An entertaining romance for readers with a taste for comedy and horror.
A formidable female monster meets her match in Brody’s romantic comedy, the first in a new series.
Darla Drake, feared across her family’s territory of Clear Creek as the Duchess of Death, is having an existential crisis: Hunting awful humans with her scourge is no longer giving her any fulfillment, and, in a completely out-of-character moment, Darla finds herself letting a victim go with his life. Utterly confused, Darla retreats to her cave, where she lives with her mother and occasionally seeks the company of her best friend, Gretl. A year passes, and one night Darla stumbles across another monster in the forest—a tentacled creature she has never seen before who is trespassing on her territory. His name is Jarko Murkvale, and he proves to be surprisingly tall and attractive when Darla confronts him (“she hated herself for even thinking it, but the creature was… kind of hot?”). With Darla having abandoned hunting for so long, Clear Creek is now open territory, and she realizes she has to get back to basics to keep control of her home and avoid losing her heart. This is a quirky romance, set in between the realms of monsters and humans. Brody does a great job of worldbuilding and bringing dark comedy, but the narrative begins a bit abruptly, plunging readers into the initially jarring circumstances of Clear Creek and Darla’s existence before they can get their bearings. However, the pace soon evens out as the story is effectively driven by strong female characters in the form of Darla, her mother Dolores, and Gretl. (In a particularly compelling side-plot, Gretl’s pregnancy makes Darla reconsider her own relationships and what she wants out of her life.) This might be a comedic story of monsters, but Darla’s issues will resonate with any adult woman trying to understand her own worth: “Darla was one of a kind. It may have taken a while for her to understand that, but that realization meant everything.”
An entertaining romance for readers with a taste for comedy and horror.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781649377616
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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