Despite a sweet romance, misses an opportunity to fully develop its themes and characters.
A teen boy escapes to the dangerous and fantastic land of Lymeria.
A trip to New York City with his family should have been fun, but Jordan is sick of being responsible for his active younger twin brothers. When he wanders through an odd museum exhibit and into a mysterious wilderness, Jordan encounters Prince Astel being attacked by wolves. After saving him, Jordan is drawn into a fantastic adventure with monsters, knights, and royalty. Ruled by Queen Emereth, Lymeria is a land where magic is banned, but as strange and dangerous occurrences surface, Prince Astel and Jordan seek answers. Compelling themes of trust, secrets, friendship, and power are weakened by the rapid pacing that leads to shallow characterization. Likewise, the discussions of family ties and responsibility are intriguing but weakly developed. Despite Jordan’s reinventing himself in Lymeria, inverting typical genre tropes as he claims to be an orphan and is a brown-skinned foreign savior in a largely light-skinned fantasy world, the purpose of this interlude and its impact on Jordan as a person are ambiguous. Experienced readers will find the mystery predictable, with easily anticipated villains, and the awkwardly choreographed fight scenes weaken the drama and tension. The queer romance offers a sweet, slow burn that relies on blushes, introspective conversations, and adorable moments. The artwork is attractive and atmospheric, with clean, uncluttered lines. Jordan and his family are cued as Filipino.
Despite a sweet romance, misses an opportunity to fully develop its themes and characters. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-952303-25-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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