Some readers may struggle to pay attention.
In the third installment of de la Cruz’s Witches of East End series, the Beauchamp family must rescue one of their number from being hanged as a witch—again.
When we last left the Beauchamps, who are not only witches, but also Norse deities, the escape of Joanna Beauchamp’s long-lost son Freddie (Fryr) from limbo was causing all manner of repercussions, not least the whisking of daughter Freya (goddess of love) back to Salem just in time for the notorious witch trials. When Freya awakens in 1692 Salem, she has no memory of her past (or future). An apparent orphan, she is taken as an indentured servant into the household of Thomas Putnam, the sanctimonious and scheming farmer who was the prime mover of the witch trials. Freya soon discovers she has magical powers, very helpful in getting the endless round of Puritan women’s work done. Freya’s eternal beloved, Killian (the god Balder), appears in the guise of an eligible bachelor, whose good looks have also attracted Freya’s fellow servant and fickle friend, Mercy. Crazed by jealousy, Mercy reveals that she witnessed Freya causing cows to milk themselves and potatoes to self-harvest. Then Mercy joins the attention-seeking teenage girls whose feigned mass hysteria dooms so many accused Salem witches. Meanwhile, in the present, Freya’s family works feverishly to find a way to interrupt the witch hunt. Her parents, Joanna (Earth goddess Skadi) and Nord, aka Norman, were warned by an Oracle that although Freya, along with her sister Ingrid (hearth goddess Erda), was reincarnated after being hanged at Salem, Freya will not return to Midgard (Earth) if executed a second time. Though an introductory summary and a family tree help to keep these complex relationships, worlds and dual identities straight, too many subplots and characters, not to mention the increasingly impenetrable Norse arcana, draw focus away from the more coherent and compelling Salem plotline.
Some readers may struggle to pay attention.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4013-2470-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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