Another grand, otherworldly adventure in a memorable fantasy series.
A skilled teen, wielding a blade of Asgardian silver, embarks on a mission to recover Thor’s hammer in Boden’s middle-grade fantasy sequel.
According to prophecy, Cinder Moss is connected to the end of the Nine Realms. After the events of the last novel, the 13-year-old, certain that said realms were out of danger, returned to her Midgardian life in Richmond. As such, she’s surprised when Trigga, one of the Valkyries, shows up to take her back to the Proving Grounds in Iceland to train for a new mission. Although Odin the Allfather sent her on her last quest, this latest one comes from Odin’s son, Thor. The Council of Twelve has effectively confiscated his hammer, which someone else used in a murder. Thor wants Cinder to retrieve his weapon so that he can protect Asgard from a probable attack. He also sends Cinder’s friends Tori, a powerful warrior called a Predator, and half-elf Brandon, who’s currently an Irish setter due to an unwanted magical transformation. Grud, a Viking, also joins the group, although Cinder doesn’t get along with him. Armed with her magically enhanced sword, Talon, the teenager leads the others into Jotunheim, the land of the giants. Along the way, she hopes to find a way to return Brandon to his half-elf body and help another beloved human who’s also in animal form. The new quest takes the quartet to the likes of Asgard, the United States, and Canada, and they encounter huge creatures, blisteringly cold weather, and a bevy of villains during their travels.
Boden’s sophomore series installment is just as breezy as its predecessor. Cinder endures and overcomes harrowing circumstances—bravely confronting vicious beasts and a minor god in league with a more formidable deity—but her first-person narration and dialogue are consistently relaxed, allowing for such things as Star Wars references. Cinder also offers vivid descriptions, such as this passage from a fight scene: “‘We need to cross the river!’ I shouted, cutting down the closest giant, then rolling to the side before his lifeless body could crush me as it fell.” The cast vibrantly blends new and returning characters, some from Norse mythology and at least one figure from American history. Fans of the series will appreciate that previous plot arcs don’t fizzle out; over the course of the novel, even figures who don’t (or barely) appear get updates, and a looming threat turns out to be closer to Cinder than she’s initially aware. An assortment of obstacles keeps the narrative moving at a steady clip, as when Grud challenges Cinder to a “monster dash,” which will get her banished from the Proving Grounds if she loses, or when Cinder must deal with another menace before she leaves Richmond. She and her companions also encounter numerous fantastical beings, including crocodile mutants, giant sky snakes, frost giants, and a shapeshifter. The author ties off a few subplots and leaves others dangling, which a subsequent volume will hopefully pick up.
Another grand, otherworldly adventure in a memorable fantasy series.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781638192336
Page Count: 492
Publisher: Milk & Cookies Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305677-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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