delightful inside joke for comic enthusiasts who were fans long before Hollywood made geek culture chic. The author perfectly captures the earnestness and grandiose sentiment of a love-struck teenager whose life is fueled by and intertwined with geek culture, and the narrative’s diverse cast is a testament to comic books’ universal appeal. Teen issues such as violating curfew on a school night or missing out on coveted tickets to an event receive the same gravitas with which the X-Men save the world and race home in time for dinner. Best of all, the novel captures the joyous spirit of Comic-Con and fantasy’s ability to provide its devotees with a community through which to contextualize their joys and sorrows.
A lighthearted and engaging romp for anyone who loves Spidey and Mary Jane's upside-down kiss in the rain. (Fiction. 13 & up)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5653-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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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