A high-stakes fantasy heist novel that readers may find hard to put down.
In Linde’s paranormal thriller, a woman goes on a dangerous quest to retrieve a rare object.
Thirteen years ago, murderous monsters of all kinds appeared from the shadows to murder countless city dwellers, including in Kierse McKenna’s home of New York City. To survive, Kierse (“It’s like Pierce but with a K,” she says) joined her late mentor’s thieving guild and became a master thief. Three years ago, the Monster Treaty was put in place, finally ending the ongoing violence and allowing humans and monsters to live together. When Kierse’s benefactor sends her on a mission to steal a diamond ring, she unwittingly finds herself inside the home of a mysterious monster named Graves. Breaking into the house means that Kierse has also broken the Monster Treaty, but Graves, after seeing an unusual necklace around her neck, offers her a job. The warlock wants her to steal a rare object hidden under the city in a place called Third Floor, which is protected by an unbreakable security system and guarded by the vilest creatures. Kierse agrees, locking herself into a bargain with Graves and entering a world of chaos involving monster gangs, magic, and a rivalry spanning hundreds of years. Throughout Linde’s lively fantasy, Kierse struggles to keep her two best friends, Gen and Ethan, safe, and she also begins to uncover important secrets about herself. The author also effectively weaves a steamy romance into the fast-moving plot. Although the story is mostly told from Kierse’s perspective, it’s occasionally broken up by short chapters titled “Interlude,” which offer intriguing insights into other characters’ thoughts. The creative premise of a monster-filled New York makes for rich, detailed worldbuilding (“Another consequence of monsters in the public eye were the trolls who managed the subway entrances”), and little mysteries sprinkled throughout the novel give readers space to piece together the truth.
A high-stakes fantasy heist novel that readers may find hard to put down.Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781649374073
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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