Part mystery, part romance, part sci-fi, Banghart’s fast-paced exploration of loyalty, identity and commitment is...
In Banghart’s (Moon Child, 2013, etc.) YA sci-fi novel, love, devotion, ambition and political scheming abound in a not-quite-dystopian future.
Although vaguely reminiscent of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008) and Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993), this tale quickly takes off in its own imaginative direction. Following the Peace Accords, the Five Dominions’ leaders now rule a post-famine, war- and natural disaster–stricken world. Women are deemed essential to rebuilding the population and thus forbidden from pursuing all dangerous activities. Teenage girls, along with some remaining young men, receive permanent tattoos representing one of four careers, or “life placements”: Health, Commerce, Technology or Environment. Crackerjack wing-jet flyer Aris Haan has her life figured out: She’ll be selected for Environment and work on the family farm, and her boyfriend, Calix, will be Health, and they’ll be Promised to each other. But Calix is unexpectedly assigned to the distant war effort, and Aris gets a surprising opportunity to fly. Thanks to new technology, and a secret training program, Aris can fight in the war and possibly get close to Calix. After she’s re-tattooed with the military insignia and fully disguised as a man, she joins a hidden network of military women. Throughout the novel, the focus shifts smoothly between Aris and Ward Galena, a top official who mysteriously disappeared after she announced sanctions against the Dominion behind the raging military conflict. Both Galena and Aris live outside societal norms and have past romantic ties that test their current decisions—and their fates are more strongly linked than they first appear. In the barracks, gender lines are blurred, love is tested, and intriguing possibilities arise, even if they aren’t always deeply explored; for example, what if a man is attracted to a man who turns out to be a disguised woman? What if the woman you love deepens her voice and shaves her lovely locks? And what if the face you see in the mirror isn’t always your own?
Part mystery, part romance, part sci-fi, Banghart’s fast-paced exploration of loyalty, identity and commitment is entertaining and intriguing.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493613205
Page Count: 377
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Well-drawn characters and playful twists keep this thriller fully charged.
This YA SF novel features a teen who must halt a virus that will kill two-thirds of humanity.
In Silver Oak, Maryland, Alice Sherman is a high school junior enjoying lunch near her campus basketball court. With her is Archie, her brother, a senior and science prodigy who likes equations more than his fellow students. Alice has been Archie’s one true friend since their mother left six years ago. Alice is about to catch up with Lalana Bunyasarn, her best friend, when a sudden “streak of electricity zaps through” her head. The agony intensifies until a Voice enters Alice’s mind, asking her, “Do you want this pain to stop?” The Voice then instructs her to go up to Bandit Sakda, a classmate playing basketball, and say that she loves him. Bandit is a beautiful Thai boy who’s talented and arrogant. Strangely, the Voice calls her Malice and says not to fall for him because “it’ll only make what you have to do later harder.” Eventually, Alice learns that the Voice belongs to someone from 10 years in the future who needs help saving humanity. A virus will be created by a person Alice knows that will wipe out two-thirds of the world population. Following the Voice’s directions can save everyone—except the person Alice is ordered to kill. Dunn’s (Star-Crossed, 2018, etc.) latest YA adventure offers increasingly tantalizing twists that gleam in succession like nested matryoshka dolls. Alice will charm readers with her quirks, especially her devotion to Chris Hemsworth of Marvel’s Avengers films. Tension builds as characters in the large cast, including crushworthy Zeke Cain and the brilliant Cristela Ruiz, become potential targets for Alice’s mission. Details about Thai culture add a splendid dimension to the narrative; for example, Bandit is pronounced “bun-dit” and means “one who is wise.” While the notion of a high school killer may not sit well with some, the author doesn’t use the device lightly. Her book takes a strong anti-bullying stance, doing so through an entertaining narrative that doesn’t resort to preaching. The author’s heart and craftiness make a sequel welcome.
Well-drawn characters and playful twists keep this thriller fully charged.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64063-412-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Any moral that may be gleaned from the tangled narrative is buried in confusion. (Fantasy. YA)
A convoluted fantasy offering a series of morals about justice, mercy, human treatment of animals and human treatment of other humans.
A cluster of animals have been educated by a World War II veteran and his activist wife. The animals, a now-vegetarian mix of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, live in harmony on Cloudburst Mountain. Following their scriptures (the Bible, Animal Farm and judgments such as “Humans Are Evil”), they plan for the day when they will kill all the humans and rule the world. The tale follows the adventures of their coyote prophet Justice and human ally Cody as they travel the United States preparing other animals for “The Rebellion.” Though they meet mostly repellent, violent humans and mistreated animals, they also encounter enough well-meaning, victimized humans to make Cody question his alliance with the cause of human genocide. Meanwhile, the grandson of the original human missionaries to the animals threatens the entire endeavor as he plans to mine the mountain for uranium. Ultimately, the animals succeed in murdering the vast majority of the human race, giving them hope for a shining new day. This overly complex tale is dense with purple prose and far too many extraneous characters–for example, Gordon “Raindance” Fell, the Shadow Shaman of the Pokihallah tribe; and Forest Victor, who appears for the first time late in the story, saying of his never-mentioned-before dead wife, “if only her hatred of the evil deeds of the baby seal killers hadn’t drawn her and her cameras into a combative stance.”
Any moral that may be gleaned from the tangled narrative is buried in confusion. (Fantasy. YA)Pub Date: June 21, 2006
ISBN: 0-595-39274-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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