A sensitive and sincere tale told with Sachar’s inimitable wit.
This adult debut from Sachar, the singular children's book author, is a heartfelt fable about courage and love.
As Anatole—the titular magician—tells his story, he's speaking from the present day and describing events that happened 500 years ago. Tiger Castle is now a tourist destination, but in Anatole’s heyday, it was home to the king and queen of Esquaveta. As the court magician, Anatole was charged with ensuring that Princess Tullia went through with her marriage to Prince Dalrympl of Oxatania, a long-standing arrangement that was suddenly threatened when Tullia fell in love with Pito, the king’s young scribe. The queen told Anatole that if he could not convince Tullia to marry Dalrympl, she and the king would coerce their daughter into behaving. Anatole had known Tullia since she was born, and had a fatherly affection for her. He was desperate to protect the princess—as well as his own career. He decided to brew a potion that would make Pito and Tullia forget they ever knew each other, let alone loved each other, and readers will want to find out for themselves how that led to Anatole's unnaturally extended lifespan. Sachar’s wry, distinctive voice will remind grown-ups what made him such a success as a children's book author, and it translates perfectly into a book in which the middle-aged father figure is the focus, rather than the star-crossed young lovers. Sachar tells the comical story with the slight detachment of a fairy-tale narrator, focusing less on the fantasy elements than on the relationships among the characters, which are straightforward and touching. As Anatole tries to manage the youthful antics of Tullia and Pito, he grapples with more mature themes of loss, regret, and hope for the future.
A sensitive and sincere tale told with Sachar’s inimitable wit.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780593952306
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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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