A thrilling science-fiction narrative with appeal for reluctant readers.
A family vacation in outer space on a luxury spaceship goes horribly wrong.
Zenna is on a two-week family vacation on the Star Chaser, but she’s stuck babysitting her annoying, space-obsessed 8-year-old brother, Kain, and she’s not into any of it. When a devastating solar flare collides with the ship, everyone is instructed to head for the escape pods, but Zenna’s parents aren’t with them—they’re at the onboard spa. Panicked but seizing control and taking responsibility, Zenna ushers Kain into a pod. They have a jerky landing on the planet Skoll, and as they head into the alien terrain, the siblings watch more pods streak “across the cotton candy sky.” Soon after, the Star Chaser crashes. They follow the smoke, hoping to find their parents, along the way befriending a giant blue, orange-eyed wolf, whom they name Spike. They also encounter a group of menacing prison-bound teens, whose leader, Jet, threatens Zenna and Kain. But Spike protects the siblings, scaring the juvenile delinquents away. Later, as Zenna, Kain, and Spike take refuge for the night, Arron, one of the prisoners, shows up. He’ll help them find the Star Chaser, but can they trust him? This accessible story captures the fast-paced momentum of a survival story with a vulnerable realism, with Zenna confronting challenge after challenge. Most characters read white.
A thrilling science-fiction narrative with appeal for reluctant readers. (Verse science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781978597112
Page Count: 200
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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
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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