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IRON TONGUE OF MIDNIGHT

From the Forge & Fracture Saga series , Vol. 3

A mostly tidy ending to a bold, fast-paced, page-turning trilogy.

One week after fleeing London, Joan Sands is ready to return and lay her life on the line once more to defeat the murderous Fae queen, Titanea, in this sequel to 2024’s Saint-Seducing Gold.

Joan, her family, and all the other humans blessed by the Orisha barely escape the carnage Titanea unleashes on King James’ palace after she releases the Fae, who are hungry for human flesh and fully restored to power. Joan, who’s Black, tries to regroup in William Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon home, but she’s burdened by the knowledge that everyone’s safety hangs on her abilities as a child of Ogun. As a result, she feels compelled to take risks that lead to deaths and betrayals. She’s also being haunted by her ancestor who created the initial Pact that separated the Fae from humans and whose connection to their current conflict helps to drive the tension throughout most of the story. Williams does a wonderful job showing the possibilities of loving polyamorous and queer relationships. The assorted Fae creatures summoned to terrorize the mortals of London are fantastically gruesome in their quests for revenge, and Joan’s growing mastery of her gifts from Ogun and top-tier combat skills in fight scenes will engage readers. Still, while the saga’s main storylines are completed, some plot points and characters’ arcs are disappointingly dropped without full resolutions.

A mostly tidy ending to a bold, fast-paced, page-turning trilogy. (map, dramatis personae, historical notes, cultural note) (Fantasy. 13-18)

Pub Date: April 22, 2025

ISBN: 9781419758683

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025

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POWERLESS

From the Powerless Trilogy series , Vol. 1

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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A STUDY IN DROWNING

From the Study in Drowning series , Vol. 1

A dark and gripping feminist tale.

A young woman faces her past to discover the truth about one of her nation’s heroes.

When Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at her university in Llyr, wins the competition to design Hiraeth Manor for the estate of the late Emrys Myrddin, national literary figure and her favorite author, it is the perfect opportunity to leave behind a recent trauma. She arrives to find the cliffside estate is literally crumbling into the ocean, and she quickly realizes things may not be as they seem. Preston, an arrogant literature student, is also working at the estate, gathering materials for the university’s archives and questioning everything Effy knows about Myrddin. When Preston offers to include her name on his thesis—which may allow her to pursue the dream of studying literature that was frustrated by the university’s refusal to admit women literature students—Effy agrees to help him. He’s on a quest for answers about the source of Myrddin’s most famous work, Angharad, a romance about a cruel Fairy King who marries a mortal woman. Meanwhile, Myrddin’s son has secrets of his own. Preston and Effy start to suspect that Myrddin’s fairy tales may hold more truth than they realize. The Welsh-inspired setting is impressively atmospheric, and while some of the mythology ends up feeling extraneous, the worldbuilding is immersive and thoughtfully addresses misogyny and its effects on how history is written. Main characters are cued white.

A dark and gripping feminist tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023

ISBN: 9780063211506

Page Count: 384

Publisher: HarperTeen

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

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