A fun, fast-paced read laced with a froth of space romance.
Four cadets from different worlds navigate their first year together at Quatra Fleet Academy, an elite space academy in the Quatra Federation, against the backdrop of interstellar war.
The Quatrans are entrenched in a 15-year-old battle with an enemy species, the Specters. For the first time, the Academy has decided to accept not only wealthy students from the planet Tri, but also poor Settlers from toxic Deva, frozen Chetire, and tropical Loos. The narrative fluidly interleaves the perspectives of four characters who are thrown together to form a squadron and who must compete to win a tournament. Vesper yearns to meet her admiral mother’s expectations but suffers from imposter syndrome. Cormak has faked his dead brother’s identity and may be caught and executed at any moment. Shy Arran has finally found a boy who makes him feel seen, but he’s the son of a powerful enemy. Orelia is really a Specter on a covert mission to discover the Academy’s secret location, but can she betray the first friends she’s ever known? The science is handled with a light touch, but the many space-combat scenarios are convincing enough to thrill ardent Trekkies. Several characters are described as having dark eyes, skin, and hair, but without any insight into cultures, languages, and beliefs, the differences between the haves and the have-nots seem no more than skin-deep.
A fun, fast-paced read laced with a froth of space romance. (Science fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-51044-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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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