Sympathetic yet flawed characters set against a complex society on the edge of change bring this novel to vibrant life.
Two young women fight for their freedom in the midst of political upheaval, threats of war, and suspicions about the magic they wield.
In the kingdom of Ramsawa, based on a fantastical Egypt, Nehal Darweesh is forced to agree to a marriage to help her family settle her father’s gambling debts. Nehal, however, will not go quietly and manages to convince her new husband, Niccolo Baldinotti, to allow her to enroll in the Alamaxa Academy of the Weaving Arts to study waterweaving. Nico is equally uninterested in the marriage, as he intended to marry Giorgina Shukry until his father learned she was of a lower status. Giorgina, meanwhile, unbeknownst to her family, has joined the Daughters of Izdihar, a group of women from all levels of society fighting for their rights—to a vote, to education, to a life not subservient to men. Soon, Nehal too becomes interested in the Daughters of Izdihar and is drawn to their charismatic leader, Malak Mamdouh. Power, however, is not so easily given up, and the Daughters of Izdihar face both scorn and violence. Meanwhile, factions within the government and outside of Ramsawa’s borders continue to view the magical ability to control an element, taught at the Alamaxa Academy, with suspicion and fear. As tensions threaten to boil over, Nehal and Giorgina must both come to an understanding of themselves, their places within society, and their powers both tangible and intangible before they can finally and decisively fight for their own freedom. Reminiscent of Tamora Pierce’s fantasies, but all grown up, with a focus on women, magic, and political schemes, this novel is cleareyed regarding social issues, timely, and above all, an engrossing fantasy.
Sympathetic yet flawed characters set against a complex society on the edge of change bring this novel to vibrant life.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-311474-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.
Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020).
In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life. It turns out that being a wife—even a wealthy one—is just another cage, but then a mysterious widow offers Maria a surprising escape route. In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend. She’s despondent at the idea of marrying a man, but another mysterious widow—who has a secret connection to Maria’s widow from centuries earlier—appears and teaches Charlotte that she can be free to love whomever she chooses, if she’s brave enough. In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood. Horrified at her transformation, she searches Boston for her hookup, who was the last person she remembers seeing before she woke up as a vampire. Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect. Maria, Charlotte, and Alice are queer women searching for love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence. Alice’s flashbacks to Catty are particularly moving, and subtly play off themes of grief and loneliness laid out in the historical timelines.
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320520
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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