The Empyrean juggernaut rolls on.
Violet Sorrengail and friends go on a quest to find allies in the war against the terrifying magic of the evil, soulless venin.
After the events of Iron Flame (2023), Violet’s lover, the brooding but romantic Xaden Riorson, is in danger. By channeling magic from the earth, Xaden has possibly compromised his very soul, but Violet refuses to give up on finding a cure and preventing Xaden from becoming a full venin. Meanwhile, Violet has another mystery to contend with: Andarna, her second bonded dragon, appears to be part of a lost dragon species. As the nobles of various nations negotiate the terms of an alliance to fight against the venin threat, Violet and her friends journey to the various island nations off the coast of their continent, hoping to enlist more allies in the war, locate Andarna’s long-lost dragon family, and find a solution to Xaden’s compromised soul. Somehow, Violet is kind of, sort of still a student at Basgiath War College. If that seems like a lot going on, even for the third book in a series, know that many plot points don’t serve much narrative purpose so much as provide opportunities for Violet and Xaden to romantically comfort each other, or for various interchangeable side-characters to exchange less-than-snappy dialogue. Given the hefty page count, it’s hard to understand why there wasn’t room for genuine character development or more than a gesture toward worldbuilding.
The Empyrean juggernaut rolls on.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649377159
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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