A disturbingly compelling fever dream.
A lonely teen witch longs for true connection.
For the witches kept like zoo animals in the Museum, on display for the City tourists who can afford entry to the lavish weekly Parties, life feels hopeless. Monroe Athalia, the Museum’s Curator, owns three witch families—the Adamses, the Kims, and the Raos. The adults are Spectacles, performing rites for patrons. Meanwhile, their children’s magical powers are stripped away by the Machine to avoid any dangerous mishaps due to their unbalanced teenage natures. Other witches are taken to the Sanatorium, where they’re kept comatose—their magic harvested to make the drug World, which is popular in the City, a setting with a European feeling. Despite a ban on fraternizing, Vanity Adams spends her days seeking Ellis Kim and Clover Rao, the other young witches, commiserating over each failure with her vicious twin sister, Ro. When Vanity and Ellis finally do connect, Vanity’s reality spirals in terrifying ways. The story’s time skips and Vanity’s rambling narration make for a difficult reading experience that requires readers to suspend disbelief; however, Vanity’s sense of self and her dramatic depiction of love and toxic relationships are multifaceted and grounding. Similarly, the discussions of drugs, addiction, death, and generational cycles of violence add a grim reality to the fantastical plot. Monroe and Vanity are from the country of Miyeon, which reads fantasy–East Asian; biracial Vanity is half Clara (fantasy-white). Ellis and Clover are cued fantasy-Asian.
A disturbingly compelling fever dream. (content warning) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781368099196
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
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