Doesn't stand out.
A standard supernatural-boy–meets-girl romance.
Samara doesn't understand why women constantly throw themselves at her coworker, Caleb Baker, who is decent-looking but not traffic-stopping apart from his "intense violet eyes." It's her ability to resist his charms that draws Caleb to Samara. But Caleb's a dangerous heart-breaker—literally: Women have a tendency to have heart attacks around him. When Caleb kills a would-be date-rapist in front of Samara to protect her friend, he's forced to reveal his nature to her. He's a Cambion, meaning he shares his body with an extra soul, that of a seductive incubus that draws the women to him to fulfill its life-sucking nutritional needs. A slow romance and work on taming Caleb's inner-beast occupy the snoozing bulk of the book, with action and tension slipping back into the story only in the last third, when Caleb's supernatural ties finally threaten Samara's family. Apart from pacing problems, the voice is inconsistent, often reading like an adult trying to mimic a teenager. This leads to condescending ponderings on such clichés as the wrongness of kids dying before parents and the attraction bad boys hold for girls. The narration aims for clever but too often lands in cutesy, but the characters can be likable when the prose is successful, and the relationship charms through the leads' discomfort and inexperience with romance.
Doesn't stand out. (Paranormal romance. 12-17)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-6924-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dafina/Kensington
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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