A disappointing ending.
The crew of the Royal Rose return for their third and final voyage across the seas.
Friends-turned-lovers Emme and Arn have been forcibly separated, and as the story opens, a newly healthy Emme believes Arn has willingly left her, while Arn is meanwhile desperately trying to find Emme. As Emme has embraced a life sailing the seas together with Emric, her brother, and Ontario, their mutual friend, and has plans to entrap her mother, the once-infamous pirate Arabella the Ruthless, Arn finds himself in the service of a merciless king, becoming the terror of the seas he never wanted to be. Life at sea really is not easy, and Emme’s and Arn’s ways back to each other are full of danger, death, and deception. While this closing chapter in the Royal Rose Chronicles trilogy still features in spades the adventure, back-stabbing, and twists that readers have come to expect, the story falls short of the promising earlier volumes in presenting a tale full of parallel stories that don’t quite merge into a cohesive whole and character arcs that sadly do not feel fully fleshed out. A late introduction of technology feels out of place in the otherwise whimsical, magical worldbuilding, and while this is the official end to the trilogy, some threads are left wide open for future swashbuckling exploits.
A disappointing ending. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9798886050622
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Enclave Escape
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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