A quirky and queer urban fantasy homage to The Devil Wears Prada.
A young man stumbles into the world of witches after accepting a position working for a famous socialite in Napoli’s novel.
Twenty-three-year-old Clark (“like Kent”) Crane works a dead-end job at a local coffee shop to pay the bills after dropping out of college. A former English major, Clark lives alone in a tiny apartment in Queens. He lacks direction in his life (especially in his career) until a family friend inexplicably sets him up for a job interview to work for Charisma Saintly (whose name is clearly a direct reference to the character of Miranda Priestly from the film The Devil Wears Prada). Unbeknownst to Clark, Charisma is globally famous—and, incidentally, a witch. What exactly Charisma is famous for is lost on Clark and remains obscure for most of the novel; however, her notoriety has established her as a renowned taste-maker for celebrities and the otherwise wealthy. Clark’s interview with Charisma’s “fourth assistant,” Monica, does not go well from the start—Clark bumbles through her questions, caught off guard when Monica mentions Charisma’s coven and refers to witches. Regardless, he is offered a position. Things become stranger as he starts the job, where he is essentially the only man. One exception to this rule is the bartender at Charisma’s bar: Joey, a handsome Italian American from Brooklyn who immediately charms Clark, kicking off a whirlwind romance. As the overworked, unpaid, and completely unappreciated Clark complains to friends, many of them ask him why he puts up with such terrible treatment, which leads to the novel’s main flaw: Clark’s unclear motivation. Any time the question comes up, Clark responds with some unconvincing line about it being “a new opportunity… that could ‘open many doors.’” This is never really resolved, though an entity who appears later in Clark’s dreams indicates more may be revealed in later installments of the series. Despite this lack of characterization, Clark is a charming protagonist who is easy to root for.
A quirky and queer urban fantasy homage to The Devil Wears Prada.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781039469273
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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