A well-illustrated comedic and sometimes eerie tale of friendship, identity, love, grief, and confronting one’s fears.
A sentient puppet transports four teenagers to another dimension and tasks them with a grim mission in Shammas’ YA graphic novel.
On Halloween night, Marissa, Ty, and Garrett are in a diner making plans to go to a cemetery and answer age-old questions: Do ghosts exist, and can they get drunk? Marissa’s former friend Radwa shows up after a concert, and the four proceed together to the graveyard. While there, they end up in a mausoleum that houses a giant puppet, described as a “horrifying dimension-hopping mechanical spider.” On a candle the spider holds is a sign that reads, “To all the dreamers who seek what is lost: make a wish.” Radwa suggests that they do what the sign says, and after they each pretend to blow out the candle, the artificial arachnid, named Tom, comes to life and whisks them away to a place he calls Confetti Realms. Tom tells them it’s the night of “the transfiguration” and he’s short four teeth to pay for his entry into the ball. To return home (“More or less,” Tom says cryptically), the teens must collect those teeth for him. When the group finds out the truth about transfiguration, the idea of staying there and leaving behind their real-world problems becomes increasingly compelling. Karnessa’s full-color illustrations employ brightness and warm tones to create a vivid fantasy world with a layer of creepiness underneath it. The teens appear diverse—each of the main four has a different skin tone, and Ty, who uses they/them pronouns, is implied to be nonbinary. The many characters they encounter during their quest are fun and creatively imagined, from gambling frogs and dancing bears to fantastical talking birds with the power of mimicry.
A well-illustrated comedic and sometimes eerie tale of friendship, identity, love, grief, and confronting one’s fears.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1952303333
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce.
Houck kicks off a new story arc in the world of the Tiger’s Curse series with new tigers who live in a northerly setting.
The death of their widowed royal mother touches off a crisis in the Kievian Empire; neither Stacia nor Verusha Stepanov, 17-year-old sword-wielding twin sisters, wants to be named tsarina. But questions of succession get put on hold when a battle with a sorcerer inexplicably turns the two into nonspeaking Siberian tigers. Hints of a cure send them, along with a growing entourage of men to provide assistance (and, perforce, do all the talking), on a long trek. Though most of the cast sticks to genre type, Houck throws in a wild card in the form of hunky, inarticulate Nikolai, who joins the quest because he is enthralled by Verusha—and who also killed his whole family in an act of revenge. Occasional anachronistic dialogue (e.g., “Are you ready, ladies?”) disrupts the tale’s generally earnest tone, as do the clumsy attempts at banter. A third tiger, snarky and blind but conveniently able to see through others’ eyes, trots in late in the story. The events in this setup volume unfold with many a flashback and change in point of view and head toward no sort of resolution—only the cave-dwelling White Shaman of the Tundra’s advice that further journeys are in the offing. The central cast in this Russian-inspired fantasy world presents white; the Indigenous population includes nomadic reindeer herders.
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce. (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9798212221696
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
A fantastical romp filled with intrigue and suspense.
Amid the approaching coronation of her cruel half brother, Jura, and agitation by pro-democracy rebels called the Dawnbreakers, Princess Teia Carthan of Erisia carves out her own fate.
Following her parents’ death, Teia learned to fight. In addition to being able to wield fire and water, she’s not above resorting to blackmail, bribery, and murder to ensure her survival. Through master thief Enna, she learns that Jura is after the Dawnbreakers’ symbolic figurehead: Kyra Medoh, a young woman said to be able to control fire, a skill believed to be passed down through the royal lineage. When Teia intercepts Kyra after the thief infiltrates the Golden Palace, the princess tells her she wants to join the Dawnbreakers. Teia plans to gain Kyra’s trust, discover the location of the Dawnbreakers’ base, and use this information as leverage with Jura to get out of the betrothal he’s arranged for her to an abusive murderer. As Teia works undercover, her camaraderie with and attraction to Dawnbreaker Tobias grows, and, moved by Kyra’s idealism, she starts to question her own motivations. Debut author Wang’s tightly written narrative deftly unravels surprising twists and intrigues. While several characters in this duology opener appear too eager to spill their deepest secrets, readers will forgive this weakness and anticipate the second volume. Teia’s mother came from the country of Shaylan; her skin tone is darker than most Erisians’. Kyra has coppery skin and black hair.
A fantastical romp filled with intrigue and suspense. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781959411772
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Violetear Books/Bindery
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
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