A fantastical adventure fortified by its flawed heroine.
Greta—one of the girls sold to Belladoma as fodder for the sea monster who threatens monthly floods in Monstrous (2015)—makes a dangerous deal with a witch to save her brother.
Greta’s dismayed that King Oliver wants to aid the devastated Belladoma after Monstrous. Still reeling from her trauma, she can’t forgive Belladoma for using Bryre’s girls as sacrifices. When her last relative, her brother Hans, goes missing, she begs the king for help—but, as she has concealed Hans’ existence to keep him from an orphanage, the king thinks it’s a ploy to prevent them from helping Belladoma. Hurt they’ve called her a liar, Greta leaves to save Hans and finds his captor, a Baba Yaga–like witch who eats children and has a house on chicken legs. They strike a deal: if Greta retrieves a long-lost magical cornucopia, the siblings go free; otherwise, they’re on the witch’s menu. Greta’s quest brings her to a village of centaurs and other hybrids, up against mercenaries, and to Belladoma, where her assumptions about its people’s callousness are challenged while she works through her trauma. Connolly does an admirable job ensuring each detail introduced eventually serves the plot. Greta tackles issues of compassion and loyalty with the courage and wits she fights with, and the fairy-tale ending will leave readers happy. The finished book will include a prequel novella.
A fantastical adventure fortified by its flawed heroine. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-227274-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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